Coach Chesswick
Hi Manea Alexandru!
Great work maintaining a ≈2500 blitz rating. Your recent games show a fearless, initiative-seeking style that often overwhelms opponents. Below is some targeted feedback to help push you even further.
What you’re doing well
- Early initiative and piece activity. In your win against Dark_Attack you seized space and tempo with 14.Ne6! and 19.Ng5+ to force resignation.
- Tactical alertness. Several victories were decided by direct tactics (e.g. Rxf4 in the endgame vs Renzo, or the exchange sac in the King’s-Fianchetto game).
- Good speed control. Even in complicated endings you usually keep >20 s on the clock, giving you the practical edge in blitz.
Recurring issues to address
- Over-extension of flank pawns.
In multiple losses (vs Alamat_ng_tahong and Shacharia) h- and g-pawns advanced early, creating dark-square holes your opponent later exploited. Ask yourself “If this pawn disappears, can my king still be safe?” before pushing. - Neglected king safety when you are winning.
Against franciscosalvador you were two pawns up but allowed …Rxb2+, …Ra2 and perpetual mating nets because your king stayed on e6. Convert advantages by:- Centralising the king only after major pieces are off the board.
- Trading queens when materially ahead.
- Resistance to simple defensive moves.
In the loss to Edwar2008 (French Tarrasch) 25…Qxe5? ignored the pin on f7. Slowing down for a 2-second blunder-check (king, queen, back-rank tactics) would prevent most of these slips. - Repertoire coherence.
Switching between Veresov, g3-Sicilian, Van ’t Kruijs & off-beat French/Pirc lines is fun, but costs time on the clock to recall plans. Consider building a narrower “go-to” map:- White: Veresov versus …d5, Closed Sicilian vs …c5.
- Black: French and Modern are fine, but study typical pawn breaks so you don’t drift into passive positions.
- Endgame technique.
You often reach rook + pawn endings. Review basic Lucena, Philidor and Vancura setups (Lucena position). Converting one more of those games a week could add 20-30 rating points.
Training plan (4-week micro-cycle)
- Puzzle sprint – 15 min/day. Focus on 3-5 move tactics; require 100 % accuracy before moving on.
- Model game study – 3 games/week. Annotate one classical French, one Modern, one Veresov game by strong GMs. Pay attention to pawn breaks and piece manoeuvres.
- Blitz quality control. For every 10 blitz games, deeply analyse one win and one loss. Note the first move you’d change and why.
- Endgame drill – 2 sessions/week. Use table-base or engine to practice K+R+P vs K+R conversions from both sides.
Your stats & trends
Peak blitz rating: 2707 (2024-08-29)
Activity snapshots:
Next steps
- Play three training games at slower time-controls (10|5 or 15|10) each week to reinforce calculation depth.
- When facing a strong opponent again, tag their profile for review: Luís Soares, franciscosalvador.
- Keep the fighting spirit, but remember: sometimes the best attacking move is a quiet prophylactic one.
Enjoy your study, and feel free to reach out with any positions you’d like deeper feedback on. Good luck in your upcoming games!