This week's Chess Questions Answered video addressed the issue of framing New Year resolutions. In fact it's well documented that resolutions are normally dropped after a few weeks, so instead I suggest the adoption of well crafted habits.

I recently started a few daily chess related habits that I hope will have a beneficial effect on my game. Basically it's solving a few tactics positions, a few endgames, doing some opening work and playing a few blitz games. Most days the blitz games are online, today I had a few games with my son Sam. He thought that I had become much sharper tactically, which confirms my sense about how things are progressing.

How should habits be formulated? Basically they should be doable on a daily basis, so using a phone for tactics and endgame exercises is a good start. There are various habit trackers around if that helps, I prefer keeping a mental note to keep my admin duties down to a minimum. I also make the tactics and endgame puzzles a priority and see the blitz games and opening training as an optional extra.

Training Tournaments

As I want to spend more time on content creation, writing, teaching and playing, I've handed the running of the training tournaments over to a couple of team members who regularly participate. You can find details of any events here. 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying my Creating an Improvement Plan series using the code 'jan2to10'. Many players would like to improve but have little idea how to do it. In this series of videos I draw on decades of coaching experience to show how players can diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, then target the most important areas to make the most effective use of their efforts.

Last week's discount is 40% off Endgame Mastery using the code 'dec26jan3'. In this series of videos I show how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

My Upcoming Events

I'll be playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia this month, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I'm also hoping to play in the World Senior Team Championships in April, but would need to be selected. Apart from that I might take part in a few local weekend events.

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel