FiftyTzent's Rapid & Classical Plan

Week 7 - Summary

This week I played some blitz, rapid and also 1 classical game. Tried out the French Defense as Black in some games, with mixed results.

Blitz: +4-5

Rapid: +2-4

Classical: +0-1

Not my best week of chess, lost some rating points across the board, but fortunately I ended the week with a private session with @SmarterChess. Matt told me I'm on the right track so far with my games pace, and I could even drop Blitz completely and stick to 2 rapid games per day. Also he recommended that from now on I should work mostly on tactics and my openings for black: The Caro/Slav complex using the fantastic ChessGoals courses! With White I'm coming back to my beloved London System, which is very similar to the Caro/Slav in terms of pawn structures and plans. That's exactly what I needed now! Thanks Matt!

Week 8 - Summary

This week was relatively quiet, with ups and downs as always. My upward trend has been slowed down the past few weeks, causing some frustration (especially by my poor playing in my various losses), but I know I can and will eventually do better and keep climbing up.

My record this week was +3-3, losing 3 rating points. I've been testing the London/Caro/Slav combo for now and I'll just stick with it. My main weaknesses so far as I perceive them are tactics and endgame play - I just end up playing a silly move in equal endgames, especially when I'm down on the clock (time management is also an issue for me). Hope I can do better next week!

Week 9 - Summary

Another week of chess, another week of practicing the London and Caro-Kann, with mixed results. Obviously the point is not the results but the process itself, and I'm trying to get myself in the right mindset, but still hard to shake off these habits of being too concerned about my rating.

My record this week: +4-2=1.

Game Analysis

The following game is why one should never resign!

Positives

• Didn't give up (even though I had enough reasons to), and rose from ashes to win the game quite convincingly!
• Beautiful endgame conversion on my part, taking all of White's pieces, restricting the king, promoting a pawn and checkmating.

Improvements

• One of the main ideas in the Caro is to trade my light-squared bishop for the knight on f3. If my position looks dim I should go for it more often than not.
• I should look to attack white's center pawns.

Week 10 - Summary

This week saw a slight decline in my rapid rating, with me not being able to get a win in 5 straight games (4 losses, 1 draw). I'm continuing to be very lazy with regard to game analysis, opting for the Key Moments review whenever I finish a game.

For a few weeks now I haven't exactly been following the Rapid & Classical plan suggested by ChessGoals, but rather attempting to play 1 rapid game every day, and some blitz here and there whenever I feel like. Obviously it is not quite a disciplined approach, so if I want to continue improving and moving forward, I should play a bit more, and consistently! Therefore I'll halt this "plan" for now and start a new plan, an "Adult Learner" oriented one, that might fit my new lifestyle as a working adult!

Stay tuned for a new forum post soon enough

I'm sad to hear about the rating. What will your "Adult learner" program look like?

Yeah it's been kind of tough psychologically, especially after such a surge that I had a month ago. Probably just lucky anyway, not to mention I've changed my opening repertoire almost completely in the meantime. Anyway, I shouldn't focus on my rating that much (easier said than done ).

My new plan will be mostly playing rapid or blitz every day, with every Saturday working on a different aspect of chess. I will also incorporate a tactics training every day. It's of course following the Intermediate Adult Learner plan of ChessGoals.

Hop over to my Adult Learner plan forum to stay updated!