My Chess Goals For 2007

I just reviewed my chess goals for 2006. It looks like I missed every single one of them! I don't think that I played a single game at Stan's Net Chess all year, so I missed my goals of getting an established rating over 2200.

If I remember right, I only played 2 USCF rated tournaments all year and didn't do very well in those. As a result my USCF OTB rating dropped to 1500. It cannot go below 1500 unless the USCF changes its policy on ratings floors. Otherwise, it would have dropped below 1500 as a result of my last tournament. I lost every game that I played! I didn't play any Quick Chess, Blitz, or USCF rated Correspondence tournaments at all in 2006. I missed my goals of getting my USCF Standard rating over 1600 and winning an Under 1600 prize.

I did play several games at ICC and posted many of those games at my site located at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com. My Standard rating at ICC bounced around in the lower 1500 range and never go anywhere near 1600! I don't remember playing any Blitz or 5 Minute games at ICC this year. My current Standard Rating at ICC is 1520. Here are my statistics at ICC so far:

Statistics for OnGoldenPawn

rating [need] win loss draw total best
Blitz 1394 [8] 14 28 6 48 1441 (13-Mar-2005)
Standard 1520 [4] 60 73 18 151 1674 (03-Jul-2004)
5-minute 851 [8] 1 2 0 3
Correspondence 1551 5 7 2 14

I still have 2 correspondence games going at ICC. Both games are against an opponent who has already gone over the time control and been warned about it. If he exceeds the new, extremely generous, time control in either game I can claim a time forfeit in that game. So far, he is staying within the new time control. So, my goal it to win both of those games if I can.

I did request to be entered into several correspondence events at ICC even though I am irritated that they allow people to violate the time controls and get off with a warning. I need to practice as much as I can in order to improve my chess play. Also, I can learn and practice new openings by using them in correspondence games. When all is said and done, I may have up to 20 correspondence games going on simultaneously. That should give me plenty of practice!

I have some money coming to me from the VA. I got an increase in my service-connected rating with 3 years back pay. I'm not sure when I will actually get the money nor do I know exactly how much I am getting. Even so, I did an estimate and plan to use some of that money to play in a big money tournament in or near Orlando. So, I still have a goal of winning an Under 1600 prize or section and then bringing my USCF Standard rating back over 1600. Eventually, I plan to get my rating back over 1700, but it probably won't happen before the end of 2007.

My sleep cycle is still messed up and I tend to be up late and to sleep in late. That could cause some serious problems with early morning rounds! My plan is to take a 1/2 point bye in the morning rounds, if allowed, and to play in the later rounds. That would make winning the section outright difficult, but second or third place would still be possible if I win all of the games that I actually play in. That should help some with the fatigue problem that I have had in the past.

So, to summarize, my goals for 2007 are to bring my USCF Standard rating up to over 1600, to bring my ICC Standard rating up to over 1600, to get my ICC Correspondence rating up to over 1600, to win some Under 1600 prizes in both ICC and USCF play, and to rejoin Stan's Net Chess and then get an established rating over 2200. I also plan to play in at least one Orlando tournament, which should be for big money.

Chess Goals