After the Cassie tournament has come to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my experience and share the three major decisions I’ve made as a result. Overall, I would say the tournament was a success – I held my own, defeating those weaker than me and losing to those stronger. While I didn’t achieve any specific result, I was able to make progress towards my technical goals.
The first decision I’ve made is to continue playing quickly. During the tournament, I found that there were many moments where I could evaluate the board rather than calculating. I had a tendency to over-calculate, and I believe that playing more quickly will help me to develop a more practical and less academic game.
The second decision I’ve made is to take a break from my coaches. I’ve been speaking with a number of masters and grandmasters recently, and I’ve realized that there are other ways to progress without spending as much money on coaching. Financially, it is difficult to constantly have to pay for coaching, so I’m interested in exploring other options for progressing with a more reasonable budget. I want to thank my coaches for all they’ve done for me – they helped me get back on track after a period of uncertainty. However, I feel that it’s time for me to continue on my own path.
The third decision I’ve made is to focus on becoming more organized in my approach to chess and content creation. I had considered reducing the amount of content I create in order to focus more on playing, but I’ve realized that the real issue is my lack of organization. I’ve met other YouTubers with large followings, and when I compare myself to them, it’s clear that I am not as professional in my approach to creating content and managing my tournaments. My plan is to become more organized in order to create high-quality content on a regular basis, while still leaving time for me to play.
In terms of my upcoming tournaments, I have a number of events coming up. I’ll be playing in Budapest at the end of May, a tournament in the Czech Republic in mid-June, and tournaments in La Plagne and Riga in July and August. I’m excited to continue playing and testing out new strategies. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my progress and my upcoming tournaments. Until then, goodbye!