Improvers Forum Requests

I think people will much rather prefer doing this in notes (in my opinion). But some people do scramble requests for games in all types of places so it is still a relevant idea!

Title : Quarter Year Goals Check-In

Thread: As we are now just over a quarter of the year in it's a good time to review chess goals. Have you already completed some and need to push further. Were some of these too ambitious and need to be revised to ensure they still motivate. Including both rating and non-rating goals here.

To get us started here is my own review:

Ratings:
Online Targets: Rapid 1800, Blitz 1600
Review: Slight improvement in rapid with new peak rating, progress slow but getting there. Blitz no improvement, not really a focus for now.
No change to targets.
OTB Targets: 1500 end of season standard, 1400 rapid.
Review: Standard rating goal achieved just shy of rapid rating with 2 tournament remaining.

Tournaments:
Target: beat previous best of either joint 3rd or 5/7.
Review: Achieved! Joint 1st in last tournament.
No new target just enjoy remaining games of the year and get ready to move up a category.

Study:
Target: Finish learning opening for lines against the French and Spanish. Relearn opening against 1 d4.
Review: French 54%, Spanish 31%, d4 63%. Decent progress must maintain pace.
Additional Target: Complete self study of lines against King's Gambit
Review: Complete failure here and not sensible with working full time and needing some rest.
Revised Goal: Finish annotating existing lines, currently 16% complete.
Organising:
Target: Double attendance at chess events I run
Review: Good progress so far and on target to achieve in second half of the year.

This would be rather good especially if these can be split into a sufficient number of sections, a subforum might be needed to break these down enough. Could imagine any Sicilian thread might get a bit confusing with all of the variations if it was all grouped together. As noted above an 'Opening Library' with perhaps 2 threads per fortnight/month based off suggestions or some sort of vote would be good to ensure there will usually be something that most people play or play against (1 e4 opening and 1 d4/c4/Nf3 opening each time?).

https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/find-training-partners-here

Interesting idea! Could you let us know a little bit how this would work in practice?

Re: above, what I can help with is putting up an index and update it regularly with links to comments from people analyzing certain repertoires. It should be simple to perform though otherwise could be time consuming.

I suggest just a forum for openings. It doesn't have to be super specific. Just concentrate all opening analysis and such in the same thread.

Actually, I would like a forum that I could work on studying and teaching the Sicilian Defense with. It's one of the most complex openings in theory and in play due to the amount of sidelines, and it would be nice to be able to help out in some way.

It could be a place where people can display their favourite or interesting openings so others can study, give advice etc or a place where people give openings based on what the community wants every month (a poll maybe). Your choice on those two options because both seem good!

Probably for an easier editing job you would go for option 1.

"Weird Chess Advice That Works"

What other topics would you like to see created?

"Chess Improvement HOT TAKES"

i.e. "bullet is good for your chess (with explanation)"

"tactics are bad for you (here's why)"

I don't know if I can support the second and third suggestions, but of course, the first one seems fun. Maybe "Chess Improvers' Hot Captures"?

the 2nd and 3rd suggestions were just examples of topic ideas under the first suggestion (not actually 2nd and 3rd suggestions). The point is people give their chess improvement tips that are not trendy but something they believe works. "Hot Captures" could be a fun spin on "hot takes" as long as we explain that "hot captures" means!

Created: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/chess-openings-40470

Title: Path to Excellence

Success: What is success?

Success can be defined in many ways, it can be achieving a goal, an objective, getting a raise, etc. But what it really means is what you want it to mean. It's confusing, right? If we go directly to the formal meaning: "Success is about achieving personal objectives and goals, becoming what you really want to be, living life the way you want to live it, doing what you really want to do, achieving what you set out to achieve." But what does this really mean? This is just a definition of the greatness of this word. The most important thing here is what YOU decide to do with that word. What's most important here is what YOU decide to do with your life. I don't care who you are, nor do YOU ​​care who I am. Most people will treat you badly, hate you, do everything they can to destroy you. And why is this? It's because of success. Those people made bad decisions in THEIR lives, that's why they envy other people's lives.

This does not mean that just thinking about success makes me successful, what we saw previously was the definition of success.

How to achieve success?

This question torments almost the entire world's population. Success is not an easy path; it requires discipline, love, and perseverance. It requires all your physical and mental capacity, both in small and large successes. The GREAT are not successful because they want to be, but because one day they decided to change their lives, they decided to leave bad habits, bad friendships, hatred, sadness, ego behind. They chose something they are passionate about, for example: Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player of all time. He is not the best because he thought about being better, but because HE IS THE BEST at what he does. He chose something he loved and turned it into his SUCCESS. Just like YOU, dear reader, YOU can be greater than you imagine, you just need to find your strengths and weaknesses, use everything you have in your favor and never against you, each person is special, UNIQUE... that is why everyone has different successes, love your work, as if it were your family, do not waste money, act as if it were time, because both do not come back.

Steps to success: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal, what matters is the courage to keep going, giving more each day than the last."

Although each person has the ability to achieve their goals on their own, and with their own unique methods, perhaps these can help you clear your mind.

1. Write down your goals: Many people have goals or objectives, but few write them down. Having VERY defined objectives helps organize your mind and focus on achieving them.

2. Review your goals: Having your goals memorized helps you not forget them, to focus only on them, and despite the circumstances, to remember what you are fighting for, what you LOVE.

3. Develop an action plan: Outline how you're going to achieve SUCCESS. Success isn't built on its own; it requires a lot of attention. You can create a life plan, for example. The important thing is to strive for it.

4. Just do it: Keeping the above in mind, just make it happen, work hard every day (don't forget to rest). You only need YOU, NOTHING ELSE. Success is rarely shared; it depends on the person who achieves it. But, value those who helped you, and give back, because you're on the same path.

Thanks for reading!!

Blog advertiser forum.

Created: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/path-to-excellence

I'm not sure we would want an advertisement thread in the club, however there's certainly value in having a place for people to share their blogs during their chess improvement journey.

So in case you do see this comment and agree with such a thread please add a thumbs up and we can create one more specifically aimed for that purpose.