It's that time of year when many of us think about resolutions, what we might do differently in the year to come. Generally speaking I think that periodic renewal is a great idea, though New Year resolutions have a very poor success rate. Why is this and how would they apply to chess?

One major reason is that they are not specific enough, for example someone may resolve to 'improve their chess' but then leave it at this vague level. The improvement process should involve specific actions such as solving a particular number of chess problems every day.

Sometimes a resolution may not be something we really want, so it's important to find things that can be framed positively or tweak existing habits so as to make better ones. If it's something to do with fitness then find a form of exercise that you like. Playing chess online is a great favourite amongst many, but blitzing away with a bottle of whisky by your side may not be a productive way to go about it. Instead it can also be tweaked to make it more valuable, for example by limiting the number of games, setting longer time limits, playing specific openings and reviewing the games afterwards to see what you can learn.

Another issue with New Year resolutions is that the sheer length of the commitment can be daunting. A better way to go about lifestyle changes might be to have a weekly reset, starting on either a Sunday or a Monday. This way you can have a fresh start every week and only a short time in which you are committed. If it works out OK you can try again the next week, or tweak your efforts to make them more doable.

Training Tournaments

The training tournaments this week  are in the Colle System which appears in both the Building an Opening Repertoire course and the White 1.d4 Repertoire courses. It's quite interesting to discover that the Colle has now become quite fashionable at the top level, and especially in blitz and rapid play games. I think this is because it's a solid opening in which an exact knowledge of theory is not that important:

Sunday December 29th at 5pm UK Time: Colle with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 d5

Sunday December 29th at 6.15pm UK Time: Colle with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6

My Upcoming Events

Here's my schedule over the coming months, though it is subject to change. I often don't know until fairly late in the day:

January 17-19: Huddersfield 4NCL Congress
I really enjoy the 4NCL Congresses as they're played under excellent conditions in nice hotels. This is the first one in Huddersfield, you can find details here.

January 27th: Stockport Rapidplay
I've played in this event with some regularity, so probably I'll go for it again. You can find details here.

February 16-27, 2025: World Senior Team Championship
I've accepted a place in the 50+ second team which means I'll play a much stronger field than on bottom board of the first team. Although this diminishes my chances of winning a medal I'm looking forward to the challenge.

July/August 2025: British Championships
Will these be held in Liverpool next year or maybe Torquay? I've heard rumours about both venues, if they're held in Liverpool I'd probably go for the 50+ event.

I am still hoping to play in the European Senior Team Championships (Walbrzych, Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board. The details have yet to be confirmed, but when they are the teams will be selected.

Twitch Channel

I'm setting up a new Twitch channel on which I'm planning to weekly shows on viewers' questions and post recordings in the Tiger Chess members areas. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc.

It remains for me to wish you a happy and successful 2025!

Nigel