Give me chess improvement ...

...or give me death!

Someone send this guy a copy of De La Maza's book before he does something rash.

I just must...desperately must....improve my chess playing abilities, at least a modicum. Or give up all hope of ever accomplishing anything in the world. For my theory is that an over-the-hill middle aged geek can at least slightly improve his mastery of chess (not sure mastery is the correct term to use here). And if that turns out not to be the case -- and indeed, if I prove to myself only that my slight mental faculties are in fact substantially on the decline -- then I will have learned something totally useful. I will realize that its time to start scaling back on everything pleasurable in life and go coffin shopping.