As 2009 draws to a close, it looks like I’m going to finish with just 17 or 18 rated tournament games this year. This is about half of what I’ve done in previous years. Also, in previous years I’ve played in several Team 45-45 tournaments online, and this year I haven’t done any of that.

A combination of family and work factors have kept me from playing or studying as much this year.

So it’s really no surprise that my rating is sagging in the low 1600s.

Since my non-chess life looks like it’ll be about the same for 2010, I expect my chess play and study time to also be about the same. It isn’t realistic, therefore, for me to set a short-term goal of improvement. If I can keep my rating from dropping too much despite limited playing time, that will be an accomplishment.

But I am continuing to study and play as much as possible, because I enjoy both.

My current study activities include:

• Intensive opening study
• Problem-solving in the new book by Khmelnitsky, Chess Exam: Matches against Chess Legends, You vs. Bobby Fischer
• Going over my own (few) games
• Thought-process exercises of my own devising

OK, I know what you’re thinking. Why am I, a middling class player, doing intensive opening study?? I should be doing tactics, tactics, tactics!

Save your breath, at least for now. How and why I’m doing opening study will be the subject of another post in the near future.

When other aspects of my life calm down and I can start playing a lot more tournament games, I think it’s possible for me to move my rating up out of the 1600s. In meantime, I’ll just try to have fun.