Sunday, February 12, 2006

New Schedule

I have mapped out a schedule to be able to study several of my weakest areas of the game.
So pardon the lengthy list but I could stand to improve just about everywhere.

So far I have grouped the following:

A) Openings
Opening study with game review (playing through GM games of the particular lines I play to gather ideas and plans.)

B) Middle Game (Calculation Exercises)
Using tactical exercise software. (X number of problems per session, just to stay sharp)
(CT-Art believe it or not) The main reason is because it has some flawed lines and some really diverse themes. In a couple of recent tournament games I found myself getting lazy with taking
variations out only so far and missing some key advantages that I later found with Fritz only a move or two deeper than I initially looked. This is to work my calculation muscle, so I take my time with each exercise and have been trying to formulate an in game checklist while working through these.

C) Middle Game (Calculation & Planning)
Using IM Jacob Aargaard's excellent resources as my guide. Working through his "Right Decisions" Chessbase DVD and its companion book "Excelling at Chess Calculation".
Hopefully this will alleviate some of my in game indecision problems that I have encountered
over my last few games. Some of it can be attributed to rust, but I have been guilty of playing without a plan more often than not. If I'm going to make any significant improvement I have to avoid placing myself in time trouble and learn how to formulate plans when I enter into new territory over the board.

D) Middle Game (Pattern Recognition)
Working through the 1000X Checkmate CD again. This is a good way to keep those mating patterns fresh.

E) Endgame (Studies)
Working through Karsten Muller's "Fundamental Chess Endings" as well as his "Secrets of Pawn Endings" and creating a database of the examples for later review.

F) Endgame (Studies)
Working through the examples given in "GM-Ram" by Rashid Ziatdinov to help build bridges
between the middle and endgame.

G) Playing Rated Games
Self explanatory, play and review to seek improvements.
You need to play for the feedback alone, not to mention why bother to study if you aren't going to use it.

With one category for each day of the week it should be more than enough to keep me busy.