2011 Chess Blackout

Starting 2011, I will begin my 2 year hiatus from playing full games of chess. I intend to use my time instead to study chess from the ground up. I have wasted year after year playing at chess, but not really playing chess. My first year I will spend on fundamentals, really taking chess apart piece by piece and really getting at its truth, working out its mechanics. The second year I will polish up my practical application of the learned technique. I will accept nothing less than to play at Expert standard at the end of this project. If I fail to reach this modest goal, I will quit chess.

That seems quite a bit drastic. While I'm not the best person to offer chess advice, I think you would be well served to play plenty of games to help integrate what you are learning. Study without practice won't be very beneficial. Especially since you are planning on spending so much time; if you fail after two years, which I feel is likely without practice, then all that time was spent for nothing.

Feedback you get from practice can help pinpoint areas you are weak in. You won't get that from pure studying (other than something like tactical motifs you miss when practicing tactics). I'm sure there a lot of differring opinions on how much study vs how much practice (real games), so you will probably have to figure that out yourself (what works best for you).

I have been playing chess since 1997, so nearly 14 years. Up until this point I have treated chess as a hobby, and my mediocre skill reflects this mindset. Looking at my games, even the ones I hold in highest regard, are in reality very modest in a technical aspect, bordering on elementary. I am done with hit and miss results, done with playing a clean game by chance, done with 'faking' it. Chess and I are good friends, yes, but we don't really know each other. I want to create with chess, not just run a hustle on myself when I fall into a good game that props up the illusion of proficiency a little while longer. The playing of a full game is an exhibition of skill, not a source of it. I must have a full skill set arriving at the game. When I get back to playing full games, I will do so with a renewed seriousness, and it will be with the intent of perfecting my technique on my way to Master.