Hello Chess Lovers!
I know this is not the right forum for such a long post. But I just wanted to share my experience and learning so far.
My name is Lalit Khattar and I am a 28 years old working professional. Yeah, I know, I am late to the party. But I would like to share my entire story with you and the rest of the world.
I started playing online chess in 2014. The adrenaline rush of the game kept me engaged for 1.5 years. But my game got saturated soon. I reached a peak rating of 1679(rapid) on chess.com and then I moved on with the corporate part of my life.
My love for Chess rekindled in late November 2019. What started as a hobby has turned into something serious. After the pandemic, more and more people started playing chess and it felt like the right thing to do. But the primary reason I still continue playing chess is not because other people are doing it, rather it's because I realised chess is really deep and it is full of possibilities. I want to understand the intricacies of chess. Each move has a story behind it. I want to learn and enjoy that story.
What was missing in 2014 is that I never studied chess. I mostly played it and never cared to analyse my games. In hindsight, that was the reason for not improving.
My 2019 chess days also started on a similar note i.e. more games and less analysing/studying. It was not until February 2020 that I started watching chess videos on youtube. I really wanted to improve this time. I think one of the first videos that I watched was "How to play against Kings Gambit?". Most lower rated players play that opening and I didn't know how to play against it. I was desperate to beat King's Gambit players. So I found this video on youtube. Did it help? Of course! For the first time I started doing well against King's Gambit. I had memorised every single line of this opening.
What was next for me? I watched more opening traps videos, some basic endgame videos. I learnt the London system. The only opening that I play with white today and it goes well with my playing style i.e simple and solid chess with a mix of attacking possibilities.
When the pandemic happened, the e-Learning evolution brought many GrandMasters and International Masters to the online world of chess. They started giving back to the community by creating online courses and doing fun streams. The more content I consumed, the more interested I became in chess. By April 2020, chess had become an integral part of my daily routine. Not a single day went by, when I did not study or play chess.
Still something was missing! I was not able to improve as much as I would have wanted to. My peak rating marginally improved to 1687(rapid) on chess.com. So I thought of taking external help. I hired a private coach in September 2020.
Coaching helped me improve in 2 different ways:
1. It brought a structure to my learning. Earlier I was watching random youtube videos. Someday I was watching an opening trap, next day I was watching an endgame video. I thought I was learning but to be honest I was not. Now I have a fixed set of content that I study(see below). It helps me focus.
2. It helped me understand "How to effectively study chess?". Repetition is the key. I realised I need to study the same opening, middlegame, endgame and tactics a 100 times so that the ideas and patterns get ingrained in my brain at a subconscious level.
So did it actually improve my rating? Yes, my peak rating went to 1924(rapid) on chess.com. A gain of 237 ELO points. I know it is still not satisfactory but it gives me confidence that I can further improve.
Here is the content I have been studying:
1. The Woodpecker Method by Axel Smith - Solved first 550 problems 5 times and next 575 problems 3 times.
2. Mastering Chess Strategies by Johan Helsten - Solved it 2 times.
3. Queen's Gambit Declined(QGD) Opening - Read it one time.
4. Play the London System by Cyrus Lakdawala - Read it one time.
5. 100 Endgames You must know - Read it 2 times.
6. Dvoretskey's Endgame Manual - Just started reading
Delhi State Open 2021(My First OTB)
For detailed analysis of all the games, please checkout - lichess.org/study/yfWve8WV
It was March 2021. It has been 1 year 3 months since I restarted playing online chess. I was eagerly waiting to play my first over the board(OTB) tournament. On 20th March, my coach sent me a prospectus for the Delhi State Chess Championship. I immediately applied for the tournament. Tournament was scheduled for 24th - 27th March.
I had 3 days left to prepare for the tournament. I had been studying middle game, endgame and tactics for the past 6 months. Didn't pay much attention to opening. So I needed to prepare a few openings. I took my coach's help to prepare:
1. London system with white
2. QGD with black
3. e5 with black
Day 1(24th March) - Round 1
1. Finally the day arrived. I got up at 6 AM in the morning. Venue was 25km from my place. I reached there at 8:30 AM sharp. Tournament was supposed to start at 9:00 AM but given that it was the first day, it started at 10:00 AM. I used that one hour to play a practice game. Since I have never played OTB, it was not easy to adjust. That extra one hour proved beneficial in some way.
Round 1 started. I had black pieces.
2. My opponent was a 13 year old kid and his rating was 1388. I thought he was a lower rated player. Who knows he might even blunder pieces. But I had no idea that FIDE rating and online rating has a huge difference.
3. My opponent played e4 Italian opening. I had e5 prepared. To my surprise, my opponent played so well that it looked like he was playing engine moves. He was very well prepared.
4. I gave him a good fight. Got a slight advantage after the queens got exchanged. But I could not convert it. In the end, it was a dead draw.
5. I was happy that atleast I opened my account with half a point. A draw is better than a loss.
Day 1(24th March) - Round 2
1. Round 2 was with a tougher opponent. He was 35+ years old with a rating of 1750.
2. I was White. I played my favourite opening - The London System.
3. I made a small inaccuracy in the opening which affected me psychologically and I blundered a pawn in the middlegame. The game was lost after that.
4. I went home with 0.5 out of 2. Definitely not a good start!
Day 2(25th March) - Round 3
1. My opponent was a 13 years old kid with a rating of 1222.
2. I was black. He played e4 Italian opening. I stuck to my e5 preparation.
3. But this time I went completely wrong in the opening and middle game. He launched a brutal attack and I had to sacrifice my queen to prevent checkmate.
4. I was very sad after that loss. I had only managed to get half a point out of 3 rounds.
Day 2(25th March) - Round 4
1. My opponent was a 13 year old kid and an unrated player. For some reason, it gave me a little confidence that he is unrated.
2. I was White. I played the London System. My opponent played King's Indian I think.
3. I made an inaccuracy in the middle game which ruined my king side pawn structure.
4. I was afraid I am going to lose this one also but on the next move my opponent created a weak pawn. He lost that pawn and eventually the game as well.
5. Yay! My first win! My score is now 1.5 / 4.
Day 3(26th March) - Round 5
1. My opponent was a 12 years old girl with a rating of 1055.
2. This was a crazy game with both sides making a lot of blunders and missed winning chances.
3. I had White pieces again. And no surprises, I played London. My opponent played d5 e6 setup.
4. In the middlegame, my opponent played Nh5 and later f5 which created a backward pawn on e6 and a weakness on e5. That was enough to put pressure on her.
5. But instead I simply lost a pawn for no reason. I was lost until she herself blundered a pawn. The game was still better for her.
6. Eventually, she was the one who made the last blunder and I won it. My score is now 2.5 / 5.
Day 3(26th March) - Round 6
1. My opponent was a college student with a rating of 1258.
2. I had black pieces. My opponent played Queen's Gambit. And I stuck to my Queen's Gambit Declined preparation.
3. He didn't play the opening correctly. Broke all opening principals. Lost 2 pawns and eventually the game.
3rd win in a row! My score is now 3.5 / 6.
Day 4(27th March) - Round 7
1. My opponent was a 14 year old kid with a rating of 1419.
2. I had white pieces and I played the London System for the 4th time.
3. My opponent fell into a common London System trap and he lost a pawn.
4. I made sure that I kept exchanging pieces, converting that extra pawn into victory.
5. 4th win in a row. My score is now 4.5 / 7.
Results
1. My final rank was 28.
2. My performance rating was 1401.
3. If there was an unrated category prize, I would have won it happy.png
4. Final Standings - chess-results.com/tnr554028.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=IND&snr=95
With such a bad start, I was able to outperform my expectations. All's well that ends well.
Lessons I learnt from the tournament
1. I need to work on my Calculation Skills.
2. I need to study Grandmaster modal games on e5, QGD and the London System.
If you have made it this far, thanks for reading!
Signing off with one of my favorite proverbs - "The only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing at all, for sure"
I know this is not the right forum for such a long post. But I just wanted to share my experience and learning so far.
My name is Lalit Khattar and I am a 28 years old working professional. Yeah, I know, I am late to the party. But I would like to share my entire story with you and the rest of the world.
I started playing online chess in 2014. The adrenaline rush of the game kept me engaged for 1.5 years. But my game got saturated soon. I reached a peak rating of 1679(rapid) on chess.com and then I moved on with the corporate part of my life.
My love for Chess rekindled in late November 2019. What started as a hobby has turned into something serious. After the pandemic, more and more people started playing chess and it felt like the right thing to do. But the primary reason I still continue playing chess is not because other people are doing it, rather it's because I realised chess is really deep and it is full of possibilities. I want to understand the intricacies of chess. Each move has a story behind it. I want to learn and enjoy that story.
What was missing in 2014 is that I never studied chess. I mostly played it and never cared to analyse my games. In hindsight, that was the reason for not improving.
My 2019 chess days also started on a similar note i.e. more games and less analysing/studying. It was not until February 2020 that I started watching chess videos on youtube. I really wanted to improve this time. I think one of the first videos that I watched was "How to play against Kings Gambit?". Most lower rated players play that opening and I didn't know how to play against it. I was desperate to beat King's Gambit players. So I found this video on youtube. Did it help? Of course! For the first time I started doing well against King's Gambit. I had memorised every single line of this opening.
What was next for me? I watched more opening traps videos, some basic endgame videos. I learnt the London system. The only opening that I play with white today and it goes well with my playing style i.e simple and solid chess with a mix of attacking possibilities.
When the pandemic happened, the e-Learning evolution brought many GrandMasters and International Masters to the online world of chess. They started giving back to the community by creating online courses and doing fun streams. The more content I consumed, the more interested I became in chess. By April 2020, chess had become an integral part of my daily routine. Not a single day went by, when I did not study or play chess.
Still something was missing! I was not able to improve as much as I would have wanted to. My peak rating marginally improved to 1687(rapid) on chess.com. So I thought of taking external help. I hired a private coach in September 2020.
Coaching helped me improve in 2 different ways:
1. It brought a structure to my learning. Earlier I was watching random youtube videos. Someday I was watching an opening trap, next day I was watching an endgame video. I thought I was learning but to be honest I was not. Now I have a fixed set of content that I study(see below). It helps me focus.
2. It helped me understand "How to effectively study chess?". Repetition is the key. I realised I need to study the same opening, middlegame, endgame and tactics a 100 times so that the ideas and patterns get ingrained in my brain at a subconscious level.
So did it actually improve my rating? Yes, my peak rating went to 1924(rapid) on chess.com. A gain of 237 ELO points. I know it is still not satisfactory but it gives me confidence that I can further improve.
Here is the content I have been studying:
1. The Woodpecker Method by Axel Smith - Solved first 550 problems 5 times and next 575 problems 3 times.
2. Mastering Chess Strategies by Johan Helsten - Solved it 2 times.
3. Queen's Gambit Declined(QGD) Opening - Read it one time.
4. Play the London System by Cyrus Lakdawala - Read it one time.
5. 100 Endgames You must know - Read it 2 times.
6. Dvoretskey's Endgame Manual - Just started reading
Delhi State Open 2021(My First OTB)
For detailed analysis of all the games, please checkout - lichess.org/study/yfWve8WV
It was March 2021. It has been 1 year 3 months since I restarted playing online chess. I was eagerly waiting to play my first over the board(OTB) tournament. On 20th March, my coach sent me a prospectus for the Delhi State Chess Championship. I immediately applied for the tournament. Tournament was scheduled for 24th - 27th March.
I had 3 days left to prepare for the tournament. I had been studying middle game, endgame and tactics for the past 6 months. Didn't pay much attention to opening. So I needed to prepare a few openings. I took my coach's help to prepare:
1. London system with white
2. QGD with black
3. e5 with black
Day 1(24th March) - Round 1
1. Finally the day arrived. I got up at 6 AM in the morning. Venue was 25km from my place. I reached there at 8:30 AM sharp. Tournament was supposed to start at 9:00 AM but given that it was the first day, it started at 10:00 AM. I used that one hour to play a practice game. Since I have never played OTB, it was not easy to adjust. That extra one hour proved beneficial in some way.
Round 1 started. I had black pieces.
2. My opponent was a 13 year old kid and his rating was 1388. I thought he was a lower rated player. Who knows he might even blunder pieces. But I had no idea that FIDE rating and online rating has a huge difference.
3. My opponent played e4 Italian opening. I had e5 prepared. To my surprise, my opponent played so well that it looked like he was playing engine moves. He was very well prepared.
4. I gave him a good fight. Got a slight advantage after the queens got exchanged. But I could not convert it. In the end, it was a dead draw.
5. I was happy that atleast I opened my account with half a point. A draw is better than a loss.
Day 1(24th March) - Round 2
1. Round 2 was with a tougher opponent. He was 35+ years old with a rating of 1750.
2. I was White. I played my favourite opening - The London System.
3. I made a small inaccuracy in the opening which affected me psychologically and I blundered a pawn in the middlegame. The game was lost after that.
4. I went home with 0.5 out of 2. Definitely not a good start!
Day 2(25th March) - Round 3
1. My opponent was a 13 years old kid with a rating of 1222.
2. I was black. He played e4 Italian opening. I stuck to my e5 preparation.
3. But this time I went completely wrong in the opening and middle game. He launched a brutal attack and I had to sacrifice my queen to prevent checkmate.
4. I was very sad after that loss. I had only managed to get half a point out of 3 rounds.
Day 2(25th March) - Round 4
1. My opponent was a 13 year old kid and an unrated player. For some reason, it gave me a little confidence that he is unrated.
2. I was White. I played the London System. My opponent played King's Indian I think.
3. I made an inaccuracy in the middle game which ruined my king side pawn structure.
4. I was afraid I am going to lose this one also but on the next move my opponent created a weak pawn. He lost that pawn and eventually the game as well.
5. Yay! My first win! My score is now 1.5 / 4.
Day 3(26th March) - Round 5
1. My opponent was a 12 years old girl with a rating of 1055.
2. This was a crazy game with both sides making a lot of blunders and missed winning chances.
3. I had White pieces again. And no surprises, I played London. My opponent played d5 e6 setup.
4. In the middlegame, my opponent played Nh5 and later f5 which created a backward pawn on e6 and a weakness on e5. That was enough to put pressure on her.
5. But instead I simply lost a pawn for no reason. I was lost until she herself blundered a pawn. The game was still better for her.
6. Eventually, she was the one who made the last blunder and I won it. My score is now 2.5 / 5.
Day 3(26th March) - Round 6
1. My opponent was a college student with a rating of 1258.
2. I had black pieces. My opponent played Queen's Gambit. And I stuck to my Queen's Gambit Declined preparation.
3. He didn't play the opening correctly. Broke all opening principals. Lost 2 pawns and eventually the game.
3rd win in a row! My score is now 3.5 / 6.
Day 4(27th March) - Round 7
1. My opponent was a 14 year old kid with a rating of 1419.
2. I had white pieces and I played the London System for the 4th time.
3. My opponent fell into a common London System trap and he lost a pawn.
4. I made sure that I kept exchanging pieces, converting that extra pawn into victory.
5. 4th win in a row. My score is now 4.5 / 7.
Results
1. My final rank was 28.
2. My performance rating was 1401.
3. If there was an unrated category prize, I would have won it happy.png
4. Final Standings - chess-results.com/tnr554028.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=IND&snr=95
With such a bad start, I was able to outperform my expectations. All's well that ends well.
Lessons I learnt from the tournament
1. I need to work on my Calculation Skills.
2. I need to study Grandmaster modal games on e5, QGD and the London System.
If you have made it this far, thanks for reading!
Signing off with one of my favorite proverbs - "The only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing at all, for sure"
