Stop blundering, get better at time management, study openings, study endgames, study anything, be a different sort of player, be a different sort of person, win a world championship, find God … Kingston members outline what they hope to achieve this year. Illustration by Andrew Brook

David Rowson: Like a few other veteran Kingston members I’ve been playing chess for almost as many years as there are squares on the board, so maybe it’s a bit late to start learning some “proper” openings, but it’s finally hit me that that’s what I need to do. Maybe then, instead of struggling in the middle game to repair the damage my unchallenging openings have done, I might actually sometimes get a good position from the opening. Teaching chess recently has also made me more interested in the endgame, so I’d like to investigate this much more too.

Peter Hasson: My play is too peacefully inclined, so I need to find a way to cut down the number of draws. My resolutions are:

1. Turn down the first draw offer made by my opponent in any game.

2. Achieve a higher average number of moves per game than Peter Lalić over the course of 2025. My repertoire with White is already sufficiently dull to give myself a decent shot at this, but this second resolution will only be possible if I stop my quick Pirc defeats with Black, so my final resolutions are:

3. Acquire a (semi?) solid opening for Black against e4.

4. To play a bit quicker earlier in the game rather than spending ages selecting between moves that have imperceptible differences in outcome.

Hopefully all this will increase my strength, if not my rating!

Alan Scrimgour:

1. To stop making one-move blunders. (Following year – two move blunders.)

2. To research a completely new opening repertoire as White, starting with 1. d4. (Following year – new repertoire as Black.)

Alicia Mason: Stick to my training plan of half an hour on chess exercises, one 15+10 rapid game and analysis of said game every day, and keep trusting in myself and the work I’m putting into my chess.

Ian Mason: I satisfied at least one of my resolutions from last year, which was actually to read a chess book. I read Ben Johnson’s Perpetual Chess Improvement, which I would highly recommend. For 2025:

1.  Read another chess book. Maybe the Yusupov series or a Jeremy Silman book.

2.  Much of my chess time is spent playing correspondence chess online. On ICCF, I have now reached a record rating for me of 2438 and am a correspondence chess master. I would like to reach a 2450 rating next year. 

3.  Once I return to the UK permanently (current plan is end of November 2025), to play more OTB games, Alicia [Ian’s daughter – see above] and I have in mind playing in some international tournaments, eg Reykjavik Open and Wijk aan Zee.

Michael Healey: Having spent much more time studying Japanese than playing chess this season, I had my best run of results for a long time (7/8). Feeling incredibly stupid learning new things may have helped the tired old neurons fire a bit. For the New Year I intend to keep up progress with my gesticulating infant-level language skills, in the faint hope of further chess gains.

Edward Mospan: Am I allowed eight resolutions for 2025? I hope so, because here they are:

1. Have a target ECF rating; this year the target is 1650.

2. To think longer over my chess moves before playing them.

3. Not be too bothered about time trouble. Best not get into time trouble, but time management will improve the more games I play.

4. I think the secret to improving is to play more OTB rated games over the year; the more games, the more chance of improving.

5. Think about reaching the endgame from move five and not be too bothered about delivering checkmate in the first 20 moves. It’s all about the long play.

6. Always play openings that make me happy. Stay away from deep theory. That’s for 2500+ players.

7. Meet more varied and interesting chess opponents/players. This is the best part of playing the game.

8. Don’t cry in my soup when a losing streak hits. There is always the next game. Never give up, even when having lost nearly 100 rating points, as happened this year. With a little hard work and study, you will bounce back. I am now on a roll, and I feel my new target ECF rating of 1650 is reachable.

Will Taylor: I aim to become “ambidextrous” – able to play both 1. e4 and 1. d4 confidently.

Graeme Buckley: I resolve to stop making excuses when I lose. My losses are all my own fault somewhere along the line. And to congratulate the opponent. They simply played the better game.

David Maycock: I have two New Year resolutions:

1. Continue working on calculation with Mark Dvoretsky‘s books.

2. Learn tons of theory.

Jaden Mistry, 13: I achieved a few of my resolutions that were set for 2024. While my rating in the classical format did not improve much, I did improve my endgames and that helped me to win some close games or draw games where I was down on material. In addition, my time management in various game formats also improved, and my classical games usually lasted longer compared to earlier seasons. For 2025, my main resolution is to reach a Fide rating of 2000 in standard format. It will be challenging as I don’t get to play many Fide-rated tournaments, especially in the classical format. 

Malcolm Mistry, 47: 2024 ended up being an extremely busy year at work. Despite my best efforts, it left me with little time to become familiar with the anatomy of chess algorithms. For 2025, I would like to stick to last year’s resolutions – to read up on the progress made by artificial intelligence in modern chess and understand chess algorithms such as AlphaZero – but also examine the correlation between number of GMs by country and the corresponding economic development (GDP or some other indicator) historically.

Aziz Sannie: Here are my chessolutions for the New Year. My first goal will sound a little tame, but it will be a big deal for me as my memory is pretty shocking by most (chess) standards. I have ADHD and aphantasia, and have generally accepted that memory and calculation are not my strong suits. However, in 2025 I’m going to really commit to seeing how far I can level up these weaknesses.

1. Memorise a notable game (such as the Paris opera box game or the Evergreen game) and record a demonstration of it.

2. Linked to the first, develop the skill/ability to reliably recall my own games after I’ve played them.

3. Increase my rating to 1750 by setting aside time for chess study each week, whereby I will be sharpening up my Catalan and English, diving into the deep waters of the Ruy Lopez and strengthening my limited acquaintance with the Caro-Kann.

4. Last one will be to compete in a chess boxing bout – or the less bloody option, compete on the BBC’s new show, Chess Masters.

Paul Seymour: I have two main resolutions:

1. To play more serious long-play games. I didn’t even make an average of a single game per month in 2024. Instead, I seem to have spent far too much time on bullet chess online, despite the fact that I play poorly, even by my standards.

2. To start playing a new opening in serious games. I have never been in a hurry to study or try out new openings, but now that I have retired it’s time to bite the bullet (no pun intended).

Jimmy Kerr: 2024 was my first season playing for the club and was full of instructive chess, including a very enjoyable experience playing in the Wernick Cup [a section of the Surrey Individual] in the summer. Unfortunately, work and life got in the way of my chess after that, so my 2025 resolution is a simple one: get back to playing regular chess. If time permits, I’d also like to spend time studying endgames.

Peter Large: In order of difficulty:

1. To get my published rating above 2400 at some point in the year.

2. To win a world title. This may seem unrealistic, but wait and see!

3. To play a game with the Trompowsky as White. This sounds easy, but I don’t play 1.d4, so I’m going to have to do a lot of work in case they play 1…d5. I’m planning to play it like Julian Hodgson did back in the day.

4. To win the prestigious John Hawson Trophy, Surrey’s premier tournament. This is probably a bridge too far. I am currently way behind the big boys (Groom, Alcock, Wickham, Foley).

John Hawksworth: My resolution is to try to win a competitive game, which would help build my confidence and so hopefully lead to more wins. Since returning to competitive play in September I have got some decent positions from the opening and early middle game, but have not calculated quickly and confidently enough at critical moments to convert them into wins. I don’t think there’s any magic solution to this other than to keep trying, and hopefully more success will come.

Robert Waller: As a non-playing member, my resolution is not to play any chess at all in 2025! But to continue to watch, including at as many away venues as I can get to.

Charlie Cooke: I will avoid all quickplay games, except the club championship [which Kingston plans to introduce in 2025 – a club resolution!], and I will stop playing the Petrov against weak opponents.

Peter Andrews: Last year I resolved not to miss backward diagonal moves, having had a couple of disasters in 2023 through doing so, most notably against Marcus Osborne. I can’t remember missing one of comparable scarring effect in 2024, though that is a high bar. Looking ahead I had a lot of fun taking more risk than usual in my last two games – the pawn sacrifices v Richmond and the doubled pawns and exposed king against Ashtead. Perhaps taking risks forces me to play better, so I should resolve to do that. But there’s no point being silly about it.

Rob Taylor: My resolutions fall into four categories:

1. Puzzles: I recently started doing puzzles, from not having done any ever, to doing them every day.  After three weeks my blitz rating on Lichess improved by 70 points.  After four weeks it was over 100 points better. Resolution: keep doing puzzles on a daily basis.

2. Opening training: I have recently resurrected learning an opening repertoire.  All thanks to Kingston club secretary David Bickerstaff taking me apart in the opening of a game, with something I hadn’t seen before and had no idea how to deal with.  Resolution: keep on top of opening training.

3. Rapid chess: I used to play rapid chess on Lichess, 15+10.  Then I saw an article say play blitz 5+3, to get more games in and therefore have more practice. I swapped over and am now not so bad at 5+3 online, having been dreadful when I started. However, I realise that I never really analyse anything in depth; I don’t have the time! Now I have started playing a few rapid games again, I notice my opponent in 15+10 has about eight minutes left on the clock, and I have 16!  So I feel I don’t switch out of blitz mode very well. Resolution: play at least seven games of rapid a week.

4. Kingston third/fourth team: I would like to get good enough to be able to play for the team above Div X.  Hopefully the other resolutions above will help with that. I also thought I should have a resolution saying I will achieve a rating of X. But then I thought if I put in this effort I think it is inevitable that I get there, and if I don’t then I was being unrealistic and shouldn’t beat myself up about it.

Ameet Ghasi: My ambition for 2025 is to quit the game one less time than deciding to return to it. The reality is I am far more emotionally tied to the result of games than I should be, and no doubt during the course of 2025 there will be some good moments and some setbacks. Hopefully, I can continue to learn to understand that this is a process, and most importantly still be playing the game by the end of the year, with a perspective that there are very few boundaries or goals that cannot be achieved in future.

Mark Sheridan: My chess resolution for 2025 is stay positive and focused throughout my games, manage my time better (especially in the later stages), and BRING A PEN to matches!

Jasper Tambini: I have three resolutions:

1. Improve my mental health as this has been impacting my chess and ability to concentrate. I think my ability will be much greater when I can focus more.

2. Vary my openings to avoid people being able to prepare against me.

3. Play more to re-familiarise myself with key patterns and tactics.

John Foley: Last year I felt that four of my games were worthy of publication on the website, the same as in 2023: against Roger de Coverley in the 4NCL (February); Gordon Rennie in the Surrey League (February); Colin McKenzie of Middlesex in a county match (March); and Salim Kriman of Essex in a county match (December). I have played 26 games in the past 12 months, compared with 34 in the same period last year. I am playing less chess because I run the Kingston Chess Academy on Mondays and am unavailable for away games. Furthermore, the club has recruited several strong new players, which means that I am not required quite as much.

As club president, I need to take a broader view than focusing on my own chess prowess, especially regarding chess outreach activities: children, community and celebration. My focus is on developing the junior wing of the club. The academy is less than a year old, meets in Tiffin Boys School on Mondays at 5pm and has a core of around 10 children who enjoy meeting and playing regularly. In addition, we have juniors who are ready to play for the club. The academy is in start-up mode and the intention is to be able to offer instruction and practice to all levels of juniors in due course.

Aymeric Housez: In 2025 I intend to:

1. Apply an anti-blunder checklist before every move – to fight against my tunnel vision.

2. Do five puzzles a day.

3. Learn to mate with bishop and knight.

Nick Powell: Having had a long history of unresolved resolutions I’m going to keep it simple for 2025 and try to get my first chess rating.

Stephen Moss: I finally gave up the wretched Scandinavian in 2024 and will never play it again. I have embraced the Sicilian Dragon, and 2025 will be the year the Dragon roars. I hope so anyway. At the moment, it mainly seems to lead to me being smashed up on the kingside by a posse of advancing g- and h-pawns, backed up by dark-squared bishop, queen and rook. I am not playing it with sufficient dynamism and need to read Gawain Jones’s books on the subject, but I do not intend to give it up. I plan to play double-edged openings come what may.

Generally, I will try to play a bit more in 2025. Most of my time is devoted to club admin, leaving very little time to play myself (thank God, chorus my clubmates). I will return to playing some tournaments in resort towns – much nicer, I feel, that evening chess on wet evenings in London suburbs. A chance to get properly absorbed in a game – and indeed a tournament. I am also now old enough to play in seniors-only sections, which is very attractive. Anything to avoid 10-year-old calculation monsters who beat you without using any of their time and look throughout as if no other result is conceivable.

Akintola Ejiwunmi: My resolution is to focus on chess openings and study opening books.

David Shalom: My resolution is to study some endgames.

Ye Kyaw: While trying to relax one evening  watching a recap of Ding vs Gukesh, desperately looking for some inspiration after three successive losses in OTB chess, I received an email from the Kingston club captain demanding my New Year Chess resolutions. Helpfully, the captain provided some hints: “What sort of player do you intend to become?” (Definitely not the present sort!) After uncountable numbers of previous failed/forgotten New Year resolutions, I was initially reluctant to produce any new ones. But the email was very persuasive, so here goes:

1. To solve 12 chess puzzles a day.

2.  To do more calculation exercises.

3.  Not to buy any more chess books. (I will delete this one as the captain told us to be truthful.)

Peter Lalić: I will try to be a good Christian. I need God.