Improvement/Mental Health/Road to 1000

Quest for 1000 ELO 

CW: Mental Health Issues discussed. 

I played my first game of Chess when I was five years old. As a quiet child I thought it would be a game I would be good at. Sadly reading books and not having opponents led to my interest declining pretty rapidly. 

Games have always been a core part of my life. Sometimes a healthy escape and sometimes less than healthy.  I quit my main competitive game in 2025 due to switching careers and mental health conditions. Recently I picked up Chess again. I had been watching random youtube videos for a while and my imagination was captured by The Queen's Gambit and also perhaps strangely watching Ding Liren win the world championships. I didn't really understand what was going on but he seemed cool.

I decided to try and "get good" at Chess. A difficult problem as the word good is nebulous.  I started at 32. Have poor spatial  reasoning. Was waiting for medication for ADHD and have what is called Partial DID. (A divide in personality)   My partner knows of my enjoyment and penchant for games. She joked if I was going to be a grandmaster. I told her that reaching 1000 ELO on Chess.com would take a large amount of work for me. But I wanted to try it. I like to compete. Chess is highly competitive in nature and there is always a way to play a game. 

I did what all bookish people do and buy too many books. Ironically the ones I enjoyed the best were books about players. "Chess Queens, The Rookie and How Life Imitates Chess" are all fantastic reads. I bought some beginner books most likely for the placebo effect of feeling like I was doing something. That book on the London System makes a nice coaster after all.... I tried a schedule which was unrealistic with the demands of mental health treatment and a new career. I kinda floated around watching videos again and not really practicing. I felt bad for not improving, stupid like I couldn't learn this new thing.  I have previously had issues with mental health, self worth and gaming. The stakes are very low for Chess at the end of the day. My Diamond membership is optional. In the summer I decided to try again. 

I started after my 33rd Birthday and decided that the number didn't really matter.  Winning is nice of course. One of my best friends loves to do things, he will just play games and want to do things. I saw a clip from Ben Finegold and conveyed an idea that I really believe in but couldn't apply to Chess. " People talk all the time about doing things, but they never really do." This resonated with me. I think in a world that values productivity above all else. Its easy to fall into the trap of not doing things and just optimising to prepare to do them. The thing is.... Chess is so hard. You cant prepare enough and you need experience. Inspired I changed my plan. 

Puzzles

I do 30 minutes of puzzle rush a day at least. My best is 19 in 5 minutes. 

I can feel the improvement take place already. I spot things faster and am more mentally agile. 

Playing 

I used to limit myself to two games a day and try to analyse them. I have changed my approach a little bit where I play more games daily when time allows. I save a loss a week and then spend Sunday morning look over the games looking for common mistakes. I play when I feel like unless I lose two games in a row then I stop to not cascade tilting and I do something else or do puzzles.

I recently started using Bullet to warm myself up. I found I was timing out in winning positions and getting frustrated. Blitz would likely be better because Bullet I find myself making weaker players to take advantage of peoples clock. 

Prep 

Chess has a ton of content out there. It feels like a minefield. A lot of digital ink has been spilled about good/bad content. I am guilty as anyone of watching bad content and that is fine, its like watching a bad movie or reading some trash.  It isn't going to improve your skills at all. I am now going to try watch an education video each week and make real notes. 

Something I need to practically address is the fact that I need to have some more ideas for openings for black, while openings are over valued for new players from what I understand. I think it is still important for my brain to have some ideas overwise I will just get option paralysis.

Hopefully this long rant was an enjoyable read. 

Carly 

That realization about shifting from endless preparation to simply doing is a massive breakthrough, and the balanced, thoughtful plan you've created is exactly the kind of sustainable approach I encourage my own students to build.

Yes, it was an enjoyable read. I like hearing about people who take up the challenge. It sounds like, though you may have struggled from time to time, you have developed a really healthy way of looking at chess improvement.

I'm sure 1000 is just a matter of time.

sounds like a good plan!

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