We’ve just about reached the half-year point of 2008, which seems like a good time for taking stock. What would you like more of in this blog? Do you have any suggestions that would make it more useful, fun, or interesting for you?
Here are some specific possibilities:
More tournament coverage? I think that the most fun I had with the blog this half-year came when I went to Tulsa for the U.S. Championship Qualifier. Perhaps I should make more of an effort to go to the biggest tournaments on the west coast, at least. But it’s not a cost-free proposition. Big tournaments are expensive, and also my wife doesn’t particularly like it when I spend a weekend away from the family. So I would really need a good reason (such as overwhelming popular demand) to increase my tournament schedule. 😎
More photographs? This kind of goes hand in hand with going to more tournaments, because that is where those “Kodak moments” are likely to occur.
More individual profiles? I had expected to do more “journalism” in this blog, interviewing interesting people and writing about them. But after my profile of John Donaldson in November, I kind of lost interest in this idea. I was really happy with how the profile came out, but it was a lot of work.
More “Chess Wit and Wisdom”? My apologies! The little quote on the upper right hand side of the page has not changed in months. I had intended to change it, oh, every week or so. No excuses, I’m just lazy.
More book reviews? Unexpectedly, my longest comment thread came as a result of a book review. But I learned a lesson … Be careful what you say in a review, because if the author is still alive and kicking, he might read it and kick back!
More game analysis? Less game analysis? More games by other players? More of my own games? I’m kind of ambivalent on this. On the one hand, the way I learn the most about chess is definitely by going over games — usually, my own games — and so I feel as if my most substantive posts (and also the ones that take the most time to write) involve game analysis. On the other hand, “substantive” isn’t always what people want in a blog. Lots of times you just want something entertaining. I’m the same way myself.
Keep everything just the way it is? That would be okay with me, too! 😎
Thanks for your comments and feedback!
