Robert Greene Mastery quote

Highway to Mastery

10,000 Hours?

50 years old chess noob (184 rating)
MISSION: 2000 Chess.com rapid rating

✅ Do what matters ✅ Do it well ✅ Do it consistently

While reading an excellent chess blog written by a Doctor (as a doctor, he certainly knows a thing or two about studying effectively). In one of his many interesting posts, Doctor/chess player Nick Vasquez, MD gave us the example of a man named Dan McLaughlin, who put his entire life on hold to try and become an expert golfer at age 30 without any athletic background. His quest was based on the 10,000 Hours to Mastery as promoted in the time honored book: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The book is centered about the principle that 10,000 focused hours of deliberate practice led to expertise/mastery in any field. Spoiler alert: The aspiring pro golfer had to forget his dream when he was sidetracked by back injuries. Nonetheless, he reached a 2 handicap at his peak (very high amateur level, top 5% of all golfers) after 6003 hours of deliberate practice.

Which inspired me to calculate my time too. At least my focused time (Playing and Puzzles/Tactics). Without including reading, watching videos, thinking about chess.

So, since today, Monday, September 8, 2025. I’ll calculate all the hours I dedicate to Chess. I have my chrono watch on my right wrist.

I wanna proof that being 50 years old is not a death sentence. There’s more to life!

I’m fully transparent. No lies, no BS!!

So you can Follow my journey live on:

Expert in a Year

Expert in a Year - Training hours chart

While doing my research, I’ve found another, shorter version of the 10,000 Hours to Mastery rules.

Expert in a Year = 1 Hours a Day X 365 Days. Expert in 365 Hours

Expert: Someone who is in the Top 1% of active players. Which is a 1800 Rapid rating on Chess.com (⁓ 99.2% Percentile)

Personally, I do not believe that you can get to be a Top 1% Expert in any field with only 1 Hours a day of deliberate practise/optimal training.

Getting to 1800 Chess.com Rapid rating in 1 year? Only 1 Hour a Day???

The only one who did with proof, starting from 199 to 1980 in 10 months is Tyler1. But it wasn’t on a lazy 1 hour a day!? He played and did Chess puzzles for up to 12 Hours a day!

Follow my journey live on (add me as a friend):

  • As a lifeling, Combat Sports fan, Chess Boxing got me interested in chess and brought me back into it two times.
  • Joined Chess.com in September 25, 2013 (age 38). Didn’t even know how to move the pieces. Played two games. Thought it was a a waste of time. I’m an all-or-nothing guy!
  • April 30, 2018 to May 11, 2018, (age 42) played about 30 games without any fundamental notions. Call it quit, thought you have to start playing at 6 years old to be very good at it. So there wasn’t any hope for me.
  • June 19, 2025. Came back to Chess.com after more than seven years off. Contrary to what I thought, I remembered how to play the pieces. Starting with a 184 rapid chess rating on Chess.com.
  • A few days before, I’ve watched the entire Queen’s Gambit series and feel in love with Beth Harmon.❤️ Now you know why I prefer to stay single with such an attraction for crazy chicks.
  • June 25, 2025. The beginning of my path to a 1800 “Elo” as a soon to be 50 years young with a glorious 233 rapid chess rating on Chess.com
  • June 26, 2025. Buying ChessIsWar.com domain name.
  • June 27, 2025. Buying How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond by Levy Rozman aka GothamChess. Probably the only chess book who doesn’t looks like it was written by a Russian ghost during the Cold War. Levy’s book is full of colored chessboards, has a modern touch, and is pleasing to read.
  • June 29, 2025. Put this website online fully dedicated to chess. I’m a blogger/web publisher at heart.
  • June 30, 2025. I wrote this page. 😁
  • Concentration and observation are my two major issues. Even as a 300, getting squashed by 200 noobs because of my stupid blunders isn’t amusing!!*😠
  • July 4, 2025. I’ve got the Chess.com 1-year Diamond Membership 💎.
  • I’m currently doing a lot of puzzles and game with Coach thanks to my Chess.com unlimited Diamond Membership.
  • July 11, 2025 3:00 AM. Just finished read Levy Rozman book, then I ordered my second chess book ever, The Soviet Chess Primer by Ilya Maizelis. Finishing one book from cover to cover before ordering another one. Doing so, each new book is a reward for finishing another. It would be very tempting to order a couple of chess books instead of just one. But what’s the point if you never read them?
  • July 14, 2025 1:00 AM. Good news! I have my official Lichess rating of 869. Bad news, I’m only better than 8.1% of rapid chess players. In the meanwhile, I’m rated 293 on chess.com and I’m better than 18.1% of rapid players. Nonetheless, I’m good at puzzles aka tactics: 2124 on chess.com and 1183 on lichess. ChatGPT verdict: I’m a strong tactical player and a weak practical player for now?!
  • July 15, 2025 1:00 AM. My Chess.com Puzzle rating is 2502🎉 (6h18 of training, 914 rated puzzles) and I’m on my way to 3000🎉. Maybe I’ll be the first player ever to have a puzzle rating that’s 10× higher than their actual game rating!
  • July 17, 2025. Super GM status in chess.. puzzles.
  • July 19, 2025 ⁓ 1:00 AM. Ordered two reputed chess puzzle books on Amazon.com. No I haven’t finished, even started, The Soviet Chess Primer. A little bit advanced and certainly seems boring.
  • July 22, 2025 23:34. Finally got my official lichess.org Classical rating after 13 games played. Lichess Classical rating 1122 which is better than 12% (percentile) of classical players. FYI, we all start at 1500 before getting our official rating at least 12 games. Even if I’m comparably stronger on Chess.com with a fn 290-300. My lichess 1122 rating looks way better! 1250 lichess classical is the equivalent of 550 chess.com rapid rating. So there is some hope for interesting ratings in the short term.
  • July 24, 2025 o:45. Ordered A First Book of Morphy by Frisco Del Rosario. A book describing the 30 most important principles of chess with examples took from more than 60 Paul Morphy’s chess games. The kind of book that I will enjoy reading. By the way, I have completed Polgar Bible first 306 puzzles out of 5334 and 166/759 puzzles from the fantastic Everyone’s First Chess Workbook. I really enjoy doing these puzzles and exercices from a physical book with pen and paper. A surprisingly good learning method for me. I love chess books.
  • July 25, 2025. 1 MONTH 🚀 into the Highway to 1700 Elo. My chess.com rapid rating is 313 (+80 in 30 days) in the 20.4% percentile (better than 20.4% of players) after only 82 games there in the last 30 days.
  • August 8, 2025. ⁓  2h00 AM. Tried Freestyle Chess aka Chess960 on Chess.com. I hated it! I was defeated by this asshole Martin bot (250)??!! What a shame!
  • August 8, 2025. Registered to ChessDojo.
  • August 12, 2025. A little over midnight. Chess.com 3000 Puzzles Rating 🎉. I’m now a Super Super GM at Chess Puzzles. Now, all I have to do is to learn how to play properly!!!
  • August 13, 2025. 41.00 CAD 2-year membership fee paid to the CCCA (Canadian Correspondance Chess Association) to get my official ICCF (International Correspondance Chess Federation) number. ICCF is one of the 3 official chess federation with FIDE and FIDE Online Arena. I think ICCF anything goes (engines allowed) is the best way to try Correspondance Chess today.
  • August 13, 2025. Entered the CCCA (ICCF) D83 CHALLENGERS tournament for a 15.00 CAD fee. Pay to play just like FIDE, I guess?. I’m playing my first games already, CCCA tournament very soon. Wout! Wout!
  • August 14, 2025. Modern Chess Analysis by Robin Smith (probably one of the very few book about the ICCF “centaur” correspondance chess) and the always recommended classic Silman’s Complete Endgame Course by Jeremy Silman.
  • August 16, 2025. Bought CorrespondenceChess.club domain name.
  • August 20, 2025, Wednesday about 19h35 to 20h05. First ever OTB (Over the board, in-person) chess game with my Mother ❤️. Completely different than playing online. At first, I was like a fish out of water… Regained my 401 Chess.com rapid rating. Only playing 30 min. games. Everyday I’m getting better and better!
  • August 24, 2025. Registered for the ICCF’s RoW Championship Open Round. I’ll be busy this year, I’m already in two ICCF tournaments.
  • August 25, 2025. 2 MONTHS 🚀on the Highway to 1800 Elo. My Chess.com rapid rating is 402 (better than 31.6% of players), my Chess.com Daily rating is 695 (only 1 game/win yet). Anyway, I’m probably better suited for daily/correspondence chess, since I have a lot of time to think so I can avoid all the fuckin’ blunters, hanging pieces, and stupid mistakes that I make on a 30 minutes time-frame…  I will begin my first ICCF rated Correspondence Chess tournament on September. I’m thrilled with ICCF, since it’s an official Chess organization just like the FIDE, and FIDE Online Arena. However, ICCF is “Centaur” anything goes Correspondence Chess. You don’t have to worry about cheaters since everything is legal. So I will be pitted against (stereotypical) titled ICCF players/retired computer science professors 🤓 armed of $6K computers 🤖 to assist their 2000 ELO OTB chess rating ♟️. Will see how my two months of Chess training assisted by Stockfish will fare against them. I’m ready to kill no matter what!! 😈👑 Chess Is Fuckin’ War!!! And in the case of ICCF, Chess is Nuclear War!!! 💣Since everything goes!!…  Actually, I have 2 ICCF Tournaments starting in September. The first is against Titled players but the second is against six American noobs. I just can’t afford to lose against fellow noobs. 18 GAMES WARS at the same time!!! Plus two Classical Correspondance (daily) games on Chess.com. And believe me, all the back-and-forth Stockfish consultations and weighing the pros and cons of every move take far more time than a Classical Correspondence Chess game played with brain power alone.
  • August 28, 2025. 12h40 AM. Bought Bobby Fischer: My 60 Memorable Games (will do the games with my Mom) and The Amateur’s Mind by Jeremy Silman (so much raving reviews about this book).
  • September 3, 2025. Ordered Best Play A New Method For Discovering The Strongest Move by Alexander Shashin I’m really curious about this book.

Chess stats before September 8, 2025. See About page for more details.

  1. I’ve started playing Chess on June 19, 2025 at a 184 chess.com rapid rating, started my training on June 25. 79 Days, not including today.
  2. Bought 10 chess books. I love chess books.
  3. Time spent playing on Lichess: 20 hours, 54 minutes. 1,077 rated puzzles, 49 Classical Games (my favorite format), and 12 rapid games.
  4. Rated Puzzles on Chess.com: 9 hours 33 minutes (1,328 puzzles). Only played 306 games (267 rapid games. My favorite time control is 30 minutes per side), 1420 puzzles (probably including the non-rated puzzles, and 66 lessons.
  5. Ratings that matter. Chess.com rapid: from 184 to 419, peak 448. Lichess Classical: 1073, peak 1154.
  6. About 27 OTB (Over The Board) games (20 annoted games/24 hours) with my Mother.
  7. Time? That’s about 19h49 of Puzzles, about 134h47 of play on Chess.com & Lichess, 23h58 for the 20 OTB annoted games with my Mother: About 178 hours 34 minutes without including the hours spent on my ICCF Correspondence games, 5 days on non-annoted OTB games with Mom, reading books and blog, watching videos, writing this blog, and countless hours thinking about chess. So it gave me a bare minimum of about 200 hours. I’ve easily worked over 2h45 a day on my Chess since June 25. No, I haven’t included my Queen’s Gambit watch time.

No fucking countdown, I’m on the Highway to Chess Mastery (200 Hours in, 9,800 Hours to go)

  • September 8, 2025: 1h30 OTB game with Mom; 55 min. on my ICCF corr. games; and the rest of the time doing 50 puzzles before each games played on Chess.com: 251 custom puzzles (all themes 0-700) and 5 games + reviews (Thankx to my Diamond membership). I’ve returned to my 448 chess.com rapid rating all-time peak. 6 hours 42 minutes today (207 Hours)
  • September 9, 2025: 1h10 OTB game with Mom; 56 min, on my ICCF corr. games; played 3 games I wasn’t in the mood at all and it reflected into my games I’m down to 427🤬😡 Faced the Tal-Bot and Capablanca-Bot, one game each. All games were reviewed. Did 206 custom puzzles. Total: 5h05 without including reading and video watching. (212 Hours) 457 Puzzles
  • September 10, 2025: 1h20 OTB game with Mom; working on my ICCF games; 2h30 for 2 games and 150 puzzles. 4h25 (217 Hours) 602 Puzzles. Did not include, board visualization exercices while walking my beloved dog, Princesse; 45 min. of playing over Petrosian vs Fischer game with Mom since I don’t know if it is that useful in my current chess development. Reading not included too. However, I took the liberty to round my time total to the next hour since there is a lot of my time who is dedicated to chess outside of my deliberate practice.
  • September 11, 2025: 1h00 OTB game vs Mom; butchered a Spassky vs Fischer game and had to quit after 20 min… Worked on my ICCF corr. games for 1h05… 1h05 of reading/studying Silman’s Amateur Mind book. No boring reading there, just going straight to the right stuff, the rules and tips… Did 100 custom (all themes) puzzles in 37 minutes… 4 rapid (30 min) games and reviews in 1h05 (3 points/4). Meditated for the first time ever in my life, a couple of minutes with my eyes closed focusing on my breath. It worked, almost felt weird. 446 chess.com rapid rating. 4h52. (222 Hours) 702 Puzzles. Bedtime reading not included.

STUDY PLAN. Just like any athlete, serious chess players need a training program. Targeted reading/studying now included. Visualization / blindfold training not included yet.

  • September 12, 2025: 9h40 of sleep… Watching chess videos while eating… Board memorizing drills while walking Princesse, my beloved dog… 2h05 OTB chess game with Mom… 1h15 working on my ICCF games… 200 Puzzles = 1 hour 13 minutes 44 seconds… 3 minutes of meditation (very effective to relax and clear all negative thoughts)… 1h40 Playing my 4 games (3 points (wins)/4) + reviews. Getting better every day, good concentration. Now, I’m rated 468 with a peak of 474… Now some targetted studying of Silman’s Amateur Mind book before going to sleep 27 min. Total: 6h26. (230 Hours) 902 Puzzles.
  • September 13, 2025: 9h05 of sleep… 1h00 OTB chess game with Mom… 1h06 working on my ICCF games… 201 puzzles in 1h07… Chess.com two daily game moves 5 min 33 sec… 1h46 my 4 chess games (3 wins/4).. 38 min. reading/studying the bulletpoint in Silman’s Amateur Mind book. New all time peak 487. Total: 5h42 minutes (236 Hours)
  • September 14, 2025: 7h55 of sleep, since yesterday, I see a chess board and chess pieces moving in my head before sleeping. And it’s AWESOME… 1h00 OTB game vs Mom… 1h05 working on my ICCF games… 1h07 = 201 puzzles… 7 min. 2 daily game moves… 2:40 of meditation… 1h33 4 chess.com Games + reviews (2.5 points / 2 wins – 1 loss – 1 draw)… Watching some chess videos, reading a chess blog… Bedtime studying with three of my books… Total: 5h51 (236 Hours) 1103 Puzzles. New all times peak 497 rapid rating.
  • September 15, 2025: 7h52 of sleep… 1h10 working on my ICCF correspondence games… 1h58 OTB game vs Mom… 201 puzzles in 1h05… 9 min. making the moves of my two daily games…  Meditate 3 min… 2h15 for my 4 games and reviews. Bad night, 3 losses 1 draw. Hanging queen🤬😡 Even GMs blunders. Another learning experience… 36 minutes of books reading… Total time: 7h13 (243 Hours) 1304 Puzzles
  • September 15, 2025. Ordered Cognitive Chess: Improving Visualization and Calculation Skills by Konstantin Chernyshov. Book #11 in my Collection. I love chess books!

📖 Bedtime Chess reading not included.

  • September 16, 2025: 8:57 of sleep… 1h43 OTB game vs Mom… 1h20 working on my ICCF games… 1h14 for 200 puzzles/tactics. Harder than usual. A good thing!.. 5:45 working on my 2 daily games… 3 min. meditation… 2h49 for my 4 games & reviews (1.5 points/4) which mean 1 win – 2 losses – 1 draw. Less blunders and more attentive. Total: 7h12 (250 Hours) 1504 Puzzles. Bedtime Chess reading not included.
  • September 17, 2025: 7h33 of sleep… 40 min. working on my ICCF games… 2 OTB games vs Mom for a total of 1h10… 1h05 for my 200 warm-up Puzzles… 5 :07 for 2 moves of my 2 daily games… 2 min. meditation… 2h00 to play my 4 games (3 wins 1 loss or 3 pts). One loss, one bluff, one mistake… Total: 5h00 (255 Hours) 1704 Puzzles. Bedtime Chess reading not included.
  • September 18, 2025: 7h21 of sleep… 52 min. OTB game vs Mom… 1h22 working on my ICCF Correspondence games… 201 Puzzles in 1h01… 5 min. on my 2, now 1 daily chess game… 3 min. of meditation… 2:19 for my 4 games (2 wins -1 loss -1 draw or 2.5 points/4)  Total: 5h40 (231 Hours) 1905 Puzzles. New all times peak 504 rapid rating… Bedtime reading not include.
  • September 18, 2025. Ordered Rapid Chess Improvement by Michael de la Maza 
  • September 19, 2025: 8h27 of sleep… 1h32 OTB game vs Mom… ⁓ 45 min. working on my ICCF games… 250 Puzzles in 1h26… 1:20 for my daily game move… 2:30 meditation… 2h25 for 4 games. Horrendous night! (1 win – 3 losses or 1 point/4). Maybe doing a shitload of tactics/puzzles isn’t the only solution?! If I don’t know what the fuck to do in the opening and against fn pawn chains!? I don’t think that memorizing the chessboard is a game changer at this level of my game. I’m only 3 months in. At least, its against higher rated opponents. Another learning experience! New rating 491. Total: 6h09 (237 Hours) 2155 Puzzles. Bedtime reading Silman’s Amateur Mind book mostly.
  • September 20, 2025: 7h51 of sleep… Watched over 8 hours of AEW & WWE pro wrestling today. So I didn’t play OTB nor ICCF games today. But daily training as usual… 252 Puzzles in 1h32 to warm-up (wake up)… 3:18 for one move on my daily game… 3:43 meditation… 1h29 for my 4 games (2 wins – 1 loss – 1 draw or 2.5 pts/4). New peak Chess.com Rapid rating 510… Total: 3h04 for my regular daily training (240 Hours) 2407 Puzzles.
  • September 21, 2025: 8h17 of sleep… OTB game vs Mom 57 min… Worked 2h17 on my ICCF games. Currently, I’m playing 18 Correspondence games. About 10 min. of analysis before making a move. The goal is to play the Strongest Move in all position… Puzzle Rush Survival (11 attempts) for 1h01. A meager 15 today for an all-time best of 22. I did just a little over 100 Puzzle Rush in my life. I didn’t liked the gamefication of it (real reason: I sucked at it!). Decided to try it seriously since its the upmost measuring stick for your Chess solving abilities. Also, I wasn’t taking the custom puzzles seriously since they are unrated… 3:17 meditation (until my hands feel “weird”)… 1h52 for my 4 games (1 win-3 losses or 1 pt/4)… Total: 6h07 (247 Hours)
  • September 22, 2025: 8h21 of sleep… 6:30 walking my dog. Short, it was raining. No chessboard visualization drill… 57 mnts OTB game vs Mom… Worked 1h23 on my ICCF Games… 1h07 of Puzzle Rush Survival. Scored 18 in Survival mode and 16 in 5-min mode today. Missing time in 5-minute limit attempts which defy the purpose of doing Chess Puzzles in the first place. It will be wiser to stick to Puzzle Rush Survival instead…  About 2h00? (I forgot to start my chrono) for my 4 games and reviews (2 wins -2 losses or 2 pts) Total: 5h27 (253 Hours)
  • September 23, 2025: 7h45 of sleep… 28:02 Chess visualization drill while walking the dog. I really do like those drills, so much that walking the dog doesn’t seem like a chore anymore… 2h06 annotated (like all OTB games) OTB game vs Mom… 2h40 working on my ICCF correspondence games… 1h05 of Puzzle Rush Survival & error corrections. Todays best was 18, Top Score: 22… 2:16 meditation… 2h10 for my 4 games of Chess (3 wins-1 loss or 3 pts/4). Highest rating 533… Total: 8h01 without including Chess visualization drills. (261 Hours)
  • September 24, 2025: 7h50 of sleep… Grooming + 29:32 walking the dog = chess visualization & diagonal squares exercises… 1h46 for 2 annotated, as always, OTB games vs Mom… ⁓ 28 min working on my ICCF games… 1h00 of Puzzle Rush Survival + review of missed puzzles… Meditation for 2:32… 2h27 to play my 4 rapid games (30 min) + reviews. New Highest Rating 540… Total: 5h41 (267 Hours)
  • September 25, 2025: 6h50 of sleep… Chess board visualization while grooming & 32:43 walking the dog… 2h10 annotated OTB game vs Mom… About 1h40 working on my ICCF Games. Really hard decisions to take since I have the privilege to face Titled Players… 1h09 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Top score today 21. Came close to my PR of 22… Meditation during 2:30… 2h48 for my 4 rapid games (2 wins-2 losses or 2 pts/4)… Total: 7h47 without including the visualization drills. (275 Hours)
  • September 25, 2025. Ordered Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan, Train Yourself on Blindfold Chess: Make yourself a mental athlete by Sourav Sahay, and Chess Visualization by Rodolfo Pardi to celebrate my 3 Months of Chess training! Not really, I just really wanted those books.

After 3 Months of Daily Training (From June 25 to September 25, 2025)

275 Hours of Deliberate Practise and 596.98 CAD (Chess.com & ICCF memberships, ICCF tournament fees, books, and more books)

Chesscom Rapid rating 3 Months Beginner (age 50)
Chesscom Rapid rating 3 Months Beginner (age 50)
  1. Chess.com Rapid rating: 545; Highest Rating 548
  2. ICCF Correspondence Chess rating: 1800 (unrated)
  3. Puzzle Rush Survival: 22
  4. Chess Book Collection: 15. 11 in my librairy and 4 on the way. All my books are carefully hand-picked. No boring-looking books apply.
  5. Blindfold Chess: I easily do annotations daily. I know all the square names, colors, diagonals, and moving the pieces (including the Knights) in my head without a chessboard on sight. Not lightning fast however.

I thought at the possibility that it was just a phase. But after 3 months of serious training, Chess is becoming a part of me. New passion, new challenges.

Life ain’t over at 50. And you can still be mentally sharp at 50.

Now that the first 3 months on the Highway is done. Let’s get it on for another three.

  • September 26, 2025: 8h27 of sleep… About 25-30 mnts walking the dog while visualizing a Knight traveling all over the chessboard… 57 min. working on my ICCF games… 55 min. annotated OTB game vs Mom… 45 mntes working on my ICCF games… 1h07 Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections… 4 Rapid Games and reviews 1h36 (2 wins-1 loss-1 draw or 2.5 pts/4). New all-time peak of 566 rating. Yellow belt (600), I’m comin’ for you!! 🥋 Total: 5h20 (280 Hours)
  • September 27, 2025: 7h26 of sleep, at least lying in my bed, since I had trouble falling asleep. I was thinking about finding Chess blog posts I’ve seen on the web… About 23 min. walk with memorization drills of naming “seeing” the first and last square of each diagonals of the chessboard… 1h05 annotated OTB game vs Mom… Didn’t had time to work on my ICCF games… 59 min. Puzzle Rush Survival & corrections… Meditation 2:30… 1h12 for my 4 Games (1 win-2 losses-1 draw). I will need some kind of opening knowledges… Total: 3h16 (283 Hours)
  • September 28, 2025: 6h48 of sleep… 43 min. walking the dog while doing visualization drills of the 10 Moves of Doom: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. 0-0 0-0 6. c3 c6 7. Bf4 Bf5 (not accurate since exf5 exf4) 8. Re1 Re8 9. Qd2 Qd7 10. Rd1 Rd8 and N moves on each sides of the board to attack enemy’s R… 1h43 annotated OTB game vs Mom… About 2h15 working on my ICCF Games (14 moves). About 10 min. per move since one was already decided on my last session… 1h02 Puzzle Rush Survival & corrections. New Top Score: 25… 1:52 of meditation… 2h13 to play my 4 Rapid Games (2 wins-0 loss-2 draw or 3 pts/4) I Always Fight Til The Fuckin’ End No Matter What!! New Highest Rating: 568, Percentile 50.6%. Getting better on a daily basis!! Total: 7h13 (290 Hours)
  • September 28, 2025: Ordered Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition by Nick de Firmian. 37.63 CAD

It seem that I’m on a Chess books shopping spree! I’m a minimalist/cheapskate who only spend for my basic living expenses (food, rent, grooming stuff, etc) and my business expenses. But for the last 3 months, since the beginning of my Chess Journey, I’ve spent 634.61 CAD only on Chess. Damn, I love Chess Books! I want to expand my currently modest Chess Book Collection. What earning my next books? What about buying a new book ONLY when I win all 4 of my 4 daily Rapid games on Chess.com? Indeed, it’s an excellent idea! So next time you’ll see 🎉📖 it will mean that I have the right to buy a Chess book. If there isn’t any book that I want to buy, then the book “rewards” will accumulate in a conceptual credit bank. An excellent idea to stop my spending spree and forcing myself to excel in my 4 daily Rapid games. I have already two books on my wish list. Important to mention: Rapid games where I only face opponents of the highest rating possible (-25 to Any). Best way to grow your rating and to grow your skills.

  • September 29, 2025: 8h12 of sleep… 31 min. walk with chessboard visualization drills… 1h33 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 48 min. working on my ICCF Games. 6 moves done… 1h01 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 19… Meditation 2:05… 2h35 for my 4 Rapid games (0 win-4 losses-0 draw or 0 pt/4)… Total: 5h57 (296 Hours)
  • September 30, 2025: 7h18 of sleep… About 28 min. walk and visualization drills (diagonals)… 2h07 annotated OTB Game vs Mom… 2h51 working on my ICCF Games (15 moves)… 1h00 of Puzzle Rush Survival & correction. I almost beat my record with 23… 2:25 of meditation… 2h03 for my 4 Rapid games + reviews (1 win-2 losses-1 draw or 1.5 pt/4). I’ve tried a new opening, it was chaotic! Total: 8h01 (304 Hours)
  • October 1, 2025: 9h09 of sleep… 27 min. walk with visualization of chessboard diagonals a8 h1, etc… 51 min. annotated OTB game vs Mom… 1h04 of Puzzle Rush Survival & correction. Top score today: 18… Meditation during 2:23… 1h59 to play my 4 Rapid games (1 win-2 losses-1 draw or 1.5 pt/4)… Total: 3h54 (308 Hours)
  • October 2, 2025: 6h45 of sleep… 30 min. walk with Q to K diagonal drills… 1h54 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 3h00 working on my ICCF corr. games (12 moves decided + 2 undecided)… 1h06 Puzzle Rush Survival & corrections… Meditation for a few minutes… 1h32 to play 4 shitty Rapid games. As you can read, I was tilthed at the last one. 4 losses to 500s noobs. The last few days were a downward slop. Back to 499 Rapid rating. 69 points lost. Maybe I should take a short break of those Rapid games and actually learn how to play instead. Visualization drills and Puzzle Rush won’t save my ass if I don’t know the basic traps and WTF to do when these assholes offer me a Gambit!!! Total: 7h32 (316 Hours)
  • October 3, 2025: 8h08 of sleep… 26:11 walk, not much concentration for chess diagonal drill. So it doesn’t count… 1h29 for 2 OTB games vs Mom… 51 min. working on my ICCF corr. games. I’ve made 6 moves, 2 were already decided… 1h03 doing Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Top score today: 19… Short meditation to empty my mind… 2h03 for my 4 Classical games this time on Lichess for a change (3 wins-1 loss or 3 pts/4). My only loss was again a 1935 Rapid player on Lichess (about 1700 on Chess.com). Total: 5h26 (322 Hours)
  • October 4, 2025: 8h34 of sleep. My bad is so comfy… 1h30 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 42 min. working on my ICCF games, 4 moves done… 57 min. of Puzzle Rush Survival. Todays top score: 19… 1h55 for my 4 Classical games + reviews (3 on Lichess & 1 on Chess.com) The only bad game I’ve played was on Chess.com. Maybe, I need a zen place like Lichess without gamefication??! But, unfortunately, there is much less potential opponents. (1 win-2 losses-1 draw or 1.5 pt/4) Total: 5h04 (327 Hours) More than 45 min. checking Openings in my MCO book.
  • Sunday, October 5, 2025: 8h47 of sleep. So comfy… 28 min. walk with some chess visualization… 1h01 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 3h01 working on my ICCF corr. games (14 moves)… 1h07 Puzzle Rush Survival + correction. Best today: 22. Top Score: 25. I’m really getting better at this!!.. 1h24 for my 4 Classical games on Lichess (1 win-1 loss-2 draws or 2 pts/4) Confusion while trying new things at the opening. And 2 horrendous blunders, including botching a Castling 😖 .  Total: 6h33 (334 Hours)
  • Monday, October 6, 2025: 8h25 of sleep… 1h15 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 1h05 working on my ICCF corr. games. Worked on 6 moves, 3 were done, not sure about the other 3… 1h00 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 24. I’ve almost beat my 25 Top Score!!!… 2h05 for my 4 Classical games on Lichess (1 win-2 losses-1 draw). Very calm without any “major” blunder. It’s probably time for me to go back on Chess.com?!.. Total: 5h25 (340 Hours)
  • Tuesday, October 7, 2025: 8h24 of sleep… 23 min walk with some Chess visualization… 43 min. annotated OTB game vs Mom… 56 min. working on my ICCF games (5 moves done)… Doing a couple hours of reading on https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/. Probably my favorite Chess blog currently…  1h06 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 23. So close to break my Top Score: 25. I’m getting better every day!!..  1h55 of 4 Rapid games on Chess.com (0 win-2 losses-2 draws or 1 pt/4) and 88 rating points down from my peak (568 to 480). Trying new openings and Gambits can be confusing as a novice. Well, maybe I should stay at Lichess for some time. Total: 4h40 (345 Hours)… Reading Kenneth Smith’s Improvement Course before going to bed. Extremely interesting!
  • Wednesday, October 8, 2025: 7h03 of sleep… 27 min. walk with diagonal drills, first and last square. Concentration trouble… 1h26 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 2h21 working on my ICCF games (9 moves, 7 committed)… 1h05 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 23 once again… 2h26 playing my 4 Classical games on Lichess (1 win-2 losses-1 draw)… Total: 7h18 (353 Hours) Reading Lichess blog.
  • Bought 2000chess.club domain name.

Since my main business isn’t doing so well and that I will probably run out of Money sooner than later. It is certainly a good idea to try to monetize my Chess Obsession and Chess Journey to 2000 with this website. At the very least to make a living while I pursue my Highway to 2000 Chess rating. Since it require money, time and dedication.

  • Thursday, October 9, 2025: 8h12 of sleep… Listening to a YouTube Perpetual Chess podcast about the big historical book Blindfold Chess (that I will get). I’m truly fascinated by Blindfold Chess… 26 min. walk with very little Chess visualization. The harder is to start… 55 min. annotated OTB game vs Mom… 2h06 working on my ICCF games. 12 moves committed… 1h04 of Puzzle Rush Survival. Top score: 15. Not a good night. The puzzles seem harder than usual… 1h10 for 4 winning Classical Games on Lichess 🎉📖. It’s feel very good after a couple of bad nights. Secret? No more Gambits try-out. Just my usual basic Opening principles as I used to do. When they say don’t mess with openings as a noob. It’s seems to be true!  4 wins = a new Chess Book. 🎉📖 1148 Lichess Classical rating. Total: 5h15 (358 Hours)… 41 min. playing over two Morphy games before going to bed. Some time away from the screen.

New Reward System 🎉📖

  • A Perfect Playing Session of 4 wins (4 pts/4) on Chess.com or Lichess = 1 new Chess book 🎉📖
  • New Puzzle Rush Survival Personal Record = 1 new Chess book 🎉📖
  • Beating 1 ICCF corr. Chess Titled Player = 1 new Chess book 🎉📖

Unfortunately, I’ll be the one paying for the books.

  • Friday, October 10, 2025: 7h47 of sleep… 25 min. walk plus grooming and shower equals well over 30 minutes of Chess visualization of a Knight travelling all over the chessboard. Very easy and no hesitation. it’s automatic… 1h47 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 57 min. working on my ICCF games. 4 moves committed… 1h01 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 19… Forget to start the timer on this. About 3h00 for my 4 Classical Games on Lichess + reviews, and some directly related research. I wasn’t proud of my tonight’s performance losing a won game. For now and ever, I will make a fuckin’ escape square for my King!!! (2 wins-2 losses or 2 pts/4)… Total: 6h45 (365 Hours)
  • Saturday, October 11, 2025: 7h13 of sleep… Grooming + 37 min. walk. Most of it was Chess visualization, trying to make a Knight moving from Nh1 to Na8. But I couldn’t. There is certainly a tip for this that I don’t know yet… 1h28 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 1h08 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 20… 1h40 for my 4 Classical Games on Lichess (3 wins-0 loss-1 draw or 3.5 pts/4) Lichess Classical Highest rating ever: 1171… Total: 4h16 (369 Hours)
  • Applied to be a ChessMood affiliate. A Chess blog and a course all written and made by FIDE Grandmasters only. They are excellent!
  • Sunday, October 12, 2025: Over 7h39 of sleep. Started my chrono a little late… 30 min. walk, some diagonal visualization drills… Worked 2h38 on my ICCF corr. games. 12 moves committed… 1h08 Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 23… 1h23 for my 4 Classical games on Lichess (1 win-3 losses or 1 pt/4)… Total: 5h09 (374 Hours)
  • Monday, October 13, 2025: 8h29 of sleep… Grooming, shower & 27:30 walk. Most of the time, I was visualizing a Knight moving to the square above, below or aside (3 moves)… 1h12 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 1h03 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 24… 2h18 for my 4 Classical Lichess games (1 win-1 loss-2 draws or 2 pts/4)… For 29 min. I’ve played some Blindfold Chess game, my usual opening as White on the very best place: https://dontmoveuntilyousee.it/blindfold-trainer/ This is fuckin’ AMAZING!!!  Total: 5h02 (379 Hours)

By now, online Blindfold Chess training time will be added to my Total Hours.

  • Tuesday, October 14, 2025: 7h58 of sleep… grooming, shower + 28 min. and a lot of Chess visualization… 1h22 annotated OTB Game vs Mom… 3h02 working on my ICCF Games. 10 moves committed… 1h09 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 17… Mark my words. I will be able to play full Blindfold Chess games way before I’ll become a good/intermediate Chess player (1200 Chess.com and more)… 1h18 for my 4 Classical Lichess games (2 wins-2 losses or 2 pts/4)… Done thing! I’ve won my first Blindfold Chess game on https://www.chess.com/variants/blindfold/. It’s not really Blindfold since you see an empty Chessboard and you can “touch” where the pieces are. It was more of a guessing game than anything else. Dabbling over 1h21 into Blindfold Chess. It’s a lot of fun. I would have played all night. Don’t know if I should include it in my deliberate practise?!.. Total: 6h51 without the Blindfold Games (386 Hours)
  • Wednesday, October 15, 2025: 8h04 of sleep… Shower, grooming, and 31 min. walk with some half-assed attempts to play some Blindfold Chess openings and moves… 1h57 annotated OTB game vs Mom… Worked about 25 min. on my ICCF Game. 2 moves committed… 1h03 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 16… 1h48 for my 4 Classical Games on Lichess (1 win-3 losses or 1 pt/4) Shitty night!!!… Not in the right mood. Negative thoughts. But the show must goes on… 13:28 Chess.com Blindfold game. Losing against a 1806 Rapid rated player. No shame in that… Total: 5h27 (392 Hours)
  • Thursday, October 16, 2025: 8h19 of sleep… 1h35 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 1h47 working on my ICCF Games. 7 moves committed… 1h00 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 20… 1h09 playing 4 15+5 Rapid games on Lichess (2 win-2 losses or 2 pts/4) and 0h33 playing 2 Blitz games (2 fn losses; I’m not rated)… 0h37 for my Blindfold Training: 5 pieceless puzzles succeeded & 1 Blindfold Chess.com Game (I won, the opponent- 1000 Blitz rated- resigned.) I love it! Just the pieceless puzzles took 29 mnts… Total: 6h42 (399 Hours)… Some dipping into my Soviet Chess Primer book before sleep.
  • Friday, October 17, 2025: 7h39 of sleep… 35 min. walk… 1h47 annotated OTB game vs Mom… 1h13 of Puzzle Rush Survival + corrections. Best today: 21. Highest Solved: 1268… 1h20 trying-out my new TOTAL CHESS format (1 Classical game, 2 Rapid games, and 3 Blitz games + reviews) on Lichess. Horrendous result: 2 pts/10. I badly need to learn to avoid traps and answer to fn Gambits!!.. 0h29 for my Blindfold Training: 5 pieceless puzzles succeeded & 1 Blindfold Chess.com (10 min.) Game. I loss on time, I was getting womanhandled by a 800-Rapid rated player. Next time, I will play 10|15. I can easily find opponents at 10 min. Hopefully, I will get some at 10|15… Total: 4h49 (404 Hours)
  • Saturday, October 18, 2025: 6h40 of sleep… 1h35 working on my ICCF Games. 8 moves committed… 1h46 annotated OTB game vs Mom… Total: 3h21 (

Expenses on the Highway to 2000

TOTAL: 648.57 CAD

Sources:
https://nickvasquezmd.substack.com/p/what-it-takes-to-become-a-chess-master
http://thedanplan.com/about/
http://thedanplan.com/countdown/
https://www.golfwrx.com/77245/the-dan-plan-a-man-on-a-mission/
https://www.golfwrx.com/437894/what-happened-to-the-dan-plan/

https://jamesclear.com/deliberate-practice-strategy
http://www.expertinayear.com/manifesto/
http://www.expertinayear.com/the-original/
https://www.experttabletennis.com/expert-in-a-year/
https://www.experttabletennis.com/possible-master-table-tennis-12-months/