David's Dojo Journey - Installment 1

Greetings! My name is David Hamm (Chessdad1979) and this blog will chronical my journey to 2000 (Classical Lichess) using Chess Dojo.

Why Spend the Time Chronicling My Journey?

• I'm 44 and started playing just over a year ago. From the consensus of thinking about the potential of adult improvers, what I want to do is either impossible or highly unlikely. I think the consensus thinking is wrong and I would love to prove my belief with my journey and encourage others to get out of the limits imposed by the consensus thinking.
• I absolutely love chess and sharing my love and enthusiasm for the game is a great way to consummate the enjoyment. There is a famous saying that something is not truly enjoyed fully until you share that enjoyment with others.
• Sharing will also hopefully create some accountability and build community. In Ben Johnson's new book, Perpetual Chess Improvement, he highlights the importance of community in one's chess improvement journey, and I hope that these short blogs help foster a community of adult improvers who are set on debunking the limitations that consensus thinking has imposed upon us.

Why Chess Dojo?

The first year of my chess journey (pre-Dojo as it were) was characterized by floundering around, wondering what I should study. I saw a significant amount of improvement as I hopped around from study plan to study plan, but I never really felt like I was spending my time on the right things all the time. After hearing about the Dojo on Perpetual Chess several times, I decided to give it a try. And, I am absolutely loving it. I'm two weeks in and finally feel like every moment I spend on chess is well spent. If you haven't checked it out yet, it is worth a look. (I don't get any compensation for referrals - just my honest view that it is the best training program out there by miles).

How Has It Gone So Far?

I'm currently 1577 Lichess Classical and that puts me in the 700-800 Cohort. If you are not familiar with the system, you get a certain number of points for each of the tasks that they have specifically targeted for each rating level. I am currently rated second in my cohort with 109.91 Dojo Points and a hard-earned 66 hours and 27 minutes (in 2 weeks!). The tasks are categorized into several buckets: (1) Games & Analysis, (2) Tactics, (3) Middlegames & Strategy, (4) Endgames and (5) Openings. The work allocation between the categories shifts as you move up in the program.

What Do I Do Outside of the Dojo?

My goal is to make at least one weekly game at my local chess club for some OTB training. I also have a coach that I found on Lichess. My coach is an IM that is very affordable and comes to the lessons having reviewed my games, identified key points and lessons from each and curated puzzles to address where I need to grow. I can't recommend him enough. Here is his coach page if you are interested: https://lichess.org/coach/Mischuk_D

What's Next?

My goal is to post weekly to track my progress to 2000 and create a voice of encouragement for those who are trying to do something similar to what I am trying to do. We can do this, no matter what the historical data may say. Let's prove the data wrong!