Coach Chesswick
Hi BigFuzzyP!
Great job keeping an attacking mindset—your recent miniature against zack_im shows you’re capable of finishing games in under ten moves!
Your Current Strengths
- Fast Development & Early Pressure. Repeatedly playing 1.d4/2.Bf4 or the Scandinavian as Black gives you quick piece activity and open lines.
- Tactical Awareness. Forks, pins and discovered checks (see 20…Rf1# vs Windywind) are already in your toolkit.
- Fighting Spirit. Even in worse positions you keep searching for tricks, often turning games around.
Main Improvement Areas
- King Safety & Pawn Structure.
• Several losses come from over-expanding pawns (…b5 vs neowens57380, …f5 vs hgabghjiffgu). Before pushing a wing pawn, ask: “Will this create holes around my king or let a rook enter?”
• Make castling a priority; in two of your time-forfeit games your king was still in the center. - Time Management.
• Three of your last five defeats were on time in equal or even winning positions. Try the “10-second rule”: if your move isn’t forced and you are below 40 seconds, play any reasonable developing move rather than searching for the absolute best.
• Blitz out known opening moves in your repertoire to save precious seconds for middlegame calculations. - Overlooking Opponent Counter-Play.
• Game vs GnK93: you grabbed pawns but missed the mating net starting with 15.Nd5!
• Train to always ask “What is my opponent threatening?” after every move. Setting a simple mental alarm to look for checks, captures and threats from the opponent will eliminate many blunders. - Endgame Basics.
• In several games material was equal when the clocks ran low. Work on king activity, pawn majorities and basic rook endgame techniques so you can confidently convert without burning time.
Opening Tune-Up
You clearly enjoy the London-style system with Bf4 and the Scandinavian as Black. Keep them, but add a simple secondary line:
- As White: Learn the first 8-10 moves of the Torre (d4–Nf3–Bg5) so you aren’t forced into Bf4 when …c5 makes it awkward.
- As Black: Pair the Scandinavian with a solid 1.e4 e6 French set-up. The pawn chain will automatically protect your king and teach you strategic play.
Tactical Drill of the Week
Re-play your 9-move win and solve “What if Black had tried 8…Qe7 instead of 8…c6?”
Progress Tracker
Your 545 (2025-01-28) is creeping upward—great! Monitor when you win most often:
Hourly Win Rate:
Win Rate by Day:
Next-Week Action Plan
- Solve 20 mixed tactics every day (theme: fork, pin, back-rank mate).
- Play two 15|10 rapid games where you must spend at least 30 seconds on move 10.
- Review one lost game daily; write down the last safe position before the blunder.
- Practice a basic rook-and-pawn ending against the computer until you win 5 times in a row.
Keep It Up!
You’re on the right path—add structure to your thinking and you’ll break 500+ very soon. Good luck and enjoy the journey!