Hi DexterMorgan929!
Great job staying active and pushing your higher. Below is a focused review of your recent games and a practical plan to level-up.
Quick snapshot
- Activity overview:
- Typical weapons with White: King’s Gambit (C30), Petroff/Cochrane (C42), Italian lines
- Typical weapons with Black: French Defence (C00-C02), QGD-type set-ups (D30)
What you already do well
- Tactical alertness. In the win vs obriquet you spotted the Nf6-sac followed by 18.Qf7+!! with excellent calculation.
- Active piece play. You regularly double rooks and use open files (…Rd3+, Rf8) to convert pressure into material.
- Clock handling when ahead. Several opponents flagged in lost positions—evidence you keep the initiative and play briskly when winning.
Biggest improvement areas
1. Opening discipline
Early queen forays sometimes backfire. In your loss to naggieaggie the sequence 14.Qa4?! 15.Bxa7?! placed the queen on the rim and left your king in the centre. Black’s …b5! and …Rxa7 turned the tables.
Guideline: develop all minor pieces & castle before hunting pawns. Try playing the Classical French (…Nf6/…Be7) for 20 games and ban early queen moves to build habits.
2. King safety
Five of your last six defeats featured an uncastled king or shattered pawn shield.
| Safe king (win) | Exposed king (loss) |
Make “Is my king safe?” your first checkpoint every three moves.
3. Pawn-structure & coordination
You love the French break …c5, but pushing it before completing development (e.g. vs station415) handed White the open lines. Study the idea of the minority attack to judge when pawn thrusts are strategic vs premature.
4. Endgame technique
The resign-decision against Station415 came in a rook endgame only one pawn down. Basic rook endgame themes (Lucena, Philidor, checking from the side) will save rating points quickly.
5. Time management under stress
Your move-time spikes sharply in tough positions, leading to blunders. Try the 10-second rule: if nothing is hanging, invest at least ten seconds searching for quiet improving moves before calculating tactics.
Two-week action plan
- Solve 15 tactical puzzles daily focusing on forks, pins & back-rank mates.
- Play five games with the French as Black, forbidding queen moves before move 10.
- After each game, note one move where you could have castled earlier.
- Spend one evening on rook-endgame drills (Philidor & Lucena versus engine).
Keep leveraging your tactical eye, add solid king safety, and breaking 1000 will be a matter of weeks. Good luck and enjoy the grind!