Chess: A Skill That Requires Maintenance

I started playing chess online in 2020. My brother prompted me to open a Lichess account so we could play together when we were far apart, so I did. During the lockdown, I had all the time I wanted to do anything at all, and chess was one of the things that made the list. I had been hearing about Lichess and Chess.com, both platforms for chess players. However, I had gotten bad reviews about Chess.com, so I decided to stick to Lichess. Like many other people, when I started playing chess on the Lichess app, my rating dropped drastically. Basically, when you open a new account, you start with a 1500 elo (rating) and there is a question mark beside the rating, indicating it is provisional. It is only when you start playing and winning games that you get a fixed rating.

Like every other player, I started with a 1500 rating on Rapid (10+ 0). I got paired with 1500 rated players and kept losing games in a row. I played more than 10 games and lost every single one. At some point I thought chess wasn't meant for me, because tell me why I played more than 10 games and couldn't win at least one? My rating dropped from 1500 to 900+ and it was then I started getting paired with lower rated players; players with 900, 800, and even 700 ELO. It was then that I started winning games. I remember the first time I won a game. I'm not sure how it happened, as I hadn't mastered the art of checkmate at the time. All I knew was that I had captured all my opponent’s pieces, I pushed some pieces and somehow managed to checkmate.

Gradually, I started moving up the rank. Who knew chess could be so fun when you start winning? I played chess from 2020 to 2022 and I managed to increase my rating to 1800 (rapid). Well, in 2022, I was dancing between 1700 and 1800. I focused solely on rapid and Blitz. It was around this time I gained admission into the university. I was new to the whole setting; classes, presentations and exams. So, I stopped playing chess for a long while. I only had time for chess when school was on vacation. Surprisingly, when I got back to playing chess, my rating reduced drastically. I went back from 1800 to 1600/1700. In 2024, my rating was 1700+ and heaven knows I hated myself. I thought to myself, "I was rated 1800 two years ago; shouldn't I be higher by now?"

I also started playing Bullet chess. I played this constantly for about a year and got my rating to 2000. I realized something about chess; it requires constant practice. Chess is like a skill, when abandoned for too long, it starts to drip away. I have plans to take my chess skills to another level, but that'd be after my final year exams, which will end in a few weeks time. Let’s see how things will go.

All images in this post are mine.

Thanks for reading.