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
| Strength | Example |
|---|---|
| Tactical alertness & exploiting loose pieces | 18…Bxd4? 19.Nxd6+! in your latest win – you instantly punished the skewer and grabbed the initiative. |
| Piece activity & pressure on the clock | Repeated queen forays (Qf4/Qh4) forced your opponent under 10 s and netted the full point. |
| Needed: Prophylaxis & pawn-structure awareness | In the French game Black pawns landed on dark squares (…b5 …f6 …f5) leaving light-square holes and an inflexible king walk Ke7-d6-e6. Train with “find opponent’s plan” drills to anticipate these strategic concessions. |
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:
- Opening – play from prep, move instantly when you recognise the pattern.
- 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
- 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.
- Solve 15 moderate puzzles daily, focusing on deflection and zwischenzug themes – both showed up in your games.
- 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!