A podcast, a tournament, and a question

Headed into another tournament today but need your help

Morning everyone and welcome to February. I’ve been busy and I’ve got another tournament with Rising Star Chess today. However, I’m writing to ask you all a question.

A Podcast

First things first, I want to thank Ben Johnson for the chance to be on the Perpetual Chess podcast. We reviewed the book Make It Stick which I wrote about on this Substack both here and here. Honestly I’ve been using these adapted techniques for some time now. I can 100% recommend this approach even if at first it feels a little odd. Check it out and hope you enjoy!

A Tournament

Second, I believe that “real” chess is OTB chess. Online chess is great, but it’s so easy to get another game that each individual game sort of loses meaning. That is not so (at least for me) with OTB chess. My first ever OTB tournament was in 2021 and I can still remember every game. I’ve been “stuck” somewhere around 1500-1600 for a little while now. I believe that a year of OTB tournaments (one a month) will help my learning and break me out of that plateau. Stay tuned to Chess in Small Doses to find out.

A Question

Lastly a question for you all: How would you all prefer to see game recaps from me?

Obviously option #2 means a longer, more involved post (like this one) but we’d be getting a blow by blow description of the game. Option #1 is a shorter post (similar to the tournament report) with focus on the critical moment that won or lost the game. I need some audience participation to guide me so please vote in the poll (or leave a comment). I want to be respectful of your time and attention, so help me understand what’s better reading for you. Either way I’ll be analyzing each and every OTB game I play (you can find my OTB Lichess study here).

Thanks and good luck on your chess!