LaerDM's Study Plan

Today I started week 10 of the Beginner 1 plan.

I don't know exactly why I have been having a tough time with puzzles over the last couple of weeks. One thing I've noticed is the puzzles tend to offer trades fare more easily than I would. I've also seen puzzles lately where the "correct" move puts my piece where the opponent, as far as I can tell, could, would, and should take my piece but doesn't. The only reason those puzzles "work" is because, for some unfathomable reason, the opponent either chose not to take a "free" piece or didn't see the opportunity.

I've started some new things, like the Woodpecker Method.

I've started reading the second half of Rozman's How to Win at Chess. I may be jumping the gun because it's for those at an intermediate level. I think my ratings would say I'm only halfway there.

I have been beating the bots who seem to be rated at 1200. I just wish I could more often win rated games against real people who are rated 1200. It's sad that when I win against folks at a higher rating, my rating goes up but theirs comes down. It would be nice if I could get my rating up without bringing someone else's rating down.

I confess I have not been following the plan to the letter. I'm at the point with Blitz where I don't have enough hope to care about playing. I will probably substitute a Random game for the four Blitz games this week. I'm also spending most of the time I would be going through Move by Move games analyzing my games and devising strategies.

Today I am supposed to be starting week 11 of the Beginner 1 plan.

I have deviated from the plan a bit. It's been a tough couple of weeks so I've slipped a bit.

I can say one thing improved this past week. I have started a gradual climb to recover the score I had on January 12th in Puzzles on Chess.com. I had a 12-day slump where I couldn't seem to get the puzzles correct. For the last four days, I have improved my rating in Puzzles. For a few days, I was going at it like a gambling addict at a slot machine. I continued to hack away at the puzzles, trying to recover the points I'd lost when I incorrectly answered the tougher puzzles; those where I lost double the points I was usually gaining on the ones I got right. I dug myself further and further into the hole.

Sometime this week I hope to complete a game with my opponent for Round 3 of the Chess Goals Classical tournament.

I did win the only Blitz game I played this week. It got my Blitz rating 11 points above rock bottom.

I also won a Daily/Correspondence game. Many of my Daily/Correspondence games are unrated. This one just happened to be rated so my rating jumped up a bit.

Sunday, February 4, 2024, I am supposed to be starting week 12 of the Beginner 1 plan.

As I wrote last week, I have deviated from the plan a bit. I've been working on the things I believe have helped the most and sliding on the things I found frustrating. I've been doing more puzzles, a bit of the Woodpecker Method, and playing games against the computer bots. I have kept up on daily games, usually unrated since some of my opponents are rated far ahead of me.

IMy puzzle rating on Chess.com has climbed back up above my previous highest rating. Saturday, February 3rd I slipped back down a bit.

I completed a game against my opponent for Round 3 of the Chess Goals Classical tournament. It ended in a draw. I'm glad to believe I shall get through this tournament with a score greater than zero.

I started the Beginner 1 Plan 12 weeks ago on November 19, 2023. By the last few weeks, I was not following it precisely. I was doing my own set of things each day.

I haven't concerned myself with my Chess.com ratings for a while, except for trying to recover my puzzle rating from the slump I had in mid-January. I slipped down a bit today, but I'm still up from every highest rating except yesterday's. My puzzle rating goes down on those days when I push my way through 5 puzzles even when I can't seem to solve them. I also have done every daily puzzle since November 19th. I missed some days and had to go back, but I now have a 32-day streak going. I most often do not get the daily puzzles without needing a hint, and I usually miss the right moves. There have been at least 2 days when I solved the daily puzzle without hints and no mistakes. I felt good about it those days.

I've continued having at least one daily game going except for about 2 days while I was waiting for a challenge to be accepted. I played many of those daily games unrated.

I've been playing against the computer, working my way up the rating scale of the bots. I don't feel I can win against a 1600-level bot yet. I'm happy to be able to say I've improved because in November I would have had difficulty winning against a 550-rated bot.

As white I've mostly played the London System. Playing black I've tried about everything. After a couple of moves as black, I rarely remember what I should do next. Playing against the computer or when playing a correspondence/daily game I have been told it's fair to look things up. It's the only way I think I have any hope of learning how to get into a game without a blunder at the start.

I've been playing in the ChessGoals Classical Tournament. My opponent and I are hoping to get our Round 4 match played on Tuesday, Feb. 13. I have succeeded in pulling off a draw so I'm sitting with 1/2 point. I messed up on move 31 where I could have won.

Some of the reasons I've maybe not followed the Beginner 1 plan so rigorously is I've been getting some other things done I'd let slide through the holiday season in December and a period of illness in early January.

I probably will not commit to another formal plan for the time being. I anticipate some unusual happenings for our family over the next few months. I'll keep up doing the daily puzzles, 5 puzzles a day, daily games, the Woodpecker method, and playing a game of one kind or another each day (probably against a bot, a Rapid game, or a Blitz if I feel rushed). As I get caught up on other things I will probably go through videos. I also have some books to read (Rozman's, Silman's, etc.).

I will likely try to update this forum each week.

In case my Chess.com ratings change I'll record them.

Daily = 475 High = 654 Rated Games = 9 Average Opponent Rating 793 Average opponent when I... Win = 277 Lose = 940 Best Win 301 Best Win Streak 2

Blitz = 104 High = 240 Rated Games = 85 Average Opponent Rating 231 Average opponent when I... Win = 164 Draw = 125 Lose = 261 Best Win 605 Best Win Streak 3

Rapid = 455 High = 684 Rated Games = 20 Average Opponent Rating 556 Average opponent when I... Win = 506 Lose = 584 Best Win 727 Best Win Streak 3

Puzzles = 1377 High = 1407 Rated Puzzles 1326

Thanks for being patient with me as you read my ramblings.

After writing the last post I thought I should strive to rotate through some of the different kinds of games to see how it affects my ratings. I played a Blitz game for the first time in quite a while yesterday and another one today. I am terrible at Blitz. I lost both. I also played against a 1600-rated computer bot. I lost that one too.

I usually have a Daily game going every day. I will play a rapid game next. I haven't played a rapid game in a while. I'll probably make it 30 minutes. Next, I will rotate through Blitz, Bot, and Rapid, trying to play at least one kind each day.

I had mixed results at puzzles today. I got the Daily Puzzle with no hints and no mistakes, but I had a terrible time with the other puzzles. Like playing the slot machines, I kept trying and trying to recover what I'd lost but it was no good. 

Losing gives us the chance to learn and improve. Review the games, and see what you can glean from them. Hang in there.