Almost halfway

I am now up to 5200 of my 10,600 combinations to be memorised. So almost halfway.

4500 combinations

Still tracking my progress. Now up to 4500 combinations, learned to 90% accuracy.

Over 4000

I am now up to 4100 combinations of my 10,000 learned.

3800 done

I am now up to 3800 combinations learned to 90 percent accuracy.

Wallasey - Widnes Merseyside League

The following game was played on Board 2 of Division 1 of the Merseyside League on 5th September 2013.
Both sides missed wins.
The match was drawn 4-4.

1 Davies, Phil 188 0 - 1 Hill, David F 179
2 Carr, Steven 0.5 - 0.5 Ellis, Mark 181
3 Coffey, Mike J 169 0.5 - 0.5 Dugdale, Tom 162
4 Martin, Nicholas 167 1 - 0 Clissold, Richard S 160
5 Hughes, Greg M 157 1 - 0 Potter, Steven 152
6 Povall, T Jeff 159 0 - 1 Connor, Michael I 146
7 Smiley, Stuart 156 0 - 1 Kelly, Andy 146
8 Taylor, Edward A 147 1 - 0 Johnson, Ken 133

3370 combinations

So I am about one third through the task of memorising the answers to 10,600 combinations. It is hard work.

2800 combinations learned

I have managed to memorise 2800 of my 10,624 combinations.

2000 barrier reached

I have managed to memorise 2000 of my 10,624 combinations.

More puzzles solved

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 1700, of which I hope to get 90 percent right within a few seconds. That leaves only 8924 more to memorise.

Chess Improvement Training Source Material

Here is the site from which I downloaded the 10,624 chess combinations that I am currently working through.

More combinations learned

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 1400, of which I hope to get 90 percent right within a few seconds. That leaves only 9224 more to memorise.

Last Round of Heywood Major

In the last round I was playing Black against Mick Riding of Tynemouth Trojans, who is currently rated 176. I was very lucky to get a draw

Round 4 of Heywood Major 2013

This was Round 4 of the Heywood Major. I was Black against Damian McCarthy of Padgate, Warrington, who is rated 166.

Heywood Major 2013 Round 2

This game was played in Round 2 of the Heywood Major 2013. My opponent was John Wareing of Calderdale, grade 169.

Heywood Congress Round 1

This game was played in Round 1 of the Heywood Major Congress against Peter Lovatt, who is graded 169 and plays for Carden Arms, and who scored 10/11 for them in their league last season.

More combinations learned

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 1050, of which I hope to get 90 percent right at a glance.

Progress so far

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 720, of which I hope to get 90 percent right at a glance.

Progress so far

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 536, of which I hope to get 90 percent right at a glance.

Progress so far

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 404. I still have over 10,000 combinations to try to memorise.

Progress so far

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 316.

Progress so far

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 199.

Progress up to today

The number of chess puzzles I can now solve pretty much on sight has gone up to 139.

Progress so far

In my attempt to memorise 10,625 chess combinations, I so far have  learned 107 sufficiently that I reckon I could solve 9 out of 10 of them in just a few seconds.

My aim is get that 90 percent score across all 10,625.

Progress so far

So far, out of the 10,625 chess problems I downloaded, I have 61 of them that I can solve on sight.

So only 10,564 more problems to go.

From 150 to 200 - chess improvement for older players

I have not played a serious game of chess for over four years. I used to play in the Merseyside Chess League and the Wirral Chess League, but have not done so for years.

I estimate my current ECF (English Chess Federation) chess grading to be about 150.

The aim of this blog is to record the attempt of a senior player, aged 55, to move his chess grading from 150 to 200.

Can improvement in chess on that scale be possible for an amateur like me?

There is only one way to find out and that is to attempt the feat.  One problem with older players is that they tire quickly. Playing through tiredness is a recipe to blunder away points.

My philosophy is that something is only learned if it goes into long term memory. So I have downloaded 10,600 chess puzzles and will memorize them.  I believe it was Teichmann who said that chess is 99% tactics. If I memorize 10,600 chess combinations, that should go a way towards improving my chess strength.

My second aim will be to build an opening repertoire. My openings were always dodgy, so I need to work on them.

My third aim will be to analyse and memorize games in my chosen opening repertoire.

So can an amateur improve his chess rating by 50 points on the British scale, corresponding to 400 points on the FIDE scale in a few years?

We will have to wait and see, and this blog will record my attempts at improving my mastery of chess, while only being an amateur.