Great job, thanks for sharing
Nice blog and introspection, I think you nailed very important stuff here, namely the HUGE importance of loving the game and the underwhelming role of learning opening theory.
I am personnally close to 1900 FIDE and am pretty unprepared on the opening phase, but I just think I love the game more than most of my oponents, which makes me stronger positionnally because I really engage in any position I get.
Also you told a bit (in the form of your coach's advice) that playing with an increment is essential to the learner, because it builds good habbits (or at least avoid some bad ones like playing to flag the opponent) and takes you to praxtice endgame seriously, which I think is crucial to break a certain level.
Wish you all the best for the rest of your chess journey, keep enjoying the game
Hey it has >250 likes, so you have to do a weekly blog :)
I really enjoyed reading this blog, really good advice
@saymonsey said [^](/forum/redirect/post/u2JFlSsG)
> Nice blog and introspection, I think you nailed very important stuff here, namely the HUGE importance of loving the game and the underwhelming role of learning opening theory.
> I am personnally close to 1900 FIDE and am pretty unprepared on the opening phase, but I just think I love the game more than most of my oponents, which makes me stronger positionnally because I really engage in any positio...
Thanks so much, I believe I've gotten where I'm at so fast because of my love for the game mainly and not much else. It's nice to have another example that people can see that's even higher rated than I am.
@adeetiey said [^](/forum/redirect/post/e8gYZsKb)
> Hey it has >250 likes, so you have to do a weekly blog :)
The first one has already been posted
Gaining 1,000 Elo points in a year is absolutely massive! But I doubt everyone could manage it. Above all, it must be even harder to go from 2,000 to 3,000 Elo (which is basically number one, let’s face it)!
> Then the people that don't get led astray, get constantly fed "Don't learn openings, do tactics!" and while tactics are great, they can only do so much if you can't convert an endgame up 2 pawns or a bishop or even a rook.
Let me put it this way: most close games are decided in the endgame; but also, if you know your endgames you know which exchanges and ideas to play for in the middlegame.
I really love the enthusiasm, energy, and determination you have put into this. I feel blogs are the best way to share ur experiences and thoughts, I have made some blogs too but they have not achieved much popularity but I still have hope! I hope u can join my team https://lichess.org/team/attack-at-the-knightmares (not forcing) We are currently trying to hit 200 members. Check it out or on my blogs if possible, I hope ur blogs go well in the future. Really appreciate the past and wish well for the future!
i started at 1700 something and still at it since a week ago