I have been playing the best chess of my life lately. The MDLM program has been working wonders for me even though I have not done that many problems. I learned a lot about my weaknesses from doing my tactical training and already feel stronger. It is a chore to do it though. I thought I had peaked in my chess ability since I was unable to achieve last years goal of maintaining (or even reaching) 1600 FICS. I am now just 5 points away after 2-3 months of tactical training and I feel like I should be able to maintain that average.

I won my club game last night against a 1600 player. It was a very tough game and I believe I beat him on a psychological level before beating him on the board. I will post the annotated game after I have a chance to evaluate my play.

I was really kind of pissed off last FICS 45 45 tourney that after playing for the Patchworks team for several tournaments when they did not submit a team (or let me know) and I had to beg some other captains to let me join. I was lucky to get on the Pomaranch 1600 and DLM 1800 teams. If not for that I may have never started the tactical training. Funny how things work out.

I thought all this blogging would be a waste of time but I have learned a lot from going over my games and reading other's blogs. Some of the comments people have left me have helped out a lot too.