iakov98's Blog

ChessMint: An online tool for offline training

2025-10-29T18:48:08.708Z

A brief introduction to a website I have been building.

Challenge 2500 | 15. Push!

2025-04-25T16:21:23.167Z

A brief update on how the year is going and what's next.

Challenge 2500 | Almost halfway there!

2023-09-01T22:27:31.486Z

After Vlissingen, I competed in two more tournaments in August. In this brief article I summarise this past month of chess, explain my move to Substack and take a look at how this journey is going so far overall.

Challenge 2500 | 11. Vlissingen

2023-08-14T16:20:32.089Z

Tournament play continues! Reviewing my tournament result in Vlissingen; one more step forward on my quest of reaching 2500.

Challenge 2500 | 10. Training Continues

2023-06-04T18:03:05.938Z

In this post, I'll recap how this project has been going so far, set some goals and intentions for the future, and discuss my current training regime. Hope you enjoy the read!

How do you visualise chess positions?

2023-06-01T12:57:27.217Z

I'm exploring the topic of how chess players visualise positions and would like to write a post about it. I'd be very happy if some of you chess players took the time to try and describe how the process works for you personally and posted it in the forum! I'd like to quote many of the more informative/insightful answers in the upcoming blog post.

Challenge 2500 | 9. A Leap Forward!

2023-04-02T15:19:02.911Z

In this blog entry, I'll review the GM tournament in Budapest I competed in late March. Also, an outlook into what's next. Hope you enjoy the read!

Challenge 2500 | 8. Mixed Bag

2023-03-12T23:04:31.955Z

Last week, I competed in a 9-round open tournament in Bavaria. In this entry, I'll review how the tournament went for me personally. Just like last time, I'll share one diagram of a critical or otherwise noteworthy position for each of my games.

Challenge 2500 | 7. A missed chance

2023-02-20T01:37:31.657Z

Back with another tournament recap. This time, with some photos and diagrams.

Challenge 2500 | 6. On The Podium!

2023-01-29T22:58:08.177Z

Reviewing the third tournament I've competed in since starting this challenge. Happy to report that it went quite well all things considered!

Challenge 2500 | 5. Structurelessness

2023-01-22T23:22:56.568Z

I am going to be competing in a tournament next week, so in this entry I outline how I intend to design my training in the couple of days leading up to it in order to be well-prepared and hopefully in good form. At the end, I show a beautiful endgame I came across when solving tactics.

Challenge 2500 | 4. Improving bit by bit

2023-01-15T20:38:56.474Z

After two back-to-back tournaments in late December and early January, it was time again for a regular week, which means attending to a bunch of stuff unrelated to this blog series, but of course, some training as well! In this entry, I'll go through and discuss my current routine and what I'll change.

Challenge 2500 | 3. A Step Forward!

2023-01-07T21:20:18.525Z

Reviewing my first tournament of the year 2023, the Staufer-Open in Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Challenge 2500 | 2. Damage Control

2023-01-01T19:20:27.358Z

I review my first tournament since starting this project, sharing and discussing a couple of interesting positions from my games and analysing what went right and what went wrong.

Challenge 2500 | 1. Let's begin.

2022-12-25T18:15:33.532Z

The first week of this project is behind me. In this (admittedly slightly lengthy) post, I'll go through what methods I consider important in training and the reasons why. I'll then lay out my current (tentative) training plan and finish with an outlook on the coming weeks. Merry Christmas by the way!

Challenge 2500 | 0. Intro

2022-12-20T08:03:06.85Z

In this series, I will attempt to continuously document my training and tournament play aimed at reaching a classical FIDE rating of 2500. In this initial post, I introduce and flesh out the concept of what I want to do with this blog.