What went well?
- Yesterday was quite the day for rapid games. Despite being sick (or because I was sick), I kept winning. I started the day at 1307, and ended at 1378. I won 9 in a row. This is new high rating for me.
- Lots of tactics! I really focused on tactics the past week. Previously I was spending about 10-15 minutes a day on doing tactics on Chessable. This week I averaged about an hour a day. About half of that was on Chessable (see below) and half was on Chess.com doing rated puzzles and puzzle rush. I got new high scores in 3-minute (19 to 21) and 5-minute (19 to 23) puzzle rush.
- For ChessMood, I only watched the Tactics Ninja videos this week instead of splitting my time between 4-5 courses.
- I finished the simplified opening courses from ChessMood. I have private Chessable courses I have been studying every day.
Here are the tactics books I’m studying on Chessable:
- Learn Chess the Right Way - Book 1: Must Know Checkmates - I’ve been done with this for a while now, but keep reviewing puzzles as they come up each day
- Learn Chess the Right Way - Book 2: Winning Material - I pushed to finish this over the past week, so now I am reviewing any puzzles that come up.
- Learn Chess the Right Way - Book 3: Must Know Checkmates - I just started this next book in the series
- Everyone’s First Chess Workbook - With any extra time I have I am trying to run through this book. It is pretty easy, but that’s OK.
Somehow I've won 8 rapid games of #chess in a row today and my rapid rating is at my all-time high. I'd like to thank the opponent was was tilting and kept asking for a rematch as well as a couple of opponents who blundered while winning. #chesspunks pic.twitter.com/Hx85pN2VL4
— Matt (@MattPlaysChess) May 22, 2022
What could have gone better?
- With this extra push on studying, I found that I got burned out a bit half-way through the week and had a hard time concentrating on games. I realized I need to be OK with not playing as many games and take breaks before I get fully burned out.
What will I try next?
- Keep working on tactics, it seems to be working!
- Don’t worry about losing rating points! I had a great day and a gained a lot of points, but I’m in this for the long haul and there will be ups and downs.