My name is Chandler Mabes I’ve recently gotten into chess writhing the last couple of months and have taken quite a liking to the game. I’m 20 years old and am at 482 elo rapid, I was playing quite frequently but am scared to play ranked now because I feel I have been in a slump and don’t want to lose elo. A problem I noticed I have is that I tried playing only principled with no openings and whenever I get to a position that requires me to break a principle it ends up messing me up in game so I’m not sure if playing principled is better or if I’m just not grasping the principles correctly or what? But for now I’m in Gothams cheaply course and am trying to learn openings!

Christmas Miracles are real! Crossed over 1900 tonight for the first time ever! The key factor....playing 15 | 10 time control. Before going on break last week I was just donating elo left and right by playing 10 | 0 and losing winning positions on time. Forcing myself to slow down and play these longer games helped me go on a massive 7 wins - 2 draws streak to reach this goal. Next stop 2000?!