My training program

     I finished my last tournament with 4/9 and a performance of 1681. Not too bad (my rating is 1580) but there is a LOT of room for improvement.

     First, I still make a lot of blunders (in 5 games out of 9),so I need to work on my thinking system and on my tactics. I also need to improve my stamina, my blunders happened after the 3rd hour of play and my last 2 games were horrible. Lastly, the positions I got out of the opening were equal at best, so I think I need to create an opening repertoire to stick to.

     This season, I mainly trained with the free material by GM Igor Smirnov (https://www.youtube.com/user/GMIgorSmirnov) and I gained 98 points - from 1497 to 1595 (this includes the last tournament, the rating will be official in September). Smirnov's training method works for me, so I intend to continue with his paid courses.

     My plan for this season is :

• Tactical warm-up : I will use the books Manual of Chess Combinations, Vol. 1a, Manual of Chess Combinations, Vol. 1b and The Manual of Chess Combinations by Ivashchenko
• My biggest weakness : thinking system -> study Smirnov's course The Grandmaster's Secrets . If I have completed it before the end of the season, I'll start to study The Grandmaster's Positional Understanding .
• The fun part is where I will study something I feel like studying that day. The goal here is not to learn something new, but to have fun with chess and avoid burn-out! 
• Opening repertoire -> After every game , I will review the line played and improve my openings gradually. I'll stick to 1.e4 with White, the Scandinavian and the Benko with Black because they are the most fun to me.
• Stamina : I'll swim 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes.

     I hope this training plan will help me improve. This time I'd like to have a 100 points increase in my FIDE rating! Wish me luck.

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