Coach Chesswick
Quick summary
Nice run — you converted multiple mating nets and pawn promotions, and you show good feel for creating passed pawns and simplifying into winning endgames. The recent games show both clinical conversion (queening, back-rank/rook mates) and a few avoidable tactical oversights that cost games. Below I highlight patterns to keep and concrete things to fix for faster improvement in bullet.
Short annotated example (one recent win)
Study this decisive sequence to see how you turned activity and a passed pawn into mate and used piece activity to finish the job:
- Game vs swiercz_swi — the sequence from move ~33 onward shows persistent pressure on the kingside and careful mating threats that funneled the opponent into a forced mate.
- Mini-board (playback):
What you do well (keep this)
- Creating and escorting passed pawns — you force promotions reliably (several recent games ended with queening or decisive pawn advancement).
- Converting piece activity into concrete threats — rook lifts, queen checks and mating nets (Rh7#, back-rank finishes) are common in your wins.
- Practical endgame sense in bullet — you trade into winning simplified positions and know when to push the pawn majority.
- Calm under the clock — you find strong forcing moves quickly and keep pressure instead of panicking.
Recurring weaknesses to fix
- Reactive instead of preventive play vs passed pawns — in losses the opponent’s pawn(s) often reach queening squares because you didn’t stop the advance early enough. Look for the push-and-stop motif: stop the pawn before it becomes unstoppable.
- Vulnerable king squares and back-rank issues — a couple of games ended with mate patterns after allowing a rook or queen to invade. Keep luft or watch for forcing checks before pawn races.
- Tactical oversights on checks and forks — at bullet speed it’s easy to miss a single intermezzo from the opponent that changes evaluation. Spend 0.5–1s to scan for immediate captures/checks after each move.
- Sometimes you allow counterplay after a capture spree — when you win material, check immediate counter-threats (promotion, discovered checks) before grabbing the next pawn.
Bullet-specific practical checklist (use during every game)
- Before you move: count checks, captures, and promotion threats (3 things).
- If opponent has a passed pawn: ask "Can I stop, trade, or create a decisive counter-threat?" — pick one quickly.
- Keep at least one escape square for your king (avoid back-rank mate).
- Prefer forcing moves (checks, captures, threats) in time trouble — they give practical chances.
- Use pre-moves only when you’re sure there is no tactic (don’t pre-move into captures or checks).
Concrete drills & routine (15–30 minutes daily)
- 10 minutes tactics puzzles (focus: mates, promotion motifs, and interference/deflection tactics).
- 10 minutes endgame drills: king + rook vs rook, basic queen vs pawn promotion, Lucena and Philidor positions. Practice stopping passed pawns.
- 10 minutes rapid post-mortem: pick one recent loss, replay 5 critical moves and ask "what did I miss?" — annotate one quick line to remember.
Plan for the next week
- Play a dozen 1|0 games focusing only on the checklist above (no auto-pre-moves unless safe).
- Analyze 2 losses with engine to identify recurring tactical blind spots (save 2–3 minutes per game).
- Do 7 consecutive days of the drills above — small, consistent work beats random sessions.
Extra notes & resources
- Opponent examples to review: swiercz_swi — he created passed-pawn counterplay in a few of your games; study the defense and how he exploited holes.
- If you want, send one loss you'd like a focused 5–move-by-move commentary on and I’ll mark the exact turning point.
- Small reminder: your long-term trend is excellent (strong positive slopes). Keep polishing the small tactical misses and your bullet will become even more profitable.