David's Chess Journey - Installment 22

Return to the Dojo

I am really excited to finally have the motivation to return to the Dojo with focus and discipline. I needed some time away to just play and have some fun, but it is finally time to dig in, trust the program, work hard and retain joy and fun in the journey.

While I have enjoyed chess outside of the Dojo, the reality is that I have gone backwards in my progress. So, I'm ready to have there be more of a correlation between time invested and improvement realized. I know that doesn't necessarily mean point gains, but I do believe that it will this time around.

I've stopped working with my coach outside of the program this week and am looking forward to working with NoseKnowsAll, a Chess Dojo coach. My first lesson with him is on May 18 and I need to get a couple of long games with annotations in before then. It has been a LONG time since I've played a long game, and I'm honestly a bit nervous to get back to it for some reason. But, it is time!

It feels a bit strange to say this, but diving back into the Chess Dojo program feels a bit like coming home. And, since they have launched Dojo 3.0, I'm excited to try out the new features and explore the new material!

Record Chess.Com Puzzle Rating

I have been stuck at around 2000 for months, but this past weekend I just breezed up 200 points to 2200. It was really interesting. I could just see the answers to the positions clearly and easily for a couple of days. I've since dropped down and the fog has returned, but it was really fun breaking through those barriers and experiencing a record high. We have to celebrate the victories along the journey!

Beginner Tip of the Week

For those of you who missed it, my "Beginner Tips" segment started with Installment 19, where I talked about 6 Beginner Tips:

• Fun Should Be Your First Priority
• Get a Coach
• Don't Buy Opening Courses
• Play a Lot of Rapid Games and Use the "Learn From Your Mistakes" Function After Each Game
• Find/Create a Community
• Work on Tactics.

In Installment 20 I covered 6 more Beginner Tips

• Don't Play OTB Tournaments (Yet)
• Take a Long View
• Establish a Pre-Move Routine and Stick to It
• Work on Your Mental Game
• Check Out Chess Dojo
• Play Every Day.

In Installment 21, I covered 4 more Beginner Tips:

• Enjoy Chess Culture and History
• Don't Take Principles Too Far
• Fight Passivity
• Work Through Some Beginner Books (and gave some recommendations)

Here is this week's beginner tip:

1. Don't Be Afraid to Change it Up

The reality is, it is your journey. Whether it is changing up a study plan, changing chess coaches, changing up the format you play based on what you enjoy to play, what book you are reading, what tactics you are doing, and on and on, don't be afraid the change it up.

If you aren't hitting it off with a coach, change coaches. There are tons of amazing and affordable coaches out there. I've enjoyed the coaches that I have had the privilege to work with, but it has been pretty clear to me when it was time to make a transition and I acted on that instinct every time.

If you are not seeing improvement in the approach you are taking, make a change. I'm not necessarily talking about point improvements (though that should come with serious effort). I'm talking about improved play. You can't control whether your opponent plays better than you, but you can control the level at which you play. So, if you are not seeing an improvement in the level of your play, change approaches. For me, when I follow the Chess Dojo program closely, I see results. So, I'm making the change to go back.

If you are not enjoying what you are doing and feel yourself getting burned out, make a change. That is the reason I left the Chess Dojo several months ago. I was getting better, but I was also losing my joy for the game because I was just grinding too hard. So, taking some time to just play lots of rapid was fun. It wasn't really good for my game from a technical perspective, but it was good for my game from a refresh and recharge perspective. The key for me as I go back into the Dojo program is to keep that joy while returning to serious chess study. We will see how it goes!

Until the next installment!