Piero Bontempi IM

Constructive Feedback for Piero Bontempi

Dear Piero,

After reviewing your recent games, here are some insights and suggestions to help you continue improving your chess skills:

• Opening Play: Your choice of openings, such as the Indian Defense and Sicilian Defense, is ambitious and dynamic. You showed good understanding of classical development and control of the center early on. Continue to deepen your knowledge of typical plans and key ideas in these openings to gain more confidence during the opening phase.
• Piece Activity: You tend to activate your pieces well, often creating pressure and tactical threats (for example, your sharp queen excursions to capture material). This aggressive style is a strong asset. Just be mindful to balance activity with safety, avoiding situations where your material advantage can be nullified by counterattacks.
• Time Management: You handle your clock reasonably well in longer time controls. However, ensure you allocate your time so that you leave enough for critical positions, especially in the middlegame and endgame phases.
• Endgame Technique: Some losses show opportunities to improve your endgame technique. Focus on fundamental endgame principles such as king centralization, pawn structure, and active rook play. Practicing basic theoretical endings can significantly increase your confidence converting advantages or defending difficult positions.
• Tactical Awareness: Your games demonstrate good tactical awareness, often spotting opportunities to gain material. To enhance this even further, working on tactical puzzles regularly will sharpen your calculation skills and pattern recognition.
• Handling Defensive Positions: In some losses, defensive techniques can be improved, especially in complex positions where you are under pressure. Study resources on defensive play and learn how to create counterplay or simplify the position to mitigate threats.

Overall, your games show strong potential and a fighting spirit. Keep analyzing your losses carefully, and try to learn one or two lessons from each game. Keep building your opening repertoire and enhance your strategic play to complement your tactical strengths.

Looking forward to seeing your continued progress!

Best regards,
Your Chess Coach