Possibly of interest:
"... the NM title is an honor that only one percent of USCF members attain. ..." - IM John Donaldson (2015)
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
What It Takes to Become a Chess Master by Andrew Soltis
"... going from good at tactics to great at tactics ... doesn't translate into much greater strength. ... You need a relatively good memory to reach average strength. But a much better memory isn't going to make you a master. ... there's a powerful law of diminishing returns in chess calculation, ... Your rating may have been steadily rising when suddenly it stops. ... One explanation for the wall is that most players got to where they are by learning how to not lose. ... Mastering chess ... requires a new set of skills and traits. ... Many of these attributes are kinds of know-how, such as understanding when to change the pawn structure or what a positionally won game looks like and how to deal with it. Some are habits, like always looking for targets. Others are refined senses, like recognizing a critical middlegame moment or feeling when time is on your side and when it isn't. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review857.pdf
100 Chess Master Trade Secrets by Andrew Soltis
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review916.pdf
Reaching the Top?! by Peter Kurzdorfer
"... On the one hand, your play needs to be purposeful much of the time; the ability to navigate through many different types of positions needs to be yours; your ability to calculate variations and find candidate moves needs to be present in at least an embryonic stage. On the other hand, it will be heart-warming and perhaps inspiring to realize that you do not need to give up blunders or misconceptions or a poor memory or sloppy calculating habits; that you do not need to know all the latest opening variations, or even know what they are called. You do not have to memorize hundreds of endgame positions or instantly recognize the proper procedure in a variety of pawn structures.
[To play at a master level consistently] is not an easy task, to be sure ..., but it is a possible one. ..." - NM Peter Kurzdorfer (2015)
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2015/11/16/book-notice-kurzdorfers-reaching-the-top.html
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
"Yes, you can easily become a master. All you need to do is some serious, focused work on your play.
That 'chess is 99% tactics and blah-blah' thing is crap. Chess is several things (opening, endgame, middlegame strategy, positional play, tactics, psychology, time management...) which should be treated properly as a whole. getting just one element of lay and working exclusively on it is of very doubtful value, and at worst it may well turn out being a waste of time." - IM pfren (August 21, 2017)
"Every now and then someone advances the idea that one may gain success in chess by using shortcuts. 'Chess is 99% tactics' - proclaims one expert, suggesting that strategic understanding is overrated; 'Improvement in chess is all about opening knowledge' - declares another. A third self-appointed authority asserts that a thorough knowledge of endings is the key to becoming a master; while his expert-friend is puzzled by the mere thought that a player can achieve anything at all without championing pawn structures.
To me, such statements seem futile. You can't hope to gain mastery of any subject by specializing in only parts of it. ..." - FM Amatzia Avni (2008)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-fight-stereotypes-using-chess-in-rural-mississippi/
http://brooklyncastle.com/
https://www.chess.com/article/view/don-t-worry-about-your-rating
https://www.chess.com/article/view/am-i-too-old-for-chess
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-can-older-players-improve
Chess Improvement Recommendations
Exclam!
Id back off on the tactics training.You are using it to travel around the board trying to get uncomplicated one movers for a pawn instead of learning the big picture like the middle game. Too many one move blunders when playing defense!
Interesting to hear the Waco chess club still exists. We used to play at the Jack in the Box near Baylor....like 30 years ago. I wasnt too good, but between age 21-23 I jumped quite a bit in ability , but the only thing I really have left from that era is the trash talking ability to play at that level since everyone was mostly alpha-attackers.
Thanks for the suggestions.
@nighteyes1234, I see your idea, however, I plan to consider doing tactics. While I don't believe in this "Chess is 99% tactics" nonsense, tactics are the spirit of any chess game, especially among amatuers.
I am going through Silman's book How To Reassess Your Chess to improve my positional knowledge, as well as playing some practice games both online and OTB.
And yes, we still do indeed meet!! We have "joint forces" somewhat with the Baylor chess group, and have been meeting on campus.
Hey guys!
I am opening this thread to anyone who wants to add general advice/ideas on improving on chess under my circumstances. Most of you may know, I am almost seventeen years old, rated 1700 USCF. My ultimate goal in is to get the National Master title (2200 USCF). I've been on somewhat of a chess tournament hiatus lately, though I am hoping to get at least 12 tournaments (the more the better, though that goal seems realistic) in when the year is done.
I live in Waco, TX, which is somewhat desolate compared to other chess cities, so my OTB experience is somewhat limited, though we have a small and active chess club to play with.
Here has been my general study plan within the past few weeks:
I also try and play standard games a few times per week, though I often (admittedly) find myself engrossed into playing blitz and bullet online.
I currently do not have a coach (I have had two over my playing career), though that is something I will think about in the future.
Anyways, if the reader could simply post their general ideas about any areas of chess improvement, that would be fantastic!
I've been pretty busy lately, though I hope to start blogging again soon.
Until then...