Annual review

This time last year I said:

...I'm hoping to fit in a few more games this year. Last year I think I played about 40 rated games, a bit more online than OTB. This year I should go past 50.

So...how did that work out?

Rather well, at least in terms of games played. (we'll get on to performance in a minute..). A couple of congresses, several games for the Yorkshire U1850s even though my local chess club Saturday league 6-board team folded due to lack of numbers. More significantly, I discovered the Lichess4545 League and signed up for that, which gave me (roughly) weekly games. I tried the LoneWolf competition, found the 30+30 time control just a bit fast and didn't do very well, but the 4545 team competition was a slightly better pace for me (45+45) and my results have been strong. Also, the 4NCL continues in congress and team (only 4 players, my club can still just about manage that). I was initially concerned that arranging a 4545 game each week would be a pain in the neck but in practice it's been ok, I have a lot of flexibility in my schedule and can usually find a weekday evening to suit my opponent. 4NCL with the fixed schedule is still better but of course that limits the pool of opponents.

As a result of all that, Lichess lists 77 classical games for me this year. A couple of these were demos for a teammate but the vast majority were serious competitive games. On top of that, 18 OTB games. So that amounts to well over 90 for the year, much closer to 2 per week than the 1 I'd targeted.

How about results? Well, it's a bit mixed. I started off with a terrible tilt, partly struggling with the time control in the LoneWolf and some other quicker 30+20 classical games I was playing. 8 losses in a row and also disappointing results in the OTB games, both Bradford and Harrogate congresses (the latter being a complete nightmare in particular). My OTB rating dipped to 1800 - the lowest since I restarted playing a few years ago - and my Lichess rating dropped as low as 1855. However I recovered OTB with another strong Ilkley result (4/5 and a share of 1st place in the U1900 section) and a few decent games for Yorkshire U1850. Once I got into the rhythm of the 4545 games I started putting together decent sequences and have now scored 17/23 over 3 consecutive seasons with a performance rating of over 2100.

I still have a number of disappointing games where I throw away strong positions, and have struggled to understand this through the year. Analysing got me nowhere, the blunders had no particular pattern that I could discern. This continued up to early November when I happened to read a number of blog posts about time management. I've always thought of myself as generally in control, able to play sensibly.....but something clicked in the description of time trouble addiction and it dawned on me that I might have a problem. The final straw was two consecutive painful losses in early November just a few days apart (OTB then online), both from positions of great strength (probably winning) where I basically punched myself in the face with stupid time management, running down my clock looking for the "perfect" plan until I had to move in a panic and blundered repeatedly.

Once I knew what to look for, it stuck out like a bit of a sore thumb. During my worst-ever losing streak of 8 games earlier this year, I went below 5 mins in 5 of them, somewhere between move 18 and move 25. I even flagged in one of these games, in a winning position. I didn't lose all 8 due to time mismanagement but it surely played a significant role in perpetuating that streak.

Since I identified the problem, I've won 7 out of 9. I've still gone down under 5 mins in over half of these games, but on only one of these occasions was it before move 30, mostly it's been at worst late in the middlegame and often well into the endgame (including on move 75 in a completely winning endgame when I was just making doubly- and triply-sure of the win). This suggests I've still perhaps got a bit of work to do but it's definitely a significant change. My basic approach is to think about budgeting for 60 moves (fully a quarter of my games go over 50) and aim to not miss that by too much, though I don't hold to it rigorously. Anything worse than a 45-move schedule is definitely cause for concern though, and that's mathematically simple with 45+15 and 45+45 time controls as you can just check that the clock time doesn't go down by more minutes than the number of moves made.

Ratings-wise, prior to this year I'd not gone over 2000 in lichess classical. I was getting very close in Feb before having my massive tilt, climbed up a few times only to fall down again through the year, But in the past month I've gone straight past 2000 to my current peak of 2037. I know that a peak usually means I'm over-rated but I've had a few nice wins in that time too, including these two, the first being a 4545 league match where I had the black pieces and played a decent Caro-Kann:

and the second being the semi-final division 3 playoff of the 4NCL league:

My opponent there was 1867 in ECF classical rating, he didn't make any big blunders but was just a bit too passive throughout. I really enjoy 4 pawns attacks when they go that well!

As for the coming year....I don't have any revolutionary ideas. I want to see how my improved approach to time management pans out and will continue with mostly online play but will probably enter the Ilkley congress again in the summer as well as the Yorkshire U1850 matches when possible. I have just decided not to bother with Bradford congress this weekend, it's a bit of a trek in winter weather and my car is in the hospital so I'm stuck with a rather uncomfortable replacement for the time being. I find online classical works really well for me, the e-board in a quiet room is a great setup that allows me to focus.