David's Chess Journey - Installment 66

Hello Everyone!

It has been quite a while since my last post, so it seemed appropriate to say hello to everyone at the beginning of this installment. I hope everyone is doing well and that you are all enjoying your respective chess journeys! I am about 2.5 months into my time away from work and it has been a very nice break. I haven't played as much chess as I thought I would with other projects, but I have really been enjoying what chess I have taken the time to do.

Lichess 4545 League

As some of you might recall, I did the Lichess 4545 league for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. I had some scheduling issues, but I really liked getting to know my team, playing longer games against tough competitors, having time to actually prep for an opponent, and being part of the whole Lichess 4545 culture.

I applied again for this upcoming season and am really looking forward to getting back into serious and longer games. To get ready, I started playing 30+30 games, which is my favorite time control that I learned to enjoy while I was part of the Chess Dojo program, and went from 1608 to 1740 (near my peak rating of 1760) in about a week. It was crazy! The last season I played, I scored 3.5/8 and my rating took a significant dive. But, hoping for a better result this season. I will provide updates throughout the season or at the end of the season, depending on the cadence of the installments.

The English with Hanging Pawns

My guess is that anyone who would take the time to get this far into this installment is aware of the incredible content put out there by Hanging Pawns. While I was aware of the content, I never took the time to check it out until a couple of months ago. I play the English and it is not entirely easy to get good content that isn't overwhelming on that opening in my opinion. Hanging Pawn's English videos struck the perfect balance for me and I learned a great deal that I have already been able to bring into my games. Turns out I was playing many positions incorrectly from a theoretical perspective. I generally don't get a worse position out of the opening because people at my level don't know much in the way of theory, but some simple improvements have helped me understand more positions and have more playable positions as a result in several lines.

If you are a fellow English player and also find that the Chessable courses (yes, I've bought two of them on the English) are beyond you, you might enjoy this series as much as I have!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aedSwUI9UU&list=PLssNbVBYrGcDbYoeZh0NVl43XORf0ABEb

Chess Structures

I asked ChatGPT what book, based on my rating and all available information, would help me understand the middlegame and it told me Chess Structures. So, I bought it and am working through it. My guess is that many reading will say that the book is beyond my rating level, and you are likely right, but I am really enjoying it and getting a lot out of it. It is going to take me a while to finish it, but I have committed to myself that I'm going to get all the way through it, so I'm putting it out here to provide myself with some accountability. Thank you for the peer pressure!

It feels good to be back writing about my journey and, as always, thanks for taking the time to read about it. I hope it is an encouragement to your journey!