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Junta Ikeda's avatar

Are you also going to do tactics/calculation, or focus on reviewing your openings? :)

Good luck!

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Ben Johnson's avatar

Junta, do you want to hear an admirable answer, or do you want the truth? :)

The truth is I will likely start playing some blitz every day and reviewing it, along with daily opening review. I obviously should also do tactics/calculation work, but its not likely to happen.

And thanks for the well wishes, are you still working on your Japanese chess YouTube channel?

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Junta Ikeda's avatar

The truth is always better! Blitz and reviewing sounds good. The main thing of course is enjoying playing the tournament.

Thanks for asking, yes, I do miss writing on Substack but I'm enjoying making videos for that channel, and also streaming in Japanese on Twitch!

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Ben Johnson's avatar

That's awesome! Are you competing these days as well?

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Junta Ikeda's avatar

Not as often as I'd like, having these new ways of enjoying chess have many positives but obviously take a lot of time and energy away from focusing on being a chessplayer (no doubt you have gone through this) - I feel like I'm enjoying chess more than ever, but my results have suffered! How often do you play tournaments yourself these days?

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Ben Johnson's avatar

Yeah its tough out there! I found a local club with weekly games, so I am hoping for about 40 OTB games. Not ideal but definitely better than nothing! Anyway, nice to catch up and I wish you continued success with your Twitch and YouTube channels!

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Nick Visel's avatar

Thanks for the shout-out!

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Ben Johnson's avatar

Thanks for all of your thoughtful reviews Nick!

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