Coach Chesswick
Hi Barcon Harmon,
Great work keeping your blitz rating in the 2200-2300 range (2267 (2025-03-27)). Your games show energetic play and a willingness to fight in complicated positions. Below is some targeted feedback drawn from your most recent results.
What you are already doing well
- Early activity. You consistently develop quickly with 1.e4 as White and Philidor / Caro-Kann structures as Black, often seizing the initiative before move 10.
- Practical resourcefulness. Several wins (e.g., vs Alireza22000) came from messy positions in which you found counter-shots or perpetual pressure until the opponent’s clock expired.
- Piece coordination in the middlegame. When you are the aggressor you rarely leave pieces undeveloped; the following fragment is typical:
Recurring problems
- Conversion of winning positions. Five of your last seven victories were on time, not checkmate or resignation. Try to streamline won endgames instead of searching for the “prettiest” line. (Endgame tablebase drills help.)
- Handling of closed pawn structures. In the Semi-Slav loss to haykavdal you pushed …e5 too early, weakening d5 and c6. In positions with a locked center, prepare pawn breaks with minor-piece manoeuvres instead of immediate pawn thrusts.
- Time-management imbalance. You often invest 45-60 seconds on a single critical move, then blitz the next six moves and miss tactics (see moves 40-46 against MightyRoy). Aim for a steadier pace: “40-20-20 rule” (40 % of the clock for the first 15 moves, 20 % for the middle phase, 20 % for the final conversion).
Opening micro-targets (next two weeks)
| Colour | Position to drill | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| White | Ruy López, Closed lines after 9.h3 O-O | Learn d4 breaks versus …c5 to avoid the slow queenside plan that backfired vs tantan50. |
| Black | Semi-Slav 5…e6 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 (main line) | Play three model games without pushing …e5 before …Re8, …Bf8, …g6 are ready. |
Training plan
- Daily tactics (15 min). Focus on middle-to-endgame puzzles containing zwischenzug and deflection – concepts you missed in the Semi-Slav game.
- Endgame sprint (10 min). Practice K+P vs K endings until you can win with <10 seconds on the clock. This directly addresses your clock-flag conversions.
- Model-game review (20 min every other day). Select a GM game in your chosen openings and replay it twice: once for ideas, once to predict moves.
When to play
Your results are best in late evening UTC and weakest in early afternoon. Tracking that trend visually can help you schedule rated sessions:
Quick mindset reminders
- In winning positions simplify first, then hunt tactics.
- If you can’t calculate an unclear sacrifice to mate, look for the quieter zugzwang squeeze instead (zugzwang).
- Never let a lost game finish without asking, “Where was the last equal position?” That single question turns every defeat into study material.
Keep up the dynamic play and incorporate these tweaks—your next peak rating is well within reach!
—Coach