Inside The Mind Of An Amateur Chess Player.

The mindset of improving as an amateur is something rarely discussed by amateur players themselves! 

I have been playing chess for 5 years now. During those years, i have clocked in around 30,000 hours of playing chess online, yet I firmly believe that I am nowhere near that level, and am not capable of saying that I am proud of my ability. However, after a lot of reflection and time, I realized that I went about improving in chess like a hobby, yet I wanted to make chess my occupation. Thus, it is with this conclusion, that I have decided to change my mindset, and document all my progress I make on my journey in chess!

As I get stronger, so does the need to make a training routine. However, the most important thing every chess player must do to improve, is acknowledge their faults, appreciate their strengths,

Half of the problem is solved when you write it down in detail, after all. So, I have found the habits I am least proud of, and the strengths in my game that I’m proudest of.

My Strengths

• Strong tactics
• Good memory
• Good opening undestanding

My weaknesses

• A lack of dicipline
• temperamental
• Lack of stamina
• Lack of positional understanding

After recording my strengths and weaknesses, it becomes easier for me to make plans on how to improve.

Firstly, I intend on cutting down the amount of blitz games I play in a day by setting a limit, and gradually lowering said limit. I’ll start with 20 games a day, and gradually bring it down, so that i focus more on quality rather than quantity.
Then, I intend to spend at least 30 minutes a day reading a specific chess book that covers a certain theme that I will be studying for the next few months. In this case, it will be positional understanding!

Third of all, I intend on trying to improve my stamina by playing more puzzles, and going through at least 1 grandmaster game a day in detail.
Lastly, I want to be able to put my ego aside, and review every single one of my games, regardless of quality, to build the habit of looking at painful experiences, thus developing thicker skin in chess.

Of course, this may sound very amateur right now, but as I continue to write, and follow my plans, I hope that my experiences, analysis and reviews help other people on their journeys in their chess, regardless of where they might be in that journey.

I just want to play chess
-Bobby Fischer