I've written a lot about having clearly defined (chess) goals, about having a plan, and about how consuming chess material isn't the same as developing chess skill. I've also given advice on how to implement these ideas ... but I haven't mentioned what I, personally, intend to do. Do I follow my own advice, or am I just being a hypocrite?
In all honestly, I don't have a current training plan, but I do have a defined set of goals. These have remained fairly constant for a while now; I haven't done much about them because law school took most of my time and energy, but they are still there.
Today, I figured I would list my own personal goals and define what I hope to achieve in chess. I'll be specific, I'll explain why I desire these goals, and I'll include my initial thoughts on how I'll get there. Soon I'll outline my detailed training plan, but for today, let's look at my end goal.
I've divided this into three categories: objective goals (can be measured), subjective goals (internal feeling) and personal goals (thing I just feel like doing). Let's start with those.
Personal Goals
I have two personal goals. One will sound familiar: finalize my opening repertoire. I know, everyone says this, and few ever do it. Anyway, here goes: I want to have a set response ready for all main options with both colours. Specifically, I want two options at all major junctures, so two defences against 1.e4, two against 1.d4, etc. With my repertoire set, I can then stop studying openings, and I'll never be tempted to buy the next marketing gimmick that comes out.
I'm 80% sure what particular openings this will entail, but I'll save the details for later. In terms of goals, regardless of what I pick, I just want to have a settled repertoire. Period.
This goal is pretty far advanced. I've studied GM Shankland's 1.d4 Trilogy, Semi-Slav and Sicilian courses, and I have these at about 70-80% retention and comfort. That's half the work right there. With Shankland releasing a 1.c4 rep and my other favourite author, GM Ganguly, releasing Black repertoires, you might be able to guess what the other half will look like...
My second goal has financial undertones: stop buying new stuff and finish what I have bought. I'm sure many can relate. I have a wall of chess books, most of which I've only flipped through once or twice. I have numerous courses gathering dust. I have hundreds of dollars invested in materials I'm not using. This mildly bothered me before, but now that I have a whale-sized student loan, the financial waste rings loud and clear.
I accept that most of my chess books are a lost cause; I'm not reading 10,000 pages of pre-computer era analysis, especially not in book form. That's fine. I have several Chessable impulse purchases that I will never use. That's also fine. I have several courses that I've long wanted to study ... and haven't ... and then I go and buy the next shiny thing.
That's not fine.
I would like to finish GM Smirnov's core set of courses: I have done GMPU, both Opening Labs and Self-Taught GM, I started Calculate Till Mate, and I still have Endgame Expert, How to Beat Titled Players, Your Winning Plan and Winning the Middlegame. GMPU gave me my biggest rating jump ever, and I have no idea why I've dallied on the rest. I owe it to myself to dig in here. I have other material as well, but this takes priority.
As for adding to my collection: I will allow myself to purchase anything from Shankland or Ganguly at any time. Those are freebies. I also get one "guilt free" book or course every six months. Otherwise, I will obey a "two out, one in" approach, where I need to finish two products before bringing a new one in. I will thus either become very productive or cease spending money on chess. Either one achieves this goal.
Objective Goals
These goals are much easier to state. In short, I want to be elite at blitz and to play competent blindfold chess.
What does it mean to be elite? Top 1%. At the time of writing, I tend to fluctuate between 2100-2200, which is roughly the 94-96% percentile. That's good, but not elite. It's not enough to appear on the LichessTV blitz games. To get to 99% I need 2325, and 100% would be 2525. So that's the goal: 2325 and I'll be happy. Hit 2525 and I'll be ecstatic... and why not, let's throw in 2600 as a stretch goal. Round numbers are better.
Why elite blitz chess? Honestly, I see it as achieving my chess potential. I won't be World Champion. I might never play an OTB tournament, let alone become titled. But maybe I can stand toe-to-toe with the best players online. It's a big jump from my current abilities, but it's not impossible. Getting above 2500 would put me above some titled players, which would feel incredible, but I'll settle for 2300+ to start.
To be clear, I don't just want to hit these ratings, but I want to maintain them. If I hit 2325 and immediately drop down to 2200, then I'm not a 2325 player. My rating can move around, but the baseline needs to be 2300+.
As for the other goal, it's easy to tell if I can play blindfold: can I play a game without looking? That's obviously step 1, but I want to go further: I want to play good blindfold games. I characterize that as within 300 rating points of my current rating. Right now, that means playing blindfold games at a 1900 level.
Why blindfold chess? For one, I think it will help my board vision. The bigger reason: I've always wanted to read chess books without using a board. That just seems cool. I've had this goal for ages, but I've never taken any concrete steps to develop this ability. I guess that makes it more of a wish than a goal, huh? I've started doing some light visualization training, and I plan to combine this with my opening review: how far can I remember my openings without using a board? Then I will start going through complete games, gradually expanding their length, and for the ultimate test, I will create a new account purely for blindfold play. With any luck, I'll have this one checked off sometime in 2024.
Subjective Goals
My entire life, I hated cold showers. Felt like torture. I know they have benefits and there's a thousand reasons to do them, but I hated it. Then, this summer, I told myself, "Stop being a baby," and I got into the shower and turned on cold full blast. It was terrible. Highly do not recommend. The next day was also terrible. So was the next. Within two weeks, though, the pattern broke, and now, several months later, I jump into the shower cold without much thought. Sometimes it feels so comfortable that I have to double-check that I didn't use hot water by mistake. Nope. Perfect record so far.
How is this relevant? Because something I didn't like (as in, super strongly did not like) became routine in a very short period of time. Yes, some days are easier than others, but even my worst day now is orders of magnitude better than my first week. I did it through pure willpower, repetition and exposure. I want to do that with chess.
My goal: to really enjoy endgames and those dry, dull positions.
This is currently a big weakness, maybe even my biggest weakness. In "dull" positions, those with symmetrical pawn structures, few pawn breaks and no other imbalances to play with, my brain basically shuts off. I play the first natural move that pops into my head. I don't look for tactics, I don't look for threats, I don't calculate. I'm not engaged with the position at all, and that's because I don't enjoy it. It's the chess equivalent of watching paint dry.
If I could enjoy these positions and stay engaged, I know my results would improve massively and I would stop hemorrhaging rating points. I also know it is possible. Indeed, "positional" middlegames, such as the Minority Attack or Good Knights vs Bad Bishop, are some of my favourite positions in chess. I could play these all day. It's a very small shift from "positional" to "dull", so small it's probably not even a chess thing and simply a Smithy-thing.
I'm not completely sure how I will do this, but the process will be similar to the cold shower: willpower, repetition and exposure. I will force myself to look at dull positions every day. I will probably analyze them and play versus the computer. I will do this daily, and I will keep doing it until it starts to feel less terrible.
Recap
There's no timeframe for these goals. Indeed, they are very large and amount to the absolute best I hope to achieve. Here they are, in list form:
- Get my blitz rating between 2325 (min) and 2525 (max). Bonus points if I hit 2600.
- Play blindfold chess within 300 points of my normal ratings.
- Learn to enjoy endgames and dull, dry positions.
- Finish my opening repertoire.
- Finish Smirnov's courses ... and stop buying new stuff.
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