PART 1 • Set up a tournament and play!
If I felt especially ambitious (as I often did back then), I'd use the Elo
rating formula to calculate my new “virtual rating” after each event and
keep track of that from tournament to tournament as an extra incentive to
keep studying and improving.
I can tell you from personal experience, this was not only a great way
to “trick myself” into constantly trying to improve, the games I played
also gave me more information about what I needed to study in order
to make that improvement happen. Best of all, playing in these “virtual
tournaments” is also a whale of a lot of fun.
OH, IT'S ON NOW!
PLAYING ONE ON ONE MATCHES
Another great method to spur yourself to play is to set up and play one
on one matches against your chess engine. While this method works with
a pre-programmed personality, it's a method you can easily use if the
only thing your program of choice offers is a rating slider. In fact, a rating
slider is ideal for this method, as we'll soon see.
If you're a rated player, set the rating slider to your own rating as a start;
round your rating up if the slider can't be set to your exact rating (for
example, 1635 might be rounded up to 1650 if the slider only recognizes
fifty point increments). You'll now play a six game match against the
chess engine set to at that rating. Obviously, you don't have to play all
six games at one sitting; in fact, it's best that you don't so that you'll have
time to analyze each one of your games afterward, before the next game
(more about that later).
It's important that you alternate colors each game, so that you'll play
exactly three games each as White and Black, switching colors from
round to round. That's how a real chess match is played, so you should
follow suit. And you'll score the results just as you would a real life match:
you earn one point for a win, no points for a loss, and a draw scores a
half-point for both you and your virtual foe (in other words the two of you
split the point).
The result of your six game contest will determine your next virtual
opponent. If you win the match by scoring at least 3.5 points, move the
rating slider up to the next highest increment (I suggest by a minimum
of twenty-five points) and then start another six game match. If you lose
the match, lower the rating slider to the next lowest increment (I again
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