Is your routine getting boring? Are you in a slump, losing games you would normally have won? (You know - like me right now! 😠) Rather than let your emotions drag you down, get away from competition and try some different things. Not all of these will apply to everyone, but they've been helping me.
1. Read a biography of your favorite world champion (Most of them have written one)
2. Copy tactics diagrams from your chess magazines, cut them out, and paste them on cards, write the answers on the back and start a collection of them in a card file box. These can be useful in the future.
3. Get on the internet, and/or go through your written material, locate and write down all the training ideas you find (in no particular order) Keep this list as a reference
4. Start a chess journal: White down your ideas, thoughts, goals (if you have any) This is a good place to put together a study plan, and some thoughts on when you may feel comfortable returning to rated games.
5. Set up your board and start playing through GM games from both sides of the board. Do this slowly, playing through any listed sub variations.
6. Experiment with music: Start a collection or a list of the music pieces you prefer when playing or studying. Keep these handy for easy access. 2 of my favorites are below this list.
7. Play against weaker bot's: A number of chess sites have computer bot's or programs. Choose a weak one and beat the hell out of it over and over! This won't make you a stronger player, but it feels great sometimes.
8. Go back to basics: Find some endgame or tactics lessons for weaker players and play through them. Reinforcing these simple tactical themes can sometimes help in avoiding simple blunders that sabotage our performance in competition.
9. Body and mind: Obvious but so often overlooked. Years ago, I.M.s Jeremy Silman and John Donaldson told me they always begin their day with some light stretching, a brisk 2–3-mile walk, followed by 15 - 20 min. of meditation. They claimed they would not have reached the level in chess they did without this.
10. Environment: It's difficult to play or study up to our potential when our playing environment is disorganized, dirty, smells bad, our chair makes our back sore after a few min., or the lighting is a distraction. It costs very little to correct these things. Chess is difficult enough under the best of circumstances; don't place an additional burden on your efforts with a bad playing or study area.
Coffeehouse
Fireplace classical
@contenchess saidGood plan. I feel your pain.
I'm definitely in a slump lately. My speed Chess has been brutal ☹
Once I finish my games here I am taking a few months away from playing and go through Zurich 1953 with my old Chess set. 😉
@mchill
I find it to be greatly refreshing, fun, and beneficial to my chess play as well to play other games, specifically 2-player games that are calculable and have rules that are easily learned.
These games provide a rest from chess while still providing stimulation and a workout for the "calculation muscles" in our brains. They can be the mental equivalent of something like a runner taking up cycling for a while, thereby exercising in a different way while still maintaining and even building cardio fitness. At one time, it was regular practice in the Soviet chess academies to finish their training days playing Russian checkers, taking a little break from chess while still working on calculation skills.
My personal recommendations would be Kamisado, Hive, International Checkers/Draughts, and xiangqi (Chinese chess) because it is so very similar to our game, with an honorable mention to Rose King, which does have a random element but which absolutely requires energetic calculation to be successful.
All of these games (and many more, of course) are available for free browser-based online play, so they are readily accessible for anyone to play.
@Gambiteer
I play Checkers a lot 😉
Usually the old British/American way but I'm starting to get into Russian and International Draughts too.
Have you tried Frisian Draughts?
@contenchess saidNo, I sure haven't -- the International game completely scratches my itch for any checkers-family games.
@Gambiteer
Have you tried Frisian Draughts?
I even found a nice vinyl rollup board with the 10x10 grid, and added red and white backgammon stones for checkers, so I can play in real life.
@gambiteer saidFrisian Draughts has the same board and rules as International Draughts but you can also capture horizontally.
No, I sure haven't -- the International game completely scratches my itch for any checkers-family games.
I even found a nice vinyl rollup board with the 10x10 grid, and added red and white backgammon stones for checkers, so I can play in real life.
Lidraughts.org is the new site for Checkers. 😉
I belong to a chess book collectors group at FB, which BTW is an awesome group with many GM members, Nigel Short among others. Someone posted about Keene's books.
I replied I studied An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player, and used most of the lines for white successfully
A GM quipped his coach credits his taking forever to get his GM title to his student reading that book.
So now I know why I've not reached GM status
Watch out world
@gambrel saidI'm interested. Please keep us informed how this works out.
I belong to a chess book collectors group at FB, which BTW is an awesome group with many GM members, Nigel Short among others. Someone posted about Keene's books.
I replied I studied An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player, and used most of the lines for white successfully
A GM quipped his coach credits his taking forever to get his GM title to his student reading that book.
So now I know why I've not reached GM status
Watch out world