Coach Chesswick
Hi Mark, here’s some targeted feedback based on your recent games.
What you’re doing well
- Consistent Opening Repertoire – Polish / Larsen-type systems. Your familiarity lets you blitz out the first 10-12 moves quickly and reach middlegames you understand.
- Piece Activity. In your wins you repeatedly seize space with pawn levers (a4, c4, d4) and place knights on outposts (Nd4, Nc6, etc.). The diagram below from your latest victory shows excellent piece harmony:
- Practical End-game Technique. Several wins were converted in low time vs strong opposition – good “flag-hunting” instincts.
Patterns holding you back
- Sensitive King Safety as Black. In the loss to Matvey Galchenko the g- and h-files collapsed after 13.g4. Your …g6/…Bg7 setup invites pawn storms; consider mixing in …e5 lines or earlier …h6 to blunt Bg5/Bh4 ideas.
- Tendency to Over-press with Pawns in the Polish. In several defeats (e.g. vs “0817chess”) the early b4-b5, a4, g4 thrusts left weaknesses on c4 & e4 that opponents exploited. Aim to develop before pushing all the flank pawns.
- Conversion against stubborn defence. When an edge fizzles you often drift into worse rook endings (see loss vs KRAT0S_GOW). Technique drills on Lucena and Philidor positions will pay dividends.
- Clock Management in unclear positions. Your average remaining time at move 25 in losses was 0:45 vs 1:25 in wins (sample of last 10 games). Slow down when the position first leaves book.
Quick Wins for the next 2 weeks
- Add one mainline response as Black. vs 1.e4 try the solid …e5 Italian/Two-Knights you already use, but study the critical 9.Nd5 line (your game vs KRAT0S_GOW). A single evening with an engine will plug that hole.
- Daily 10-minute tactics set. Focus on forcing sequences & the concept of the Zwischenzug which cost you material in multiple games.
- End-game flashcards. Alternate rook+pawn vs rook endings every other day. Reproduce the key setups from memory.
- Play two games per day in a slower pool (5|5 or 10|0). For each, annotate one critical moment where you spent <10 seconds but should have paused.
Medium-term Study Plan (1–2 months)
| Week | Main Focus | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | King-side Fortress drills (castle-side pawn structures) | Save 2/3 games where you’d previously been mated |
| 3–4 | Semi-open pawn breaks in Polish (…e5 vs b4) | +10% score with White vs 2200–2400 |
Motivation Corner
Your current peak is 2907 (2020-10-28). The data shows you win most between 19:00–21:00 local. Use the dashboard below to track performance and schedule sessions in that window:
Next Opponent Prep
If you rematch francyIM, revisit the Bxa6 exchange sacrifice idea – it scored brilliantly (see diagram earlier). A direct link to their profile for scouting:
Francesco Sonis
Final Thought
“Good positions don’t win games – good moves do.” Keep converting your dynamic setups into concrete advantages, and that 2800 blitz ceiling will fall.
Good luck with your training – looking forward to seeing the progress in your next set of games!
Dashboard links: