Rating increased by 200 points in 5 weeks

Six weeks ago, I had never played a single game of chess online only being interested in OTB chess but after almost a year without a game and at home due to Covid lockdown, I decided to finally register with an online website.

I decided to concentrate solely on 10+0 games. I need to calculate because my instinct is not strong enough for anything faster. The first few games were a bit flakey because I didn’t find it as clear as looking at a proper board and I was prone to the occasional mouse slip. I also found that I couldn’t give the same level as attention to a computer screen so was half-watching a movie at the same time and not always even registering that it was my turn.

I have never really done chess puzzles previously other than occasional ones that members might pose at a chess club. I played around 30 rated games a year but no games outside of that.

Since joining, I have established a routine for two or three hours a day and In 5 weeks my rating has gone up by 200 points! Puzzle solving has improved dramatically.

Happy to share the experience and tips if anyone is interest.

This is only my personal view and it is based on wanting to improve rather than just play for fun, which is of course fine:

Firstly, I think that it is necessary to do exactly the same thing at the same frequency (daily, 3 times a week, weekly…) so that the metrics and graphs are linear. Playing 20 games one day and 3 games on another random day makes it almost impossible to measure progress. I decided on 5 games daily based on what time I wanted to dedicate to chess.

I play exactly 5 games. If I win every one, I don’t continue because I seem to in good form. If I am losing every one, I don’t stop because I seem to be in bad form, nor do I keep playing until I win to try to recover. You can’t choose the day or your form in a real chess game!