Coach Chesswick
Hi Leonard!
Great job keeping an active schedule and consistently challenging strong bots! Your recent games show solid strategic understanding of the London-System set-ups and an improving feel for long end-games. Below you’ll find targeted feedback designed to convert more of those promising middles into wins.
✅ What you already do well
- End-game technique. Your wins against Sakura-BOT show confident king activation and systematic conversion of extra material.
- Piece activity from the opening. Early development with Bf4/Bg5 followed by rapid castling keeps your pieces coordinated.
- Clock management. In 45 + 45 you usually keep 15-20 minutes for the critical late middlegame—excellent discipline.
⚠️ Patterns in recent losses
-
Neglecting the b2-pawn & back-rank.
In both Pirc and Pseudo-Pirc structures (22 July) Black’s queen swooped to b2/b4 after you played Qd2 & O-O-O. The resulting material loss forced early resignation. -
Over-optimistic king safety when castling long.
You often castle opposite sides but postpone your own pawn storm. Meanwhile …Qb6/Qxb2 or …c5 breaks open files toward your king. -
Missed forcing tactics.
Several games ended after simple forks or queen infiltrations (e.g. 21 July Caro-Kann: 19…Qxb2+). These are classic intermediate-level tactics that a quick calculation or a blunder-check would catch.
🎯 Training plan
- Daily tactic reps: 15–20 puzzles focused on forks, pins & deflections. Filter by 1400-1900 rating to mirror positions you actually face. (See tactics).
- Opening hygiene vs Pirc Defense: Play 6.Be2 instead of Bf4 when you plan O-O-O; it guards b5/b7 ideas and keeps the queen off b2. Review model games by Carlsen & Grischuk for structure.
- Opposite-side castling drill: Set up a sparring position after 10…b5 (Pirc) and practise a 5-move pawn storm plan (h4–h5–hxg / g4-g5) until it becomes automatic. Understanding opposite-side castling principles will raise your conversion rate sharply.
- Post-game blunder check: Spend 5 minutes with an engine only to tag critical moments. Write one sentence: “I missed …Qxb2 because ____.” This habit rapidly shrinks repeated errors.
📊 Personal progress snapshots
Peak Rapid rating: 2028 (2025-10-24)
When do you score best? Explore your own data:
🏆 Model game to keep
Your 21 July win demonstrates excellent central control and an instructive rook ending. Save it for reference:
Next steps (1-week goals)
- Finish 100 tactical puzzles with 80 % accuracy.
- Annotate two of your own opposite-side castling games (one win, one loss).
- Play one training game where you consciously keep your king on the same side as your opponent to practise same-side safety.
Keep enjoying the journey, Leonard. Small, consistent tweaks will have your rating climbing again in no time. Reach out anytime you’d like a deeper dive into a specific position or opening.
Good luck & good moves!