David's Chess Journey - Installment 23

Dojo Progress

Visualization Course

I have really been loving the Visualization 1 course on Chessable that was a new addition to Dojo 3.0. The puzzles give you the moves to visualize and then you find a tactic at the end of the line. It is really fun and different if you haven't tried it. I would highly recommend the course. I went through the 1 move puzzles with a great deal of ease, which made me feel much better about where I am from a visualization perspective. I even found the 2 move puzzles quite easy - so it was another affirmation that I wasn't as bad at visualization as I thought. The 3 move puzzles were a bit more challenging and the 4 move puzzles were difficult for me. I'm not sure how the 5 move puzzles are going to go - but I do see a benefit in my games already.

Tracking
Getting back to tracking my time (even my non-Dojo rapid games) is a really good exercise. In Dojo 3.0 they provided a more granular weekly guide. Here is the outline of my first week (I'm in the 1200-1300 Cohort and the 15-hour weekly plan). The formatting got a little messed up, but you get the point. The "Focus" is an area of focus that you choose for 4-6 weeks. My area of focus for this first tranche is tactics.

Polgar

I'm getting close to finishing the first 1,000 puzzles, which is the requirement of my cohort. For those of you who haven't caught them in the past, I've made public Lichess studies for all of the Mate in 2s. I couldn't figure out how to include them in the blog - but you can find them in my public studies.

Slower Games

I still haven't played the required 45+30 time control, so that is my only real deviation from the program at this point (plus the analyzing that goes along with it). I know this is a big deviation and I thought it was just related to finding the large time chunks. I usually have smaller time chunks that I cobble together for my chess study. But, I think it is deeper than that. I think there is fear there and bad memories. Fear in losing the only descent rating that I have in chess (Lichess classical) and bad memories from the pain that comes with losing longer games. Losses in slower time controls take their toll. There is suffering for hours rather than for 30 minutes in a typical 15+10 game.

This is a big mental issue that I realized I'm going to have to work through. Identifying the issue is the first step!

Endgames
I've been working a good bit on endgames this week and it has really been enjoyable. I had the book version of Silman's Endgame Manual, but I bought the Chessable version with the video and it has been fun to work through. But, as usual, I got stuck on something that Silman and the IM who is doing the video said is easy - K+Q v. K+N. I think that my struggle to beat the computer at what should be an easy position evidences a fundamental lack of fundamental endgame intuition and a lack of understanding of how the pieces should work together. So, I'm just going to keep trying until I get it and hopefully have a breakthrough of understanding.

Booklist/Courses

Now that I'm back in the program, I'm reviving my booklist (and there are a couple of new items in Dojo 3.0):

• Completed
  • Giannatos, Everyone's First Chess Workbook (completed)
  • Polgar S., Learning Chess the Right Way (Vol. 3) (completed)
  • Brennan and Carson, Tactics Time (completed)
• In Progress
  • Visualization 1 (Chessable) (in process)
  • Polgar; Chess:5334 Problems (in process)
  • del Rosario, First Book of Morphy (in process - ALMOST DONE)
  • Chernev, Logical Chess Move by Move (in process)
  • Chernev, Most Instructive Games (in process)
  • Silman, Complete Endgame Course (in process)
  • Seirawan, Winning Chess Tactics (in progress)
  • Reti, Modern Ideas

A Fun Game From the Week

This was a long Rapid game where I felt like I made some good decisions in some positions where I historically would not have done so well.

Beginner Tips

For those of you who missed it, my "Beginner Tips" segment started with Installment 19, where I talked about 6 Beginner Tips:

• Fun Should Be Your First Priority
• Get a Coach
• Don't Buy Opening Courses
• Play a Lot of Rapid Games and Use the "Learn From Your Mistakes" Function After Each Game
• Find/Create a Community
• Work on Tactics.

In Installment 20 I covered 6 more Beginner Tips

• Don't Play OTB Tournaments (Yet)
• Take a Long View
• Establish a Pre-Move Routine and Stick to It
• Work on Your Mental Game
• Check Out Chess Dojo
• Play Every Day.

In Installment 21, I covered 4 more Beginner Tips:

• Enjoy Chess Culture and History
• Don't Take Principles Too Far
• Fight Passivity
• Work Through Some Beginner Books (and gave some recommendations)

In Installment 22, I covered one more beginner tip: Don't Be Afraid to Change it Up

This week's beginner tip comes from the great Noël Studer. He began his article by quoting a concept that he encountered in the general improvement: "There are two steps to self-improvement: From bad to okay and from okay to great." The problem, recounts Noël is that many people struggle because they try to apply "okay to great" advice when they haven't yet mastered the fundamentals.

I couldn't agree more. And that insight is really the heartbeat behind this section of the blog. Beginners should work on beginner stuff and leave the deep theory and strategy for later in their journey - when they are no longer beginners.

Noël divides chess players up into two groups - group one is those who need to focus on the "bad to okay" stuff. He claims that is stuff like opening fundamentals, basic strategic knowledge, decent tactical skills, the ability to focus during games and basic endgame knowledge. That list tracks for me.

The second group - the group that can focus on the "okay to great" stuff can delve into the deeper aspects of chess, like opening theory (analysis + memorization), deeper strategic ideas, calculation, time spending habits and putting pressure in positions with slight advantages (for example, in endgames).

He put the dividing line between those two groups at 2000 online. You can debate whether that is the right number, but the concept is right on.

Bottom line: As a Beginner, focus on beginner stuff so you can make the transition from bad to okay. Once you are okay, you can dig deeper.

Until the next installment!