Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Status Reports
Status: Chess (2023 - June)
(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)
As this project is substantially in abeyance, this report is mostly generated automatically, with minor textual additions at the end of each academic year.
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. Now, it seems, I’ve actually done so.
- For further information, see my Chess Page1.
- I have played – as and when selected – for the Billericay A & B Teams in the North Essex Chess League Divisions 1 & 4 and for the Billericay I Team in Southend & District Chess League, Division 1. Also, in the Billericay Chess Club Championship and any KO competitions Billericay may enter.
- 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 has since 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 rating was 1660. Therefore, I need to update my historic results database with ELO equivalents.
- I’ve maintained my ECF Bronze membership. The ECF have now simplified the rating system, so the standard ‘K’ rating remains provided one rateable game has been played in the last 5 years. See my Ratings page (ECF: Theo Todman's Ratings Page) and that for most players at Billericay Chess Club (see ECF: Billericay Chess Club Ratings Page). See also 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 three 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.
Summary of Progress during April - June 2023
- I spent 1.25 hours in 23Q2 on this Project, or related work (5.5 hours YTD, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2022). That's 9.7% of the planned effort (14.1% YTD). Overall, 0.2% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 0.3% YTD) - as against 1.7% planned (1.9% YTD).
- Further details follow (for the latest Quarter: 23Q1):-
Chess (Total Hours = 1.25)
- Chess - Reading / Writing
- Chess - Admin (Total Hours = 0.5)
- 23Q1 Status Reports (0.25 hours)
- Chess - Discussions with Chris (0.25 hours)
→ See "Chess - Admin" (0.5 hours)
- Chess - Training
- I scheduled 1 hour / week for this project back in 22Q3, to play a little on-line chess, with the intention that I’d not be completely unprepared in case the Billericay chess scene came back to life in 22Q4. My preparations came to nothing, and the Billericay chess scene hasn’t come to anything either! I continued to schedule 1 hour / week throughout this academic year, just in case I got the time and enthusiasm. However, I’ve now dropped this as it doesn’t look like there will be any chess in Billericay next season, either, and I’m too busy with Bridge.
- As can be seen, I did nothing in the last quarter.
Summary of Progress during October 2022 – Date (YTD Activity3)
- Chess (Total Hours = 5.5)
- Chess - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 2.25)
- Chess - Admin (Total Hours = 2.25)
- 22Q3 Status Reports (0.25 hours)
- 22Q4 Status Reports (0.75 hours)
- 23Q1 Status Reports (0.25 hours)
- Chess - Discussion with Nat & Tim (0.75 hours)
- Chess - Discussions with Chris (0.25 hours)
→ See "Chess - Admin" (2.25 hours)
- Chess - Training
- Progress (if any) in the current quarter can be obtained from the relevant section of my Summary Task List4.
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.
- Unfortunately, given a poor run of form, because there’s no chess to be had over the board and because of the need to focus on higher-priority projects, it is not possible to schedule more than 1 hour / week on this project at the moment. We’ll see how it goes.
- My grandson Tommy – who’s now 5 years old – has shown some interest in the game and has learnt the moves, more or less, but unsurprisingly has no real concept of what the game is about. Hopefully I’ll be able to help him in the future as he gets older. I should get myself in shape so I can be of some use!
- So, the following list is nonsense, but I can’t be bothered to waste time updating it:-
- 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
- Chess Study:-
→ "Gufeld (Eduard) - The Sicilian for the Tournament Player",
→ "Hansen (Carsten) - Back to Basics: Chess Openings: A comprehensive guide to chess openings and opening play",
→ "Hansen (Carsten) - The Full English Opening: Mastering the Fundamentals",
→ "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",
→ "Sadler (Matthew) & Regan (Natasha) - Game Changer: AlphaZero's Groundbreaking Chess Strategies and the Promise of AI",
→ "Speelman (Jon), Tisdall (Jon) & Wade (Bob) - Batsford Chess Endings",
→ "van der Sterren (Paul) - FCO - Fundamental Chess Openings", and
→ "Willemze (Thomas) - The Chess Toolbox: Practical Techniques Everyone Should Know".
- Chess Training:-
→ Chess.com (game analysis & occasional 10-minute game),
→ Investigate5 LiChess.org
→ "Chess - Chess - YouTube Videos",
→ Complete review of 2018/19 season's games,
→ Complete review of 2019/20 season's games,
→ Train Tommy as opportunity arises.
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.
In-Page Footnotes:
Footnote 2: Footnote 3:
- As this project is substantially inactive, I don’t usually update the text quarterly as for the active projects, but only at the end of the academic year.
- YTD figures and tasks are somewhat redundant at the end of the first Quarter, but it saves remembering to update the report in future quarters.
- However, while the Quarterly figures appear against that plan and are “as at” the end of the last Quarter, the YTD figures and tasks are as at the date of production of the report.
- The YTD Activity-list is to make the end-year task easier, and to give a clearer idea of what – if anything – has been going on in the interim.
Footnote 5:
- And consider migrating from Chess.com, though I renewed my membership at the end of August 2020, but downgraded from Diamond, costing about £80, to Gold, costing about £24.
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Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2023