Coach Chesswick
Hi Michael, here is your personalized chess feedback
1. Quick Snapshot
- Peak Ratings – Rapid: 2342 (2023-07-03), Blitz: 2331 (2025-01-10), Daily: 2237 (2023-02-04)
- Typical time-of-day performance:
- Weekly consistency:
2. What you already do well
- Active piece play. In several wins (e.g., against anita_jime) you quickly mobilised queens and rooks to open files and create mating nets.
- Tactical alertness. The combination 22.Bh6! in your most recent win shows you spot loose pieces and overloaded defenders.
- Flexible opening choices. You handle both 1.d4 Stonewall-type setups and the French Defence well, giving you experience with closed and semi-open pawn structures.
3. Growth opportunities
- Time management. Your last loss was on time in a completely playable ending. Train with 5-minute “clock only” drills: start with 30 s on your clock vs. 20 s and try to flag the engine.
- Pawn-structure awareness. Games where you played …f5 in the French often left weak light squares and backward e-pawns. Review classical French plans and study the concept of a Minority Attack.
- End-game conversion. You reach winning rook or rook-knight endings but sometimes drift. Add 10 minutes of end-game studies to each session; start with the “100 Endgames You Must Know” rook chapter.
- Blunder reduction. Early queen sorties (e.g., Qxb7/Qf5) work versus lower-rated opponents but failed against 1800+ players. Follow the “three-question rule” before every tactical decision: (a) What changed? (b) What does my opponent want? (c) Which piece is worst placed?
4. Targeted study plan (4-week cycle)
| Week | Focus | Concrete Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opening clean-up | Revise your French lines vs. 2.d3/3.Nd2. Create a 12-move “core repertoire” file. |
| 2 | Pawn structures | Annotate two of your Stonewall games; label every pawn lever and weak square. |
| 3 | End-games | Finish chapters 1-5 of 100 Endgames (≈20 positions). Play 10 positions vs. engine at +1.0. |
| 4 | Practical play | Ten 5|5 games focused on clock discipline. After each game write one sentence: “I lost/spent X seconds on move Y because…”. |
5. Illustrative moment
Notice how the following micro-tactic wins a pawn by exploiting an overloaded defender:
6. Next coaching session prep
- Select one recent loss where you felt “stuck” strategically.
- Write down three candidate moves you considered at the critical moment and why you chose the one you played.
- Bring that position so we can practice the “compare and eliminate” method together.
Keep up the great work, Michael! Small, focused improvements each week will push you past your current peak in no time.