Stalemate

Back in December, 2011(“Three Steps Ahead”),  I wrote about my desire to improve my skills in the game of chess and eventually become skilled enough to compete in a tournament .  At the time, I optimistically predicted that I would have the necessary ability to enter a tournament after two to three months of training.  Four months later, I am not where I want to be in my mastery of chess and thus, I am not ready to compete.


In the time since the aforementioned post, I have not practiced enough to comfortably enter a tournament.  It was only as recently as a month ago that I started a strict routine of at least one chess game a day.  Around the same time, I began to actively study chess strategies by watching instructional videos via YouTube or reading articles on chess.com.


Presently, I find myself at an awkward stage in my path to complete this goal.  For example, in my daily chess games with online players, I find that I’m good enough to destroy the amateurs.   However, my embarrassingly frequent defeats against more advanced players demonstrate just how much work I have cut out for myself.


On a positive note, I feel that I have the aggression, wit, and drive to surpass this plateau in my chess skills.  Who knows, maybe in another two or three months I will be able to compete (and mean it this time).