Coach Chesswick
Hi Asher! Here’s a focused review of your recent rapid (60¯) games and some concrete next-step recommendations.
1. What you are already doing well
- Active piece play when you are Black. In several French-type structures you generated counter-play with …c5, …f6 and quick pawn breaks on the kingside. This shows good appreciation for dynamic imbalance.
- Tactical alertness. You converted a material advantage with the sequence 31…Nxc3 32.Qxc3 Rac8!! in your win vs Chesstos07, and you found the cute …Nh3# finish vs Tweezer503—nice pattern recognition!
- Willingness to castle opposite sides and race pawns (see the b-pawn push vs mansuousman). This keeps positions double-edged and suits your tactical style.
2. Recurring issues that cost you points
- Time management. 5 of the last 6 losses ended by flag in equal or even winning positions. Your moves/minute trend drops sharply after move 25. A quick glance at confirms that games played late in your session have a lower finish rate.
🡒 Action: Train with 3-min “move-every-2-seconds” drills or use an over-the-board clock and force yourself to move when the hand reaches the 12-second mark. - Opening inefficiency. With White you play 1.e3 2.Be2 3.b3 in almost every game. That setup is solid, but you often spend two tempi shuffling the queen (Qc2/Qb1/Qe2) and develop the dark-square bishop only on move 12+.
🡒 Action: keep the same comfort system but trim the fat:- e3, d4, Nf3, Bd3, O-O, c4 → 6 moves, all pieces out.
- Save b3/Bb2 for later unless Black already fianchettoes.
- Endgame conversion. In the loss vs StealingCompanyTime you reached a winning rook + bishop vs rook ending but drifted into zugzwang and flagged. Your technique with extra passed pawns also wavered vs Chesstos07 (game finished 40…Rg1! but clock killed you).
🡒 Action: daily 10-minute drill on “rook-and-pawn vs rook” and the Lucena/Philidor positions. - Premature pawn storms. Several Black games feature …g5/…h5 before your king is safe (e.g. 10…g4 vs Chesstos07). When opponents kept cool, you were left with holes on f5 and h5.
🡒 Action: Before pushing a wing pawn, run the 3-question blunder check:- Does it open files toward my own king?
- Can I meet a central break immediately after?
- Am I ahead in development?
3. Specific positions worth a deeper look
- Most recent win, move 23…Ba6! – an instructive interference tactic. Revisit this with an engine to see why White’s queenside queen sortie failed.
- Loss vs Chesstos07, move 12.d5! – White seizes space because your …g5 plan neglected the centre. Practice the idea of a timely break in the centre when a flank attack starts.
- Missed shortcut vs StealingCompanyTime, move 40…Bd4! – a study-like stalemate trap if White grabs on d4. Worth analysing for calculating forcing lines.
4. Study plan for the next two weeks
- Alternate 15-minute tactic sessions with 15-minute endgame rook-pawn drills (Chess.com drills #34-45 cover these).
- Play one 30 | 5 game per day, annotate for 20 minutes, then run engine for blunder check only after self-review.
- Memorise two model games that feature your preferred pawn structure (French with …b6) – start with Botvinnik–Rauser 1938 and Korchnoi–Karpov 1978 g18.
5. Quick stats snapshot
Peak blitz rating: Peak rapid rating: