Chess Goals For 2008

Upon reviewing my chess goals for 2007 I see that I failed to meet all of them! I only played in one USCF rated chess tournament in 2007 and I went 2.5 out of 4. That brought my USCF regular rating up to 1537. My goal was to get over 1600 by the end of the year. I won't make that goal. I did manage to win my class prize in that one tournament, though. My current rating at Stan's Net Chess is 2162. My goal was to get over 2200 by the end of the year. I have one game in progress now, but even if I do manage to win this game by the end of the year, that won't put my rating over 2200. I haven't played in any quick chess tournaments, so that rating remains 1588. I haven't played in any USCF rated correspondence chess tournaments, so that rating remains 1893. I had a goal to get both my standard rating and my correspondence chess rating over 1600 at ICC. I still have two correspondence chess games going at ICC, but unless I win both of them by the end of the year my correspondence chess rating will not go over 1600. Currently, it is at 1562. My standard rating at ICC is 1540. I would have to start playing a whole bunch of rated games at ICC and win most of them in order to get my standard rating over 1600 by the end of the year. I don't see that happening right now.

So, what are my chess goals for 2008? I will be starting back to college in January to finish my masters degree in information systems management. Because classes are only 8 weeks long I cannot afford to get behind in my homework or to miss any classes. That may not leave me with enough time for chess. Even so, I do plan to play in some rated tournaments and thus get my USCF standard rating over 1600 by the end of 2008. I also want to win at least one more class prize. I plan to enter into an USCF rated correspondence chess tournament and to get that rating over 1900 by the end of the year. That may not happen because of how long it can take to complete correspondence chess games. I plan on getting my rating at Stan's Net Chess over 2200 by the end of 2008.

I am owed some money by the VA. Eventually, I will receive that money. When I do, I want to buy the latest version of Fritz so that I can really train and improve my game.