Coach Chesswick
Hi Petar!
Congratulations on maintaining a strong online rapid rating of 2341 (2025-05-29). Your recent games show a creative, tactical style that frequently overwhelms opponents rated 200-300 points lower. Below is a concise, three-part report that should help you convert more of those advantages against peers and higher-rated players.
1. What you’re already doing well
- Opening variety & initiative. You employ the Sicilian, Semi-Slav, Caro-Kann and 1.Nf3 English/Retí setups with confidence. In the win vs. a_fat_sheep (05 Jun 2025) you seized the centre with …d5 in the Alapin and never looked back.
- Calculating forcing lines. Your combination 25…Kg7 26…c4 → 37…c1=Q+ in the same game is an excellent illustration. See the miniature clip: .
- Tactical awareness under pressure. Moves such as 32.Qxg8+!! in your Semi-Slav crush illustrate you can spot resourceful shots even with <90 seconds on the clock.
2. Recurring issues to address
- Clock management. Four of the five losses supplied were on time in equal or winning positions (e.g. vs. Caio_Buys & delphin11). Good practical players rarely fall below 20 % of the starting time without a clear plan. See tip set below.
- End-game conversion. In the French loss (Sept 2024) a rook + two passed pawns should never lose. Your technique with rook + pawns vs. rook looked shaky in several examples; study classical models (Capablanca, Rubinstein) and drill conversion exercises.
- Prophylaxis & counterplay. Several defeats stemmed from ignoring opponent plans:
- French Tarrasch: after 19…Qe4?! your queen became misplaced; White seized the initiative with Bd3–e4.
- English vs. Caio_Buys: queenside expansion with 28…d4! eventually rolled you up—your own passer on b7 arrived one tempo too late.
3. Action plan (next 4–6 weeks)
- Refine openings—narrow the repertoire.
- Black vs. 1.e4 – choose one between French and Sicilian for rapid play. Deepen the line instead of juggling both.
- Against 1.d4 stick to Semi-Slav; memorise the critical Meran tabiyas to move 15 so you reach the middlegame with an extra 1-2 minutes.
- Clock discipline routine.
- Use a “2-minute checkpoint”: if you are under 2 minutes with >10 moves to reach increment phase, force yourself to move within 10 seconds until increment stabilises.
- Practise 5-minute no-increment blitz exclusively for one week to train fast decision making under pressure.
- End-game drills.
- Daily 15-minute session on rook endings (Lichess studies or a physical board). Focus on Lucena, Philidor & “rook behind passed pawn” ideas.
- Add 10 puzzles featuring Opposite-Colored Bishops and technical wins.
- Game review habit.
- After each session pick one critical moment and write a single sentence: “What was the opponent’s threat?”—this reinforces Prophylaxis.
- Log results with the built-in stats tool; your personal heatmap (, ) already indicates score drops after the 3-hour mark—schedule tougher games earlier.
Motivational snapshot
Your tactical imagination is easily top-2300 level; pairing it with sturdier technique and better clock handling should push you comfortably into 2400-plus territory this season. Stay curious, keep analysing, and let’s aim to turn every passed pawn into a queen, not a time-scramble. Good luck!