David's Chess Journey - Installment 24

Dojo Progress

This week saw some good progress in the Dojo program summarized by the snapshot below:

It is good to be back in the routine of the program. I'm really enjoying it and am remembering how challenging the tasks are. The most difficult aspect of the program this week has been the Visualization 1 course on Chessable. I am now on the 6 move lines and it is difficult to hold that many moves in my head. But, I do feel myself growing, which is exciting.

I've made some good progress on the Polgar puzzles, now in the 900s (less than a 100 more to go in my Cohort's allocation!). They are coming more quickly to me now - which is a significant change from when I was first doing the puzzles. I still get stuck once in a while, but am seeing the solutions much faster now as compared to when I started.

Fear in Chess

I am a huge fan of everything that @GM NoelStuder puts out. His recent Lichess blog How to Overcome Chess Anxiety is pure gold (link here https://lichess.org/@/NoelStuder/blog/how-to-overcome-chess-anxiety/Obgb5R7z)

Three concepts in that article are worth reflecting on:

1. Before every game say something like the following to yourself: "I'm going to enjoy this game of chess and play to the best of my abilities. The result is out of my control, so I just focus on the next move. I'm proud of myself for giving my best and will play in a relaxed state of mind, no matter what happens."

2. When you feel fear bubbling up during a game, saying something like the following to yourself: "Thanks for helping me out, but this isn't a real threat. No need for fight-or-flight. Let's just focus up and do our best, nothing more we have to do.

3. Perhaps the most helpful insight: "Only play when losing is okay." He compares the concept to only playing with money you can lose when playing poker. If the loss is going to take too much of a negative toll on you, do something else.

Return to Classical Time Controls

It has been a rough start to returning to time controls. I have had a tough loss and draw where I blew a +6 advantage with a horrendous blunder in the endgame. I am also having a very difficult time slowing down and using my time after playing so much rapid over the last several months.

The games are below:

Despite the early bumps (and there will be much more to come), I do think that the longer time controls are going to be important for my growth. It will force me to slow down and give myself space to think and apply what I have learned in heat of a real game (which is when real learning occurs for me).

A Mentor Draw

Despite my poor classical performance this week, I did have a draw against Dan, my chess mentor, so that was a great experience! The DGT notations didn't work out, so I can't share the game, but doing well against a 1450ish USCF player is very encouraging to me.

A New Coach Through the Dojo

Those in the Dojo know NoseKnowsAll. He also recently published some very popular studies via his Lichess blog that are worth checking out. One of the cool things about the Dojo is that he offers very cheap classes a couple of times a week with 2 students where he walks through one annotated game of each participant. I did that for the first time this Saturday and really liked it. He is a very gifted thinker and communicator and have already signed up for another class.

If you are in the Dojo and haven't checked NoseKnowsAll out for game review, I would highly recommend it!

Until the next installment!