Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Status Reports
Status: Chess (2024 - December)
(Text as at 01/02/2025 00:28:48)
Rationale for this Project
- For years I’d been thinking of returning to chess after a very long lay-off; effectively since my school days. Then, it seemed, I’d actually done so. Then Covid intervened. Now I have to focus on Philosophy and Web Tools. For further information, see my Chess Page1.
- I had played – as and when selected – for / in
→ Billericay A & B Teams in the North Essex Chess League Divisions 1 & 4
→ Billericay I Team in Southend & District Chess League, Division 1.
→ Billericay Chess Club Championship.
- After a decent start in 18Q4, my results have been rather poor, and I lost a bit of confidence towards the end of the 2018/19 season, drawing with – and in one case losing to – a string of weak players. Blunders!
- In the 2019/20 season, my results were terrible, and I had stopped playing even before the whole chess scene (at least “over the board”) went into lock-down mid-March 2020 on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
- My grade started off as a fairly respectable 151, but subsequently dropped to a disgraceful 128, lower than when I first played as a 14-year-old.
- The ECF has now moved to monthly ELO ratings (ECF Monthly Rating Database), so my final rating was 1660. I need to update my historic results database with ELO equivalents.
- I’ve maintained my ECF Bronze membership. The ECF has now simplified the rating system, so the standard ‘K’ rating remains provided one rateable game has been played in the last 3 years. Sadly, these years have flown by, so I am now unrated.
- See:-
→ ECF: Theo Todman's Ratings Page,
→ ECF: Billericay Chess Club Ratings Page, and
→ ECF Rating Help Index.
- As for my standard of play, I seem to have two main problems:-
- Firstly, my opening theory is non-existent, and this has resulted in cramped positions as black, or conceding quick equality as white.
- Secondly, in attempting to play in a more open manner than the stodgy and careful approach of my youth, I’ve left myself open to “tactics” that have resulted in the loss of a piece on many occasions. Sometimes these have arisen where I was routinely winning and just failed to look at what my opponent was threatening.
- There’s no quick fix to either of these.
- The first requires opening preparation. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t do this.
- There ought to be a “quick fix” to the second, but “just concentrate” is easier said than done. It is said that blitz play sharpens your tactics, so I started to try this out – using 10-minute games against human opponents – on Chess.com – but have not continued. I need to!
- I’ve purchased several books on general strategy and tactics for the club player – I just need to read them!
- While I do review my games – see2 my Consolidated Results – I’ve not spent much time on study or training.
- By chance, the ECF arranged a free month’s access to ChessMood (see "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood"). This is really excellent. Tactics and Endgame theory are really enjoyable (because I’m good in these areas). Opening theory is well presented but much harder for me as it involves remembering stuff rather than just ‘seeing’. Anyway, I took out a year’s membership, paid in advance: it works out at over £25 / month. I used it on a daily basis, more or less, but nowhere near as much as most subscribers. I renewed at the end of December 2024.
Summary of Progress during October - December 2024
- I spent 32.5 hours in 24Q4 on this Project, or related work (32.5 hours YTD, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2024). That's 62.3% of the planned effort (62.3% YTD). Overall, 4.3% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 4.3% YTD) - as against 6.5% planned (6.5% YTD).
- I had scheduled 4 hours / week in 24Q4 but I only spent just over 60% of the allocated time to play a little on-line chess, but mostly to get to grips with "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood", which I’m really enjoying.
- I have completed the ChessMood Endgames and Tactics courses. I had completed about 1/3 of the Puzzles related to the Tactics course but decided to focus on Openings. I’d completed the course for White openings last Quarter and completed those for Black this Quarter. I then moved on to the Mating Matador Course, which is fun.
- I’ve also continued to play the weak Bots on Chess.com as a way of improving my alertness. Unfortunately, it exposes my uselessness at opening theory – I can’t remember what I’ve supposedly learnt.
- So, when I’ve completed the Mating Matador Course I’ll need to repeat the ChessMood Openings courses a few times to allow them to sink in. Eventually, I’ll start playing properly on-line.
- I spent an hour with Tommy on the ChessMood Tactics course. It was OK, but his concentration isn’t up to it at the moment. Maybe in a couple of years, or if he really gets the bug.
- Further details follow (for the latest Quarter: 24Q4):-
Chess (Total Hours = 32.5)
- Chess - Admin (Total Hours = 2.25)
- Chess - Training (Total Hours = 30.25)
- Progress (if any) in the current quarter can be obtained from the Chess section of my Summary Task List3.
Plans for the Near Future:
- I don’t want a repeat of the experience of my youth, so need to allocate a serious amount of effort to learn the theory of the game in order to play properly.
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood" has given me the opportunity to do this. I need to focus on the openings and also to play on-line. Unfortunately, I can’t allocate much time to this project and have reduced the time allocated back down to 3 hours / week for the coming Quarter.
- My grandson Tommy – who’s now 6 years old – has shown quite a lot of interest in the game and has joined the junior section of Chelmsford Chess Club which is run by quite a strong player. I play him occasionally, but don’t look forward to it for some reason. I want to get to the situation whereby I really enjoy playing Chess – like I really enjoy playing Bridge.
- Detailed Plans
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood", focusing on - in priority sequence:-
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood - Courses: Openings",
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood - Courses: Tactics": Puzzles
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood - Courses: End Game",
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood - Improvement Plans", and
- "Grigoryan (Avetik) - ChessMood - General Reading"
- Chess Training - Play & Review:-
- Chess.com: Game analysis & On-line play,
- LiChess: Investigate and consider migrating from Chess.com. LiChess is the platform recommended by ChessMood.
- "Studer (Noel) - Next Level Chess": Read new articles as they arise weekly, and catch up on the older ones.
- Complete review of 2018/19 season's games,
- Complete review of 2019/20 season's games,
- Train Tommy as opportunity arises.
- Chess Study / Reading4: Focus on ChessMood but hold the following in reserve:-
- "Hansen (Carsten) - Back to Basics: Chess Openings: A comprehensive guide to chess openings and opening play",
- "Kuljasevic (Davorin) - How to Study Chess on Your Own: Creating a Plan that Works… and Sticking to it!",
- "Ris (Robert) - Crucial Chess Skills for the Club Player: Volume 1",
- "Ris (Robert) - Crucial Chess Skills for the Club Player: Volume 2", and
- "Willemze (Thomas) - The Chess Toolbox: Practical Techniques Everyone Should Know".
- Update my Chess Page5.
- Why Play Chess?:
- Seriously consider the issues raised by "Ramon y Cajal (Santiago) - On Chess".
- Counter this with responsibiity to the local chess scene, now I've made contact, and with training Tommy
Summary of Progress to Date (since October 2018)
- I have now produced statistics similar to those for Bridge6, my Consolidated Results. Follow the PGN links for the actual games.
- Also, see what comes “free” with ECF Monthly Rating Database.
- Enough of an indication of progress has been given above, though see also my Chess Page7, which requires an update.
In-Page Footnotes:
Footnote 2: Footnote 4:
- I have a lot of chess books, but there's no point listing them here as they aren't going to get read any time soon, if ever.
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Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025