Improvement Challenge - April Fool's Day Resolutions

     Everyone likes to look at the new calendar year as a clean slate. There's an uptick in gym memberships as fitness becomes a priority, a drop-off in the sales of tobacco and alcohol with health and wellness in mind and then there's impulsive buys with things like foreign language text books, board games or an instrument as this will be the year that you finally see through going about mastering that hobby you always wanted to pick up. However, the average New Year's Resolution never makes it past four months with the second Friday in January being dubbed "Quitters Day" because most people abandon their goals at about that time.

     That is why I never took part in the social experiment that is known as making New Year Resolutions. No. Instead, I came up with April Fool's Day Resolutions. Let's be honest, the first three months are just a free trial, kind of like when you sign up for Apple TV+. However, the main difference as that for NYE, people are either not serious in their affirmations or set too lofty a goal. With April Fool's Day, a day known for jest and pranks, you can kid around with others but you can never kid yourself. So here's to getting better at chess, setting realistic goals, tracking my progress and trusting the process.

My 2024

     My 2024 year in chess was actually my most successful year yet --

• My club holds two Major tournaments each year and I won the "Reserve" section for each of them. If you look at the list of names who won the under section of these tournaments in years past, those are the players who are at, or are pushing 2000 USCF and are at that next level I am striving to reach. I view winning these sections as major stepping stones in my chess development (as well as eradicating ghosts from years prior where I squandered my chance to win these tournaments). 
• Finished the year crossing and being above 1600 USCF for the very first time. I gained 100 rating points from 2024 to 2025 and am pushing the top 90th percentile in the National Rankings.
• I also drew my first Master OTB. Really, had the win too as I missed a game winning tactic as I was under a minute on the clock. I recognized the opportunity for a tactic but kept calculating the wrong move order before abandoning the idea and playing a more natural move instead. Can you spot the win?

My 2025

     In all fairness, I usually do partake in New Year's Resolutions but like so many others, I fall into that unbecoming statistic of falling off after only several weeks. However, the end of 2024/start of 2025 was unique for me in that I quit my old job and started a new one at the beginning of March which is why I'm getting to the Improvement Challenge a tad bit late.

     Usually being unemployed would be a great time to buckle down and get into the weeds of a chess study plan but quitting my job was a rather celebratory occasion for me and everyone around me. The term "funemployed" supplanted unemployed as there were trips to Vegas and Atlantic City. Once the honeymoon phase was over, I had a lot to prepare for and learn in regards to the job I was striving to get.

     But here were are now, I've got a great new job with normal business hours for essentially the first time ever in my life. Instead of working nights, overnights, weekends, 13 hour days 12 days in a row and dealing with constant shifting schedules, little to no turnaround (not exactly legal) and being constantly on call like I was a Doctor, I finally have the freedom of having my nights and weekends to myself. My life finally has the structure that I had been striving for which is ripe for a proper chess study plan and not just squeezing in Chessable lines whenever I can while waiting for the bus. There's no more excuses on my end anymore. It's time to get into shape.

     That is what the purpose of this blog will be. It will clearly state what I'm going to do, when I'm going to do it and for how long I'm going to do it. It'll show what I'm learning and the takeaways from these resources. Being specific is vital as it does not allow for room to deviate and make excuses. The more clear I am with myself, the easier it will be to stick to the plan and actually start improving. If people find these posts interesting and come along with me on this journey, well then all the merrier! But really this is just an organizational tool for myself while also blogging about it puts everything out there for all to see. It's important to say what you are going to do out loud, thus making everyone who peruses the Blog section on chess.com my new 'Accountability Partners'!

Spring 2025 Chess Study Plan

1. The Why? Why do you want to get better at chess? I always played organizational team sports growing up and had great success, especially in football. However, football is the ultimate team sport. My junior year of high school we won the state championship. I was a pretty good player on a great team but there are so many circumstances that lead to a TEAM winning a championship. Chess on the other hand is a lonely endeavor. I want to prove to myself that I can accomplish something on my own. I also did not get good grades in high school. In some cases I was failing several classes a marking period (except for doing football season so I could remain academically eligible). To rectify my regrets I'm pursuing mastery in the ultimate mind game to prove that even the least talented of us can overcome our deficiencies with hard work.
2. How much time and energy are you ready/able to invest into chess? I firmly believe I can study distraction free for at least two hours a day on weekdays and even more on the weekends.
3. What is an ambitious yet realistic long-term goal with the amount of time you can spend on chess? Although I'm not focused on rating goals, crossing 2000 USCF is rather ambitious, but I think also within reach. 
4. Short term goals? To get better at tactics, endgames and calculation. Also, I did recently switch repertoires since joining ChessMood and I've adopted the ChessMood openings recently so although I won't have an emphasis on openings in this particular comprehensive study plan, I do need to cement these new openings and their plans into my unconsciousness.
5. Which goal would you like to achieve as a result of completing the Spring Study Plan? Establish consistency in my training. If I'm in general good form then spotting tactics quickly and easily will follow suit. 
6. In which time period would you like to complete your study plan? This is a seasonal general improvement study plan. Come summer time, I will reassess my game and see what part of my chess needs to be highlighted and focused on more intensively. 
7. Available study time during this period? 20-30 hours a week.
8. Which study areas (general and specific) are included in this study plan? Tactics, endgames and calculation. Also, my new 1.e4 repertoire and middle game plans that come out of those openings.
9. Key study areas? Tactics and endgames.
10. Which methods will be employed when studying these resources? Solving puzzles, watching video courses, deep game analysis, spaced repetition for openings and reading books.  
11. Which resources will be used to study in these areas? Mainly ChessMood video courses --

1. Tactic Ninja (already completed but I am going through all the puzzles in the test section).
2. Mating Matador
3. BlunderProof
4. All other Rating Booster courses
5. Endgame Roadmap
6. Must-Know Endgame Theory U2000
7. WhiteMood/BlackMood Openings
8. WhiteMood/BlackMood Model Games
9. Calculate Like a Superhero
10. Happy Pieces
11. Attack Like a Viking
12. Defend With Honor
13. 100 Endgame Masterpieces
14. Timman's Titans (currently reading this)
15. How to Study Chess on Your Own (credit to this book for the above survey)

3/31/25 - 4/6/2025

Monday March 31st, 2025 - Game-day! My club meets on Monday nights so I will be playing OTB. Since it is the first round of the a new tournament, I don't really have anything to prepare opening wise since I won't know my opponent. Therefor, I usually sprinkle in some light tactics training throughout the day. 

Tuesday April 1st, 2025 - Game analysis. ChessMood endorses the endless cycle of study --> practice --> fix. Well if Monday is the practicing/playing part, then Tuesday is the fixing part. If the game on Monday is not that complex, then I'll find a game from that opening and do a deep analysis. Could be a ChessMood Model game or something from the database.

Wednesday April 2nd, 2025 - Mating Matador Sections 7-10.

Thursday April 3rd, 2025 - Endgame Roadmap Intro/Section 1

Friday April 4th, 2025 - Dutch Attack deeper understanding. I'm enjoying the repertoire so far but I'm struggling with the Dutch. I've never had a good opening against 1.d4 so I need to get a better grasp of the opening before I can essay it OTB. I tried that this past Monday in a Quick Tournament and ended up blundering my bishop on move 10. Have a look for yourself --

Saturday April 5th, 2025 - Deep analysis of Classical Endgame Masterpiece #1 - Steinitz vs. Lipke and Endgame Roadmap Section 2.

Sunday April 6th, 2025 - Improvers Rapid Swiss and analysis. 

     So that'll be a good start for week 1. Eventually, I will obviously have to factor in a rest day (probably this Friday) but for now it'll just be a manageable 1 hour or so of distraction free study which I don't think is too overwhelming. 

     With that being said, I'll see you next week fellow Improvers. Until then, keep sharpening up those tactics.