Coach Chesswick
Blue Sapphire Chess – Personal Feedback Report
Your current competitive picture
- Peak blitz rating so far: 2284 (2025-05-18).
- Most active time segment: see .
- Day-to-day consistency: .
What you are already doing well
- Opening versatility as Black. You switch comfortably between the French, Semi-Slav structures and the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon. In the win against tausman you played the French Winawer and steered the game into an imbalanced middlegame where your knight pair did excellent work.
- Resourceful pawn breaks. Typical examples are …c5 in the Winawer and …f5/ …g5 in your Semi-Slav wins. They created concrete targets and often provoked inaccuracies from your opponents.
- Tactical alertness. In the game vs BartoszPoland1984 you spotted 24…Bd3! (pinning the rook on f1) within seconds and the game collapsed for White immediately.
Key growth areas
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Time management.
You lost on time three times in the last 24 hours while the engine shows the position was still playable or even favourable. Practical tip: adopt a simple “traffic-light” routine – at 1:40 on the clock ask yourself “Am I still in book?”, at 1:00 force a move every 10 seconds, and under 0:30 switch to “safe but fast” mode (avoid lengthy calculation unless it is forced mate). -
King safety when you own a space advantage.
In the loss vs comrel (Dutch Stonewall as White) your queenside advance 17.b4-18.b5 left dark-square holes. The critical fragment:
Notice how the minor concession …Bf3 swung the evaluation completely. Rule of thumb: if your king sits on g1 and both f- and g-pawns are on g3/h3, do not weaken b- and c-files without a concrete tactical reason. -
Handling of rook invasions & perpetual checks.
Against RapidBllitzProMaster you repeated moves with 24.Rb7+-29.Rb8+ and ran short of time. When you have only one open file, calculate whether you are chasing a harmless draw or wasting tempi. A quick switch to a stabilising plan (e.g. 24.Rab1 intending b3-b4) would have kept the initiative with less clock pressure. -
Opening depth with the English/Réti move-order as White.
Several recent games started 1.c4/1.Nf3 followed by early b-, g- or h-pawn thrusts. The positions became highly committal before development finished. Recommendation: add one solid repertoire branch – e.g. the c4-e3-d4 “Mainstream English” – so you can choose between dynamic and positional setups depending on opponent and mood.
Action plan for the next week
| Day | Focus | Suggested drill |
|---|---|---|
| Mon & Tue | Speed control | Play 5 + 5 games and aim to have ≥45 sec by move 20. |
| Wed | Dark-square Dutch test | Analyse the full Comrel game with an engine and pinpoint every dark-square weakness. |
| Thu | Rook endgames | Solve 15 basic rook vs pawn endings and review Lucena/Philidor (tempo management!). |
| Fri & Sat | Positional English | Play two sparring games starting from 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3; note plans & pawn breaks. |
Quick motivational snapshot
“In blitz the clock is your thirteenth piece. Treat it with as much respect as your queen.”
Good luck, and keep sharpening those tactical gems while building a safer strategic foundation!