Coach Chesswick
Feedback for Bonesy1116
Congratulations on breaking the 2400-blitz barrier (2405 (2024-11-21)) and for the strong recent streak shown in your hourly and daily performance charts (
/ ). Below is a mix of praise and concrete improvement ideas drawn from your latest games.1. Opening Phase
- Sodium-Attack addiction? In most recent white games you start with 1.Na3 or 1.Nc3. While it scores decently against lower-rated opponents, the move does give strong players early targets (see the loss vs. suz99 where …c5/…e5 seized the centre).
➤ Recommendation: keep the surprise weapon, but add one classical main line to your repertoire (e.g. 1.e4 with a King-pawn system or 1.d4 with a simple London/Colle). Rotating openings will make you harder to prepare for and deepen your positional understanding. - Black repertoire: the adventurous 2…Ke7 in the King’s Knight Opening (win vs. Sam Capocyan) is fun, yet objectively shaky. Against titled opposition you may be punished.
➤ Adopt at least one solid backbone opening (e.g. Petrov, French, or Queen’s Gambit Accepted) and use the off-beat lines as occasional weapons.
2. Middlegame Themes
- King safety: In both your latest win and loss the side that first attacked the king won quickly. Example: (win vs Zach Slagowski) where your rook lift and pawn storm paid off. Conversely, in the loss to suz99 the uncastled king and loosened dark squares led to f4/f5 breaks against you.
➤ When playing flank openings, make a conscious “king-safety check” every 3-4 moves; do not delay castling unless you have a concrete reason. - Central tension: Several games show early pawn exchanges that release the tension in your opponent’s favour (e.g. 19.cxd4 vs suz99).
➤ Before capturing in the centre, ask: “Who benefits from the open file/diagonal?” If it is equal, maintaining tension often keeps more winning chances. - Piece activity over material: A highlight is 28.Rxd7+!! against SL2000, sacrificing a rook for an unstoppable attack. Keep nurturing this dynamic style, but remember to re-count material after each forcing sequence; two recent losses stemmed from over-optimistic sacs that were objectively unsound.
3. Endgame & Technique
- Conversion speed: In winning endings (e.g. vs ERD2849) you dispatch opponents efficiently—great! Yet the time-forfeit loss against the same player shows a need for a time-safety margin.
➤ Practise “clean-up drills” with 10-second increments: win a pawn-up rook ending against the engine repeatedly until it feels automatic. - Technical accuracy under pressure: In the long loss to ERD2849 (60-sec game) your king was overly active in a rook-and-pawn race, leading to zugzwang and a flag.
➤ Review fundamental rook endings “Lucena” and “Philidor”. A single pattern saved could have drawn that game.
4. Time Management
Two of the last five losses were on time. You often enter sharp positions with under 15 seconds. With your tactical eyesight, even five extra seconds would flip many results.
- Set a soft time-cap: never drop below 45 sec before move 20 in 3-minute games.
- Use safe pre-moves when the position is forced.
- Practise “
5. Suggested Study Plan (2-week micro-cycle)
- Openings: Pick one main-line system as White (Italian or Queen’s Gambit) and drill the first 15 moves vs an engine for 30 minutes/day.
- Tactics: 50 mixed puzzles/day with 60-sec timer. Focus on fork motifs and clearance sacrifices.
- Endgames: Alternate rook-vs-rook+pawn and minor-piece endings on odd/even days (10 positions each, play both sides).
- Review: Each evening analyse one win & one loss quickly: 5 minutes first with no engine, 5 minutes with engine.
Quick Reference Clips
• Your clean attacking win — study again to replicate:
• Rough endgame that slipped away:
Keep the creativity, add a dash of classical structure, and that next rating plateau will come quickly. Good luck and enjoy the grind!