Twenty puzzles before breakfast

This has been on my mind since the start of summer, so I’m finally writing it down. As it happens, doing a few puzzles over breakfast has helped me more than any book of openings.

Second attempt

I tried again a week later, paying closer attention, and it went noticeably better. I don’t think I’ll ever be much good, and that has made the whole thing a great deal more enjoyable. It took me several months to notice what I had been getting wrong with tactics puzzles.

Doing a few puzzles over breakfast has helped me more than any book of openings. I have started writing down what I was thinking during the game, which has been a humbling exercise. My notes on tactics puzzles go back further than I expected, and they don’t flatter me. In the end someone I met through the hobby pointed out the obvious, as usual.

Next time I’ll try to remember all of this, though past form suggests otherwise.