Coach Chesswick
Hi Carlos!
You are hovering around the 1950 mark in 3 | 2 games – a clear sign that your fundamentals are solid. A few targeted tweaks should help you break through the 2000 barrier.
What you already do well
- Opening repertoire is coherent. As Black you trust the French (C00 / C02) and Sicilian Dragon setups; as White you steer most games into the Queen’s-Gambit family. Sticking to a narrow menu lets you reach familiar middlegames quickly.
- Clock handling. Four of your last five wins ended with “won on time”. You keep pressure on the board while preserving a time cushion – a real strength in 3 | 2.
- Willingness to calculate. Sacrifices such as 24.Nxe6! against drunkestian_joker show courage and tactical vision.
Recurring leaks
- Early tactical oversights.
In the loss vs aromeoallepuz you allowed 12…Bxb4! and resigned on move 13.
The critical sequence was:
That pawn thrust (b4) broke the a5-e1 pin on your knight and left the whole diagonal loose. Similar one-move blunders also appeared against fadow (18.Qxb7??). - Premature pawn storms. Pushing the h-pawn in both French and QGD positions (h4/-h5) scores when it hits, but more often weakens your own king. In the win vs wang5ter you survived because your opponent over-pressed, not because the pawn wave was sound.
- Loose piece coordination in the middlegame. Several defeats featured pieces placed on the rim or doubled rooks that never connected. The game vs Gerardo5662 collapsed after 21…f4? left your king stuck in the Dragon cross-fire.
Action plan for +75 rating points
- Dose of discipline: “No undefended pieces”. Every three moves, pause and apply the LPDO (Loose Pieces Drop Off) check. You will catch 80 % of the tactics that are currently costing you games.
- Replace early h-pawn advances with purposeful development. In the French Advance you can play …Ne7–f6–Be7 instead of pawn rushes. In QGD structures, test 7.Rc1 or 7.Qb3 instead of 7.h3 / 7.h4.
- Endgame conversion drills. Although many games finish on time, you still reach queen-less endgames (see the win vs andrewkerzhner). Spend 10 min/day on rook-and-pawn endings; the payoff is huge around the 2000 threshold.
- Tactics routine.
• 20 puzzles/day, rating 2000-2300
• annotate one recent loss without engine, then verify – focus on “first mistake”, not the final blunder.
Helpful stats & visual cues
Peak blitz rating so far: 2171 (2024-10-31)
When you win most often:
Best playing days:
Micro-goals for next 30 games
- 0 games lost before move 20.
- Keep at least one central pawn (d/e) until move 15 in the French.
- Convert two rook-endgames a week against friends or bots.
Stay disciplined, trust your preparation, and the 2000+ badge will come soon. Good luck, and feel free to share your next critical game for deeper analysis!