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This is where I'll be logging my daily progress in trying to get better at chess, specifically in Classical OTB chess. Why I started: I went to my first real OTB classical tournament, expecting to do pretty well in the U1400 section (my current rapid rating is 1750, which is much higher). I did not do as well as I thought I could, and through all of my games I felt lost, unable to do what I know I can do. Because of that, I want to get better, enter more tournaments, and see that chess ability that I know I have. Maybe I won't be a master, but I'll at least be pretty decent. Specific Goals: I want to go from the 1050 USCF provisional rating I have to at least 1400 USCF. I'm not too concerned with my online rating. However, I want to see less mistakes and blunders in my games. I'll get a current game average of blunders and mistakes for a benchmark later, but for now I want to go to less than 1 mistake per game and no blunders, period. I can work on inaccuracies later; the big thing to focus on are game shifting errors in play. In order to do this, I need a plan. That's why I'm trying this study plan out. We'll see how it goes! -Increase USCF Regular rating to >1400 -Decrease Mistakes to <1 per game on average -Decrease Blunders to exactly 0 per game -Have fun! Concerns: I've tried study plans for things in the past that I liked doing, but they never panned out. I'm certain that if I follow this plan, I will improve and meet my goals. My only concern is that I won't follow through. I guess I'll keep the journal progress here. Should be fun! Week 0 Stats:

Hi! Excited to start this. My first question would be about the silman book: when should i study it? Should i finish the chapters by the time it is mentioned in the plan? Best! Paul

My chess to date has focused primarily on correspondence with some rapid sprinkled in, but I really enjoy rapid and OTB. Played in my first OTB tournament (G/45 d5) at the end of July. The next one is in early October and I'm hoping to get in one more in early December. I'll try to remember to check in weekly. Ratings at present are as follows: - Daily: 1456 - Rapid: 1166 - Blitz: N/A - USCF Reg: 729(P4)

So, time to finally start getting serious about playing chess again. I've played quite a bit as a teenager, but life got in the way. Now, at 40, I'd like to see how far I can get with a bit of serious study. No rating yet other than my Daily, which is currently at 790. Plenty of room for improvement Let's go!

Good luck everybody with your own chess journeys! I want now to log here, as lately I have been struggling to get motivated after a New Year surge where I took on far too much. I will post and update my composite rating (916) when ready. This number is an approximate FIDE rating, calibrated as best I can from around 80 online games per update on five different sites. This "rating" peaked 2019-10-09 at 1048. redhotpawn (bulk of play)lichessshredderchess.netschemingmind (an alternate correspondence site)and of course here (chess.com) I expect at least one rating update during these twelve weeks. Today I economically sourced De La Villa's 100 Endgames. As per study plan, I want to get a grip on the basic Rook endings and understanding as best I can converting an extra pawn. To be honest I need to think far more tactically. Even in correspondence, where with care I can get a playable middle game, I still feel rushed and stub too many moves. I want to analyze half of my games and note where I went wrong. If I won, I want to find where I induced a winning position. That is about three or four games a week to revise. Long term goal remains getting to club standard (~ 1400) where I can start to relax and enjoy the social component. Given I have been active enough for six years, I expected to be much closer to this goal. Chess continues to befuddle me: dare I say too much information, and I could focus.

Hi All, We are excited to announce our first Blitz Arena on 18st of Sept,2021. The event will be 3+2 games for 1hrTime - 10 AM CDT/ 3PM UTC You will be able to register for the event on chess.com. https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&lid=30,2643743,6,2950159&h=30&date=2021-8-21&sln=20.5-21.5&hf=1

I've been trying to improve in longer games for a while and the start of a new uni year seemed like a good time to start working on my chess properly. I'm starting out at 1609 Lichess Rapid & 1583 Lichess Classical and these are the ratings I want to improve. I'm also planning on joining my uni's chess society (or a local one if that clashes with other things) and hope to be able to enter some OTB tournaments before next summer. I've signed up for the Lichess Lonewolf league (U1800), and played my first game yesterday (an unfortunate loss). Hopefully I can bounce back and reach my goal of scoring 5.5/11. I plan on playing most of my games on Lichess (I just prefer the UI!) and I'll be using Scid Vs Pc for my analysis becuase I've found that the act of downloading the PGN and using different software somehow makes me do more serious analysis (maybe becuase I'm not distracted by just wanting to play another game). My goals for the next 12 weeks are: Increase my Lichess rapid rating to 1675 Score 5.5/11 in the Lichess Lonewolf league Current ratings (Lichess) Blitz: 1274 Rapid: 1609 Classical: 1583

Marching Forward - New Plan! After some failed restart attempts, I figured my custom plan was too much for me to stick to, a lot of time to dedicate to the daily tasks, and even though I like spending my time on chess, it felt more like a chore that I couldn't keep up with. Therefore, I bought the beginner study plan as well, with the hope of finding a better (and easier) structure to stick to, and I found what I'm looking for! My study plan goals: Create a daily chess habit of playing at least one game and solving at least 5 puzzles every day Improve my psychological approach to the game and take losses more lightly Learn from each game and absorb at least two takeaways to implement in future games With regard to the last point, I will try to keep an updating list of key takeaways (or types of mistakes causing my losses) to review each week. I remember now @SmarterChess has created a spreadsheet of game analysis a while back, so I might adopt this strategy! Chess.com created a "Study Plan for Beginners" in which they list the top 10 reasons a chess player loses, as follows: I did not see (or underestimated) my opponent's threat(s). I did not develop/get castled. I ignored a passed pawn that ultimately promoted. I sacrificed prematurely to attack and could not find a checkmate. I got behind on material from bad tactics. I could not stop a mating attack. I did not try my hardest (lack of focus). I played too fast. I took too much time, and eventually I ran out of time or blundered. I did not have any idea how to proceed or find a plan. I will use these causes to list exactly why I lost in each game, and see if there are recurring patterns. Today is Sunday, August 1, a great day to start again!

Accidentally deleted my first post. Week 1 completed. Rapid : 1269 ---> 1294 Blitz : 1171 ---> 1163 Played 10 Rapid games on the first day. Lost a bunch. Learned a valuable lesson of taking breaks in between. Started getting used to the time control after the second rapid day. Was playing really fast and missing tactics. Learned to use my time a bit more and has really benefited me. Blitz didn't go well, played too fast when I had loads of time, played really slow when I had no time. The increment was good, helped me stay in the game a few times. I'm not worried about my rating at all. Just need to understand the positions I get from my openings. Takeaways: Use time better: calculate more and try to find better moves. Learn more concepts rather than theory. Learn more ideas in the Sicilian or maybe just go back to the caro. Look at the whole board instead of focusing on just 1 area at a time.

Hi All, We are excited to announce our first Blitz Arena on 21st of Aug,2021. The event will be 5+3 games for 1hrTime - 10 AM CDT/ 3PM UTC You will be able to register for the event on chess.com. https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&lid=30,2643743,6,2950159&h=30&date=2021-8-21&sln=20.5-21.5&hf=1

Hi this is my first post not really sure what to do or if I should post my latest games. I am creating a google sheets list of games I play for the next 3 months and beyond and making a database of my games

New guy here, off & running . . . well, maybe slowly progressing is more like it. I’m 77, live in Northern California, & relatively new to chess. The plan is for 1100 to 1700 rated players . . . me, 576 blitz, & 716 R&C on Chess.com. I don’t have any GM, IM, or NM plans (still waiting for my wife’s decision on Master of the House). That being said, I do want to get to the middle game not being 5-8 points behind. My immediate goal is to play three games in a row without any blunders . . . wish me luck.

It's Tuesday, and Tuesday will be day 1. To remember: before starting the plan my Blitz rating was 1457 (highest 1516), rapid 1530 (highest 1530).

Hello guys. My name is Felipe and I am 33 years old. I learned to play chess at the age of 9~10, but never focused on it. After getting COVID-19 recently, I decided to do something I always want: play chess and become a Grandmaster (we are our dreams =P). Tomorrow I going to start "Mouratovsky's Yusupov intermediate study plan" and this is my first "homework" of day 0. I hope a pleasant journey for everyone. Chess.com Blitz rating: 1243 (peak 1388 at 12/20) Chess.com Rapid rating: 1557 (peak 1592 at 12/20)

Hi Everyone- Hello from Pennsylvania Dutch farm country. Looking to improve from nearly ground zero as I ease into retirement. Better late than never! Best, Boochuck in beautiful PA

Day 0: Ready to go. So much out there, I'm glad I found a place with a plan for improvement. Below are my current stats: Rapid: 535 Blitz: 833 (12 games, 3 wins) Daily: 1,054 Puzzles: 925 (969 peak) I HATE losing at anything, so the goal is to not get emotional, not get anxious about losing and just learn as I go. Hoping to work my way up closer to 1000 Rapid and depending on how the plan goes, move up to the Beginner Plan.

Day 0: Getting started Chess.com Bullet: 1758 (1,857 games) Chess.com Blitz: 1889 (524 games) Chess.com Rapid: 2028 (23 games) Chess.com Daily: 1391 (2 games) Chess.com Puzzles: 2428 (271 puzzles) Don't have the Yusupov book yet (arriving in Xmas), but I have a bunch of Strategy books that I've never read and I will substitute until the Yusupov series arrives. Current books I have are HTRYC and Hellsten Mastering Chess Strategy.Excited to read the Ending book. I've had it forever but never found the motivation to go through it.

Hello all, another older player here looking to get back into chess. I was quite good at school but stopped playing soon after and only took it up again just before Xmas in lockdown. I think having a clear plan should really help, my problem is (maybe different to a lot of people) I study too much and don't play enough! For example I've done lots of opening study which could probably wait until I make fewer one move blunders. Anyway the starting point is Daily Unrated Rapid 1519 (all 10+0 so far) Blitz 1135 (I've been struggling at 3+2 but should do better at 5+5) Puzzles 1554 Let's see how we go!

Hi, this is my second plan with Chessgoals. First one was the intermediate Yusupov and went from week 1 (1413 rapid 1042 blitz) to week 12 (1559 rapid 1400 blitz). Now, week 1 start is: 1559 rapid 1395 blitz

Day 0: Alright, here we go again. Blitz: 1044 Rapid: 1183 Lichess Classical: 1549 CG Classical: ~1042 Prabably not daily posts this time 😆 unless something interesting comes up.