Jeffrey Ashton

Here is a list of articles and things related to my chess career.  https://linktr.ee/chesspanda Updates: - We are expecting another one :) - I've been super busy teaching chess - busier than I've ever been perhaps. But I love it!  - I hope to run in person stuff soon. I'm super thankful that I've been able to stay so busy during the pandemic.  - I have a new, I guess you would call it, hobby? Peloton. It's an indoor bicycle that I've used every day since last March. I'm not recommending it and I'm not a big fan. I am naturally bad at it PLUS I don't try. But I mention it for two reasons. 1) Other chess players who use it can add me and we can give each other virtual high fives! 2) They have a really encouraging daily streak motivational stat that works well for chess. I've used the bike every day, despite not loving it, despite not being good at it, etc., all because of this silly "days in a row" number. Imagine how a daily streak numbe

I have made 33 brand new chess GimKits! I made a little goal to make at least one per day, but I've actually done more than that.  I wanted to make the virtual classes more exciting. I first made hundreds of Quizlet questions, then I made a bunch of Kahoot questions, and due to popular request, I'm using GimKit.  I put a lot of work into doing this. I will describe what I do, only so others can learn how to do the same.  1) I have to find or make the puzzle in ChessBase, then create the diagram. I do this about 30 times to make a 30 question GimKit. I would say it takes me about 1 minute per question, and I'm pretty fast at doing this.  2) I upload the puzzles to GimKit while creating 4 multiple choice answers. It would be easier if I can just upload all of the diagrams first, and then type the answers in later. Quizlet is the best at allowing batch uploads. Kahoot is nice in that it lets me upload questions individually, without having to immediately type the questions. Gi

 I just did the math, and I can't believe I did over 2100+ lessons on Zoom since March 2020. I like it just as much as ever. I really enjoy teaching chess 7 days a week 2-3 times a day. On my weekends I do a lot more lessons, and I enjoy it, but it also tires me out a little. 

We are approaching the anniversary of when I started teaching online because of Covid. People are getting a little burned out on chess, but those who hung in there for a year will be great chess players.  It's only fair. I do indoor rowing, not because I like it, but mainly just because I have one. And I did a LOT of indoor rowing. I recently looked at the stats, and I got a LOT better. It's interesting, because I didn't even want to get better, and I didn't really like indoor rowing that much. I'm naturally kind of unskilled at rowing and swimming. But the lesson I learned is that even practicing something I don't like, regularly, makes me a LOT better. Most importantly, I will probably see the results when things get to normal, and I'm only indoor rowing like once or twice a week.  For the kids playing chess and studying regular, they will see a huge bonus. They probably see the improvement now already, but they will see it in the following years (especial

I find myself using openingtree.com about once a day now. Kids seem to like it. If you are smart enough to figure out how to use it, you should use it regularly. It should be pretty easy to use for a middle schooler or older, or advanced chess players in general.  The only excuse for not using it, is you are good with ChessBase and you use it regularly (and this is like .01% of chess players that I know).  Also Puzzle Storm on lichess.org is kind of fun for a few days, but I don't think I would recommend it as part of your routine. 

 I look forward to sharing instructive things here. I like the word "blog" so I will continue to update this website.