News
About Natalia
Games
Our Team
Articles
Gallery
Chess Links
Play Chess
Pogonina's Chess Shop
Advertise
Contact Us

Highlights

 Follow Natalia on Twitter:

http://www.pogonina.com/images//nat%20twit.jpg

 
Please help Natalia promote chess by making a donation:



 

Link to Pogonina.com

Play chess at ChessOk

365Chess.com Biggest Online Chess Games Database





Check qyto.jp for Japanese bitcoin casinos.

Here you can find Swedish sites without license, Spelkonto utan licens.

Find new casinos at the brand new Online Casinos XYZ site with reviews and ratings of the best gambling sites for UK players.

Play the popular King Kong Cash slot machine at Slot Strike, the new slot site for UK players.

Grab the chance to win big with a high RTP on the goonies slot progressive jackpot.

Goodluckmate.com - made an easier way to find Skrill casinos

Nettikasinot.media lists the best online casinos for Finnish gamblers. For more information visit: https://www.nettikasinot.media/suomalaiset-kasinot/  

Sweden is now a regulated market, which means that as a player you can only play at casinos with a license. See all regulated
casinos in Sweden by Mr casinova.

To find the best casino in Norway take look at
norske casino at CasinoPiloten.

Find the best Norwegian casinobonus at NyeCasinoNorge.org.

Get exclusive access to a
huge range of free spins & no deposit casino offers with Spin Bonus.

Try the exhilarating new 20p Roulette game.
Play it online at thecasinodb and find casinos to play for real money.

Get the best casino bonus information with Casino Gorilla.

Chess games at Gametop

CasinoAdvisers.com For you that want to find online casino strategies, guides and a good casino bonus!

 
   ...


Polls
What's your FIDE rating?

What should Natalia do to make Pogonina.com more interesting for you?

Who is your favorite active top player?

Poker or chess: what do you like more?

What's the largest monetary chess prize you ever won?

How much time per day do you spend on chess-related activities?

Do you have a special chess mascot (pen, badge, toy, etc.)?

Which time control do you prefer for over-the-board tournaments?

The strongest women's chess team in the world is

What is the strongest national chess team in the world?

Will Magnus Carlsen's rating reach FIDE 2900?

Do you think you can become a GM?

Games per Year?

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 07 September 2010


by Natalia Pogonina for her
Chess.com Tuesday column


One of the most popular questions that is asked by amateurs and pros alike is How many games per year should I play? Of course, no one in the world knows the right answer. In fact, the one and only solution doesnt exist since this is highly individual. Nonetheless, all of us know that lack of practice doesnt allow one to improve efficiently, while competing too often makes one feel like a squeezed lemon, lose interest in chess and shed rating points. So where is the golden middle?


To answer this tricky question, we will review the schedules of the very best chess players in the world. While in general copying the training routine of a top grandmaster is unreasonable for less proficient players, here the situation is somewhat different. The world is not perfect, so most amateurs simply cant afford to allocate too much time for tournament play. On the other hand, non-elite grandmasters often have to flock from one event to another to earn a decent amount of money. Naturally, neither of these cases is optimal. Thats why we will be looking at top pros: they are supposed to know this as no one else does, and have the opportunity to choose the amount of games that suits them best.


First of all, heres the September 1, 2010 top-20. Next to each name you can see how many rated games the person has played in 2009:
 

1. Carlsen 75

2. Topalov 41

3. Anand 25

4. Aronian 93

5. Kramnik 26

6. Eljanov 86

7. Grischuk 55

8. Mamedyarov 69

9. Ivanchuk 135

10. Gelfand 96

11. Ponomariov 42

12. Shirov 93

13. Radjabov 60

14. Karjakin 69

15. Nakamura 86

16. Wang 83

17. Svidler 114

18. Adams 74

19. Jakovenko 71

20. Malakhov 84


Now lets sort the list by number of games per year to make it more expressive:
 

  1. Ivanchuk 135 (well-known chess addict)
  2. Svidler 114 (admitted being tired, but couldnt miss some important events)
  3. Gelfand 96
  4. Aronian 93
  5. Shirov 93
  6. Eljanov 86
  7. Nakamura 86
  8. Malakhov 84
  9. Wang 83
  10. Carlsen 75 (median number)
  11. Adams 74 (median number)
  12. Jakovenko 71
  13. Mamedyarov 69
  14. Karjakin 69
  15. Radjabov 60
  16. Grischuk 55
  17. Ponomariov 42 (doesnt play a lot after becoming FIDE ex-World Champion in 2004)
  18. Topalov 41 (was busy preparing for the WC match against Anand)
  19. Kramnik 26 (always acts like hes preparing for a WC match) Smile
  20. Anand 25 (was busy preparing for the WC match against Topalov)


Its easy to see that the median number for elite grandmasters is 74-75 games per year (ironically, by doing so we get Magnus Carlsen, the highest-rated player in the world, as a role model in this respect). This should be close to the optimal amount of games/year for a person who takes chess seriously. However, it is essential to remember that this list doesnt include rapid/blitz/blind/exhibition events, training games; doesnt reflect the time spent on studying chess and analyzing ones games. To become an eminent player, one should keep in mind all the intricacies of the training process, not only one feature.


Warning: this article should serve as food for thought, not a medical prescription stating that you wont improve unless you play X games a year. Smile


In case someone is interested in my chess schedule, it normally includes about 90 rated games per year. The end of 2010 is going to be especially busy since upcoming are the Womens World Blitz Championship (unrated), World Chess Olympiad, European Club Championship, Russian Superfinal, Womens World Championship and (maybe) ACP Rapid World Championship (unrated).
 

Meanwhile, lets take a look at another game from the recent Russia China friendly match:
 



My opening choice was rather unambitious, and after d5 my opponent could have equalized. However, she made a mistake, on which I failed to capitalize. After I missed a chance to head for a better endgame, the game quickly ended in a draw by repetition.

Bookmark and Share



Comments (5)
1. Written by Luigi on 09:12 07 2010 .
 
 
Very interesting!
 
2. Written by Luigi on 09:16 07 2010 .
 
 
And, yep, the next months will be very busy for women chess players!
 
3. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 21:22 19 2010 .
 
 
Question
Natalia, I will make you a question and please answer me, ok? 
 
If you remembre me, I have told you that I am a 2200 player aprox. 
Often I have final positions like yours in this game (of course at my level), where I have a minimal advantage, and the initiative, and a better position...and the result is also a draw by three-move-repetition, or an offer. 
I thought that for a Grand Master it was more "easy" to play for winning, but... 
grandmasters also have this trouble?
 
4. Written by Natalia on 13:07 20 2010 .
 
 
Question
Joel, grandmasters are also humans. Even the very top guys (like Anand or Kramnik) can't convert a won position from time to time, not to mention a slight advantage.
 
5. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 23:01 26 2012 .
 
 
zUkRONsgWfKKTrudD
This is just the perfect awnser for all of us
 

Write Comment
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:Web AddressEmail AddressBold TextItalic TextUnderlined TextQuoteCodeOpen ListList ItemClose List
Comment:



Code:* Code

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 September 2010 )
 
< Prev   Next >