Coach Chesswick
Hi BabyAnton, here is a personalised review of your recent blitz games.
What you are already doing well
- Active, forward-looking play. In your win against Aakaash Meduri you seized space with 11.d4! and 21.c5!, keeping Black on the back foot right up to the picturesque finish 49.Rh4#.
- Wide opening repertoire. English, Queen’s Gambit lines (both Accepted and Declined), King’s Indian Fianchetto and even off-beat Owen’s Defence with Black show good flexibility and make you hard to prepare for.
- Tactical alertness. Motifs such as 22.Ne7+!! (vs I J) and 24.Nd5! (vs Kyrie2012) demonstrate sharp calculation and courage to sacrifice material for the initiative.
- Nerves in critical positions. Several of your wins arrive with seconds on the clock – you convert advantages under pressure better than most players around 2600 blitz.
Recurring issues to address
- King safety in quieter positions. In the loss to chesstalent2006 both 22.Kg2?! and 24.Kf1?! walked into …Rh5/…Ng4 ideas. Make a quick “king-safety checklist” before each pawn move near your monarch.
- Handling of minor-piece trades.
a) 13.Ne4? (same game) removed your best defender of d6, after which the c-file tactics worked against you.
b) In the Bogo-Indian loss you swapped your dark-squared bishop (14.Nxc6) and later got punished on those squares. Practice evaluating which pieces you want to keep and why – a core of positional play. - Transition to endings. Several opponents escaped worse positions by liquidating (e.g. PremovePerry69420 reached a rook+minor piece endgame where you needed many moves to convert). A short daily drill of theoretical rook endings will raise your conversion rate and confidence to simplify earlier.
- Time-management disparity. You often spend ~45 s on one or two early-middle-game moves (see 13.Ne4 & 18.Ned2). Instead, aim for a steady diet of 5-10 s moves until move 20 unless the position is totally critical.
Opening map (last 50 blitz games)
White: 40 % English, 30 % 1.d4 Queen’s Gambit, 15 % 1.d4 Fianchetto KID, 15 % others.
Black: 50 % …c5 vs 1.e4 (Sicilian / Alapin structures), 40 % Indian setups vs 1.d4, 10 % French/Owen’s.
Win-rate summary:
Game of the week
Your attacking master-class vs ChadBiryani is worth revisiting move-by-move:
Action plan for the next month
| Focus | Tool / Drill | Time allocation |
|---|---|---|
| King-safety awareness | Create a flash-card of 10 personal blunders; review before each session. | 5 min pre-session |
| Minor-piece trade decisions | Work through 20 annotated games by Karpov & Carlsen where bishops vs knights is key. | 20 min/day |
| Rook & pawn endings | Chess.com “Rook Endgame” lesson or an interactive eBook, then play them vs engine. | 15 min/day |
| Practical time-management | Play 5-minute games with the rule “move by 20-second mark unless forced”. Review only lost games. | 3 games/day |
Quick knowledge boosts
- Revisit the concept of prophylaxis – a single quiet move often prevents the opponent’s whole idea.
- Memorise the key Lucena and Philidor rook endings to secure those +4 pawn positions faster.
- Add a crisp, low-maintenance line against 1.e4 such as the Accelerated Dragon; it fits your dynamic style and avoids heavy theory.
Confidence tracker
Your blitz peak rating: . Aim to cross it again by integrating one improvement point per week rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Keep up the fighting spirit, keep analysing every loss (even the 12-move miniature vs Sune Berg Hansen) and enjoy the journey to master-level blitz!