Play chess

“I have played almost exclusively online, probably played 3 games in person since I have started playing online. Then I attended a local chess club for the first time earlier this week. Played only a handful of games and definitely found it more difficult to recognize patterns I can easily spot online. Overall though I played alright and thought I was able to match the level I play online. What I did not expect was to immediately go on my longest ever winning streak(9 games) the following few days after attending the chess club. Seems strange at 1400 when I would expect getting longer winning streaks would get more difficult the higher I climbed.”

“When the day ended, I kissed my husband goodbye and he left. I fired off my last blog, went to bed, and … the hell broke loose! Nerves. I got all jiggly, my heart started to race and all kinds of thoughts and emotions overpowered me. It was INSANE! What the ... beep?? I didn’t sleep that night … When the sun finally came out, I couldn’t stand my comfy but useless bed any longer. Got up and went for a run, still overwhelmed with all the motions.”

“During my first month of stagnation at just above 800 I was playing almost exclusively 10 minute games. This time control was not long enough for me. I couldn’t calculate, I was making choices without thinking and I was forming bad habits.”