Coach Chesswick
Hi Daniel ( dafnu83 ) — Personal Feedback
Your current trajectory
• Peak blitz rating so far: 2543 (2024-10-08).
• Typical play-time window: see your own activity peaks on
• Best competitive day of the week: .
Use these charts to plan training sessions when you are most alert.
What you are already doing well
- Opening variety & surprise factor – The mix of Closed-Sicilian, Caro-Kann and King’s Indian Attack keeps opponents guessing.
- Tactical eye – Many of your wins arise from sudden strikes such as 29…Nxg3! in the game vs hoangkhanh2011. Your ability to spot forks & cross-checks is above average for your rating.
- Playing for …f5 / …f4 breaks – You create practical problems, especially when the enemy king is still central.
Main growth areas
- King safety after pawn storms
The sequence …g6, …h6, …f5 often leaves dark-square holes around your monarch. In the loss vs RodinMihail (Italian), the pawn on h6 became a hook that White exploited with 34.Qh4.
➜ Drill the theme “castled-king weak squares”. Play through model games by Kramnik on the same structures. - Time management
You win on time and lose on time. The pattern shows heavy clock use when positions get messy.
• Aim to spend max 20 sec in the first 10 moves.
• When below 30 sec, shift to “safe-move mode”: make moves that cannot blunder immediately, even if not best. - End-game conversion
In your win vs Rubikon1 you were a pawn up but needed the clock to finish. Work on rook & pawn endings and practical elements like the Philidor/Lucena set-ups. - Transition decisions
Trades such as 9…Qxd1 (vs Rubikon1) bring you to queen-less middlegames where you appear less comfortable.
• Before exchanging queens ask 3 questions: Who benefits in activity, pawn structure, king safety?
Concrete drills for the next 2 weeks
| Session | Minutes | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Daily blitz set (3 games) | 20 | Apply new clock rules |
| End-game studies | 15 | Basic rook & pawn wins |
| Opening clean-up | 20 | Prepare one main-line vs 4.Bc4 in Sicilian so you avoid early …Qxd1 trades |
| Tactics trainer | 10 | Only 4-5 move combinations with a forced first move (improves calculation speed) |
Illustrative snippet
Study the critical transformation you could have chosen in the recent loss vs RodinMihail. Instead of 24…Bg6 leading to passive defence, 24…Bxh3! removes White’s most dangerous attacker and keeps material balance.
Mini glossary
- Hook – a pawn the opponent can attack to open lines toward your king.
- Intermediate move (also Zwischenzug) – a forcing move played before the expected recapture.
Final encouragement
You are hovering in the mid-2500 blitz range because your creativity compensates for technical gaps. Shore up the three areas above and a 2600+ peak is realistic. Keep the fighting spirit, but give your king one extra pawn-shield and your clock one extra second… the rating points will follow!