Okiemurse's Novice Study Plan

Day 0:

Hey guys, I am Corey, aka Okiemurse. I'm 38 years old and just getting back into the game. I have a very casual history with chess - most of my prior experience was playing BattleChess as a kiddo in the early 90s. I was never very serious, but I did learn the basic rules. I got in just like many others in the recent chess boom with the Queen's Gambit which got me playing again casually with my wife. This led me to watching the Blockchamps & Pogchamps which led me to Hikaru, Levy, Danya, the Botez sisters, and the rest of the online chess community. Now I am following GM level events as well and I'm hooked!

I'm not a very competitive person but I really enjoy the journey of self-improvement and I would love to see how far I can push myself with a more structured plan designed by a professional coach. I see games less as a chance to beat another person and more as a chance to explore my own strengths and weaknesses in my knowledge of the game. That being said, I would love to participate in a local OTB community once I gain more confidence and build a routine.

I've previously focused on relaxed unrated games with my wife, bots, and puzzles - thus I'm not entirely sure what my "true" rating is. Elometer.net rated me at 1545, but that is based on single-position scenarios and I've never seen that sort of success in a full game. Since my performance is really unstable and I am so new back to the game, I am starting with the Novice course first to go all the way back to basics and build some really strong fundamentals. 

Stats:

• Joined chess.com: 1/13/2021
•  Daily: unrated
•  Rapid: 1053* (not accurate, i have only played my wife)
•  Blitz: 676 (10 games, lowest after a bad 3|0 losing streak)
• Bullet: 304 (6 games, I'm terrible at fast chess)
•  Puzzles: 840 (369 puzzles done, peak 1005 rating)
•  Bots: I have 3 crowns on the 1200 adaptive (Tomas) and the 1100s (Azeez, Sven)

Short-Term Goal: Obtain a stable 800+ blitz and 1000+ puzzle rating by the end of the Novice course.

Long-Term Goal: Successfully complete the Novice, Beginner, and Intermediate courses. The pipe dream is a stable rating of 1800-2000 - but this will be incredibly hard with my "aging brain", a full time job, full time school, and a wife and child keeping me busy!

Commitment: I will update progress here once weekly per the Novice plan for 12 weeks.

Good luck Corey!

Sounds like a busy schedule! I think the busiest people are the ones who know how to make the most of their time  Good luck with the training plan.

Thank you for the kind wishes

800+ blitz and 1000+ puzzles coming soon! I loved Battle Chess

Week 1 Update

Short-Term Goal: 800 blitz, 1000 puzzle

•  Daily: 272 (9 games)
•  Rapid: 780, -273 (6 games)
•  Blitz: 696, +20 (17 games)
•  Puzzles: 904, +64, 15 survival rush (396 done)
•  Bots: Still working on beating Laura (1100). I feel like she either plays at a much higher level than the other 1100s or her style is just a great counter to mine. 

Notes:

It's been hard to be consistent on doing chess every single day, and I tend to cluster my hours spent on days I have off work. I feel like as long as I'm getting hours in, it will be ok. 

Some of my ratings began with a huge dip due to actually getting games in. It's ok, still feel like I'm learning a lot. I feel like my true rating is somewhere around 600. Logical Chess came in the mail but I haven't gotten the chance to crack in yet. Also my wife got me Chessable for my birthday so I may try folding some of those exercises in to keep things interesting.

I got really busy and had to resign 5 daily games, so my rating is in the 200s. Even though they only take one move a day, for some reason I find those games harder for me to complete. I also move too quickly in the daily games, often taking the first feasible looking move rather than considering all possibilities - a practice that gets me destroyed when my opponent has all day to think about how to punish me. Something that isn't a true problem with daily games is that I seem to consistently get paired with players who are 1000+. Initially I was annoyed because I get thrown around, but it also gives me a lot of exposure to play that is better than mine, and mistakes are a fantastic teacher. 

Onwards...

Daily game creep has happened to me as well. I had to resign a bunch a while back.

Your wife rocks btw - great gift!

Week 2 Update

Short-Term Goals: 800 blitz, 1000 puzzle

•  Blitz: 746, +50
•  Puzzles: 992, +88

Notes: Busy week, only time for a short (and late) update. Still getting absolutely killed in Daily - probably not calculating out as long as my opponents. My accuracy was really low this week. I've noticed a mental block when it comes to playing high volume as I get close to my short term goals. I dont want to play so that my rating isnt spoiled. This applies to both puzzles and live games. Obviously I know that rating is just an arbitrary number that reflects my skill and will eventually go up on its own the more experience I get... but I still feel overly protective of it.

I think my next short term goal will address this. Maybe make number of games or adherence to the schedule more of a priority. 

Week 3 Update

Novice Goal: Finish with 800 rating, 1200 puzzle

Stats:

•  Daily: 258, -14             (17 games, +8)
•  Rapid: 843, +63           (8 games, +2)
• Blitz: 690, -56               (25 games, +8)
•  Puzzles: 1007, +15     (426 done, +30)
•  Highest bots beaten: : Sven (1100)  : Maria (1200)   : Elena (1200) 

Notes:

   I've lost the thread on following the ChessGoals plan, and may have to reboot on it or play some serious catchup on my next days off. I havent gotten past game 1 in Logical Chess so I think instead of cramming I will skip back to week 2. and just make this a 14 week plan instead of a 12. I will say though that Chernev's style is a lot of fun to read. 

   I am starting to really enjoy the daily format. I do feel like it is one of the most educational formats for me. I'm doing alright at puzzles and bots but my live games just have horrible accuracy and blunders. I feel like at this time taking as much time per move as I need to play principled blunder-free games would be the most educational. The only downside is that half my games have been resigned in 24 hours after 1 move, wasting a whole day - so I'll just eliminate my max of 5 active games at once.  I'm also updating my goal to be 800 rating in any game mode instead of specifying blitz, at least until I develop a definite time control preference. Also increasing puzzle goal to 1200.

   I did join the USCF and look up a few local chess clubs here in Oklahoma. One day I'll be brave enough for some OTB. 

Plan: 

Move back to week 2 and build the habit.

If you find the plan is too much you can ignore the week numbers and check off boxes in order. One day could take you one day, or two, or three. I think it's more important to keep it enjoyable and making some progress. OTB is so much fun!

That's a good idea. I'm putting the tasks into Todoist and I think it can do that.