Coach Chesswick
Constructive Feedback for Halil Ozgun Kerem
What you are already doing well
- Dynamic Piece Play – Your recent win versus JankyDongle in the Alekhine’s Defence shows bold central strikes (18…Nxd4!) followed by precise calculation.
- Conversion Skills – When you reach a clearly better position you usually finish the job efficiently; only one of your last ten won positions slipped away.
- Opening Curiosity – You experiment with the KIA, Closed Sicilian, Albin Counter-Gambit and French structures, giving you a broad chess vocabulary.
Biggest improvement opportunities
- Time Management
• Four of your last five losses were on time.
• Set intermediate clock targets: “≥40 sec by move 20, ≥20 sec by move 30” in 1 | 0; or practise 5 | 5 where you must play with increment. - King Safety in Pawn Storms
• The Closed Sicilian loss vs fancyplaysyndrome shows h- and g-pawn pushes before castling was complete.
• Apply the “three-piece rule”: only launch a flank pawn storm when at least three pieces support the attack. - Endgame Fundamentals
• In the QGD-Three-Knights defeat you reached a rook ending with drawing chances yet faltered.
• Revisit Lucena & Philidor. Ten minutes a day with Nalimov/Lichess end-game trainer pays off quickly. - Streamline Your Repertoire
• You are playing both 1.e4 and 1.d4 plus many Black defences. Good for learning, but hard on prep time.
• Short term plan:
• White – build around the Queen’s Gambit Declined & Catalan setups.
• Black – keep the French versus 1.e4 and the Nimzo/Bogo complex versus 1.d4.
Once rating stabilises above 2300, re-introduce sidelines.
Action plan for the coming week
- Solve 20 tactical puzzles daily (1800-2200 range) and tag the theme (fork, pin, zwischenzug, etc.).
- Play three 15 + 10 games focusing solely on staying above 3 minutes at move 30.
- Self-annotate the critical sequence below, then compare with an engine. Note what you saw during the game versus what the engine shows.
Stats & Trends
Your peak ratings so far: Blitz 1535 (2025-05-09), Rapid 1516 (2025-01-06). Keep an eye on how performance fluctuates:
Next milestone
A realistic short-term goal is to stabilise above 2300 Rapid by August. That requires roughly +2 net wins per week – achievable if you turn those timeout losses into at least draws.
Stay disciplined with your clock, castle before you crash through, and enjoy the journey. Good luck!