The Road to 2000

Chess has been a near-constant companion these past five years—a patient teacher, a maddening rival, and an unyielding mirror. At times, a wellspring of focus. But lately, chess has felt less a battleground of wits, more a mindless escape.

(Which as I’m sure you can imagine, is a mindset that doesn’t yield quality chess.)

But April looms in the not-too-distant future, with the 28th ushering in my 5 year anniversary of consistent play—with intermittent periods of dedicated study. 

Given my meandering approach and unfocused mindset, I’ve been wrestling with whether or not to make a concerted effort to achieve the goal I set in 2020… 

Which was to crack the 2000 rating threshold in the Rapid format in five years.

To give some context for that goal:

Reaching 2000 on chess.com will put me in the 99.5% percentile—pretty dang good.

Don’t get me wrong though—the gulf between me and GOAT Magnus Carlsen or Gukesh is greater than myself to someone who doesn’t know how the pieces move…

But still, you have a not-insignificant level of skill if you reach 2000.

I began my journey at ~800, have climbed as high as ~1930 in recent months, and am currently hovering at ~1830. Your rating represents your relative strength within the player pool—also speaking to the average of how well and how poorly you can play.

Thus, your rating reflects your chess prowess—and letting your rating become a reflection of your self-worth is easy (a perilous trap we all fall into from time to time).

Anyway, the higher you climb, the harder climbing becomes. 

(On my day, I can perform with the strength of a 2100-2200 rated player. On the unavoidable off days however, maintaining even a 1600 level of play can be a mighty challenge—which is something I’m trying to raise the floor on.)

Thus, your rating reflects your chess prowess—and letting your rating become a reflection of your self-worth is easy (a perilous trap we all fall into from time to time).

Anyway, the higher you climb, the harder climbing becomes. 

While I can comfortably hang in the high 1800s/low 1900s, I’ve noticed that as soon as I begin getting matched with players in the 2000s, I start to struggle, feeling out of my depth. So cracking that threshold won’t be easy—and I will need to study.

Which is something I’ve avoided since Spring 2023. Studying chess is hard, laborious, and rather dull if I’m honest—easy to cast aside in favour of just about anything else.

Nor is studying chess glamorous. There’ll be no montage of me pouring over pawn structures, endgame theory, and tactical problems while dramatic music swells in the background. Rather, chess improvement is like chipping away at a glacier.

HOWEVER—those are all easy excuses… 

And I know deep down that I want to keep improving. Always have. I’d also like to return to over-the-board tournaments this year—something I strayed from in 2024.

So at the time of publishing, I have 15 weeks to get my shit together, return to my old study habits which have served me well, and reach this 5 year goal of mine in the nick of time. I’ve penned this Whimsie as a public commitment to that process.

As for what my study process looks like:

1. Solving 10 puzzles per day (without rushing or leaping to fast conclusions)

2. Reviewing the theory for my opening repertoire (one opening per day)

3. Playing 1-3 rapid games per day (and taking time for post-game analysis)

4. Watching Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky’s videos (an excellent teacher)

The good news is that for the improvement I’m seeking, I don’t need to learn anything new. I like my openings, and most of my games fall in familiar territory.

What I do need to do is refresh my theoretical knowledge, gain a deeper understanding of the positions I most commonly find myself in, and sharpen my “chess brain” so that I’m better equipped for accurate, quick decision making.

Now hitting 2000 by April’s end isn’t guaranteed no matter what I do… 

But if I do the above as prescribed, I’ll improve, regardless of where my rating lands.

And if all goes well, perhaps there’ll be a nearby tournament to celebrate with in May.

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander

(AKA: Wiz, WOW, and The Wizard of Wordcraft)