Rebecca Selkirk WCM

Hi Rebecca 👋

You’re playing ambitious, fighting chess and it shows in your recent results — congratulations on pushing your 2053 (2021-12-22) ever higher! Below is a concise review of the patterns I saw in the games you sent, together with concrete action-points for the next training cycle.

1. What’s already working

• Opening identity. Your Caro-Kann is clearly a comfort-zone. In the three Black wins you steered the game into familiar pawn-structures, calmly weathered early pressure and converted in the endgame.
• Counter-punching. The tactical shot 20…Nd3⁺ vs. DanFrank99 was beautifully timed and shows good awareness of overloaded piece geometry.
• Resourcefulness under fire. Even when down material you keep generating threats (e.g. perpetual-check ideas vs. NMChessToImpress). That practical fighting spirit wins a lot of games in 3-minute chess.

2. Patterns to address

• Early middlegame queen trades that favour the opponent.
  In the loss to MiaZiaSarah you played 14. Qd4? exd4 15. Nxd4 and suddenly 15…Qxe1⁺ dropped an exchange. The underlying issue is who benefits from simplification. Consider adding a quick “capture check” to your blunder-check routine.
• Time management.
  Two of the losses were on the clock while you still had reasonable positions. You often reach ≈30 s as early as move 20. 👉 Train with a 1-second “pre-move beep” or play a few 1|0 arenas to force yourself to move on intuition once your prep ends.
• Pawn storms without backup.
  As White you like the h-&g-pawn spearhead versus the Sicilian/Najdorf. When it works it’s deadly (see your fine mate with Rh4#) but in the loss to SKDK2004 the pawns ran out of steam and the dark squares behind them collapsed. Try switching to a slower plan with h3–g4 only after castling long when Black has a quick …c5.

3. Opening dashboard

(auto-generated)

4. Next-step training menu

1. Caro-Kann tune-up. Refresh the 4…Nf6 main line with recent games by Firouzja. Pay special attention to typical …c5 breaks and opposite-side castling attacks.
2. Against the Najdorf as White. Explore the 6.Be3 English Attack — it gives the same attacking chances you enjoy, but with more theoretical backup than 6.Bg5 e5 lines you sometimes enter unprepared.
3. 30-minute puzzle sprint, three times a week. Focus on intermediate moves & deflection (your two main tactical misses). Use custom themes on Chess.com’s puzzle filters.
4. Clock discipline drill. Play 10 blitz games where you must have ≥1:00 on the clock by move 20. Abort the game if you fail the rule and start over — it’s surprisingly effective.

5. Mindset reminder

“Perfect positions are rare; practical chances are everywhere.” Keep trusting your calculation, but give equal respect to the scoreboard (time!) and the match situation.

Keep up the great work, Rebecca — looking forward to your next batch of games!