Temposchlucker

 I have been able to reformulate my method of how to study openings in a way that it matches the exact way that I study tactics. This means that I can calculate how much work must be done to acquire a decent basis. A problem costs me 3 minutes at average To absorb a problem I need 20 repetitions at average There are 350 problems based on frequently occuring mates There are 350 problems based on frequently occurring tactics For my special weakness of knight moves, I use another set of 300 problems Each opening has 70 essential variations at average A variation equals a problem in how I approach it and requires the same time to absorb (60 minutes) I have 4 new openings 3x20=60 minutes to absorb a problem or variation. 350+350+300+4x70=1280 problems or variations to absorb. This totals to 1280 hours. With a study time of 3 hours per day, we are talking about 427 days. What do I expect after those 427 days? a decent level of mating skill a decent level of tactics a decent level of knig...

 I intend to play a tournament at the end of the year. I hope that that will show some rating improvement. I have an ambitious training plan which I am grinding through on a daily basis. There is not much to say about that. I don't want to bore you with it, so I write less about it. For me it are very exciting times, though. Currently I'm testing the plan, in order to see whether some adjustments must be made. The plan to learn five new openings turns out to be over ambitious. So I decided to drop the London system. Besides that, I'm looking to ways to make the QID to have some overlap with the Colle, so I can borrow the ideas from white. The method of rote memorization of opening lines is not good enough. If you have a good memory, it is the lazy approach to obtain some knowledge with minimum effort.  But I started to look a bit like my cat. She wants to be in the house where I am. Since she is faster than me, she tries to predict my moves. It turns out that she is wrong a...

 The past months have convinced me that I learn the right things in the right way. Which is: Tactics, for the moment focussing on mates 4 movers of the most frequent mates (after finishing the 3 movers) Focussing on the chess logic I certainly make progress, but I'm not convinced that I use the most efficient way to absorb the knowledge, though. If you look at the progress of chess prodigies when they were 1700 rated, then an advance of 100 points per year is quite normal. That is not the rate at which I'm advancing yet. Of course, chess prodigies have their coaches, which help them to figure out to overcome their shortcomings. I must figure out everything myself. What are my shortcomings, what is the best training material, which openings to play, how to absorb relevant endgame knowledge et cetera. I will fill the gabs in due time. But back to tactics, Black to move 4rk2/Q3b3/1B4p1/1N1B3p/2P4P/P5rq/5K2/5R2 b - - 1 1  [ solution ] The first move is only clear when you see the...