Captain_Charizma NM

Hi Captain_Charizma!

Great job keeping an active schedule and sprinkling in plenty of Chess960 – it’s clear you enjoy creative, un-theoretical positions. Below is some personalized feedback drawn from your most recent win and loss, plus a few broader trends in your games.

Your current profile

• Peak rapid rating: (nice milestone!)
• Activity heat-map:
• Weekly momentum:

1. Opening phase

What’s working: You often develop quickly (e.g. Nc3, Bb2 in the Chess960 win) and aren’t afraid to castle long when the pawn structure allows it. Against lower-rated opposition this gives you practical pressure and clock advantages.

Growth area: In the French Rubinstein loss to hoedli you followed main ideas for 8…Rb8 & 10…Bb7, but after 12.Ne5 you slipped into passive piece placement. Study a handful of critical Rubinstein tabiyas so you can meet 12.Ne5 and 14.Ng4 with concrete plans such as …cxd4 → …Nxe5 or the immediate …cxd4 followed by …Bd6.

2. Middle-game decisions

3. Endgame & conversion

Your biggest risk comes when the tactics dry up:

• Versus Hoedli you reached an equal rook-and-pawn ending but drifted after 27…a6?! and 32…f6?.
• Suggestion: 20-minute weekly routine with King + pawn vs king, rook activity, and “side pawn – wrong bishop” scenarios. This will pay immediate dividends because many of your blitz games liquidate quickly.

4. Time management

Roughly 40 % of your recent wins were on time. While flagging is a skill, it can mask inaccuracies. Try the “two-speed” approach:

1. Opening – play from prep, move instantly when you recognise the pattern.
2. Critical positions – spend at least half of your remaining time calculating 3 candidate moves and conducting a final blunder-check (tactical_vison).

Action plan for the next 2 weeks

1. Pick one Black defence vs 1.e4 (continue the French or trial the Modern from your Chess960 games) & watch a 20-minute repertoire video; play five rapid games applying only that defence.
2. Solve 15 moderate puzzles daily, focusing on deflection and zwischenzug themes – both showed up in your games.
3. Replay one master endgame each day; annotate where you would move before revealing the grandmaster move.

Keep it up!

Your creativity and willingness to mix it up are clear strengths. Marry that with a bit more structure in familiar openings and some endgame muscle, and you’ll punch through the 1600+ barrier soon. Good luck and enjoy the grind!