Coach Chesswick
Hi Martha, great to see your recent games!
What you are already doing well
- Opening variety. You handle 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 structures confidently and are not afraid of sharper sidelines such as the Benko and Nimzo-Indian. Your piece development is usually smooth and you often reach middlegames with healthy pawn structures.
- Dynamic piece play. In several wins you demonstrated a good feel for initiative – e.g. the sacrifice 31.Rh7# in your win vs
zverr1showed excellent coordination and tactical calculation. - Fighting spirit. Even when behind material you keep looking for counter-chances, which is the right mindset for blitz.
Where the biggest rating gains are waiting
- Time management. All five recent losses came from a winning or equal position that eventually ended in time forfeiture. The critical moment is often between moves 25-35, when the position is still complicated but your clock drops below 10 seconds. Work on a “checkpoint” routine: if the position is roughly balanced and your time falls under 25 seconds, simplify (trade queens or reach an endgame) and switch to premove mode.
- Converting advantages. Against
MaestroGyou were two pawns up before move 30, yet could not stabilize because the queen and rook penetrated your 2nd rank. Train technical endgames (rook + pawn vs rook, Q+rook coordination) so you can play them quickly and confidently. - Central pawn breaks. Several games show missed chances to strike in the centre with e4/e5 or d4/d5. Re-visit themes like the Benoni pawn lever break to recognize them faster.
- King safety in double-edged openings. Your preference for f-pawn pushes (f3, f4, …g4) creates exciting play but also weakens the king. Before advancing a kingside pawn, do a three-question safety scan:
• Can my opponent open lines toward my king within two moves?
• Who has more pieces near the kingside?
• Is the centre closed or fixed? If two answers are unfavourable, postpone the pawn thrust.
Targeted training plan (3-week micro-cycle)
| Day | Focus | Session outline |
|---|---|---|
| Mon / Thu | Speed strategy | Play 5× 3|2 blitz. After each game review only the moment you dipped under 30 sec and ask “Could I have simplified?” |
| Tue / Fri | Technical endgames | 15 min rook-endgame drill on Philidor & Lucena, then 10 puzzle rush survival. |
| Wed | Tactical spotting | Solve 20 mixed motifs at 30 sec per puzzle. Record percentage; aim for 80 %+ |
| Weekend | Opening review | Pick one loss, load it into an engine, and annotate the first 15 moves. Create a flash-card of the key novelty or refutation you find. |
Quick reference statistics
Peak blitz rating: 2497 (2025-02-15)
Performance by hour:
Performance by day:
Mini-glossary for this week
- zwischenzug – an intermediate move that changes the expected sequence.
- prophylaxis – a preventative move that stops an opponent’s plan before it starts.
- zugzwang – a position where any move worsens the player’s game.
Final encouragement
You are already playing at an impressive level, Martha. Tightening your clock handling and mastering a handful of technical endgames will convert half of those time-forfeit losses into wins – an instant +60–80 rating points. Keep the energy and creativity, and let’s make the next peak your new standard!