Coach Chesswick
Hi Simón Alejandro (“elpepinillo14”) 👋
Congratulations on your recent climb to 2888 (2019-11-12) and an impressive set of tactical victories! Below is a focused review of the last batch of games you shared, distilled into strengths to keep nurturing and specific areas to sharpen.
What you are doing well
- Energetic central play with e4-openings. In your wins against GaryColdman and user9230… you steered the game toward open positions where your piece activity out-paced your opponent’s. Your choice of the Exchange Caro-Kann & Ponziani sidelines shows good practical sense – they avoid heavy theory and give you early initiative.
- Piece coordination & tactical alertness. Motifs such as rook lifts, queen switches to the kingside (e.g. Qg4 and Qh7+ ideas), and sacrificial tactics (24.Rxf7! vs Viacheslav92) appear frequently. This is a definite strength – keep feeding it with 5-10 min of daily tactics.
- Psychological edge in fast time controls. The majority of your wins come inside 30-40 moves, suggesting you pressure the clock well. The placeholder should confirm that late-evening sessions are especially fruitful for you.
Recurring problems to address
- Handling quiet Fianchetto set-ups as Black.
Loss to ESultanov (King’s Indian Fianchetto) shows difficulties meeting restrained lines: you spent tempi with …Nh7/…Ng5/…Nh5 and allowed White to camp on c5/b7. ➜ Aim: Build a simple, solid repertoire vs. 1.Nf3/1.c4 such as the Queen’s Indian or a pure King’s Indian without early knight shuffles. - Pawn impatience in the French Tarrasch & Philidor Exchange.
In both losses to Malyi Viacheslav you pushed flank pawns (…g5 / …h5) before completing development. ➜ Ask “What does my worst-placed piece need?” before any pawn storm. - Late-game time trouble.
The timeout vs. user9230… came from an equal rook ending. Even in winning positions you occasionally dip under ≤5 s. ➜ Integrate 3-5 games of increment blitz (3 + 2 or 5 + 3) daily to train finishing technique without flagging.
Technical micro-themes
- Exchange discipline. Several losses pivoted on accepting poisoned material (e.g. 15…Bxh3?? in the Ponziani) or over-trading into worse endings (…Rxc3 in the Magnus Sicilian). Reinforce the habit: “Capture only if it improves my worst piece, reduces opponent’s best piece, or wins something concrete.”
- Prophylaxis against counter-play. You often seize space with queenside pawn rollers, but leave back-rank or dark-square weaknesses (see diagram after 34…Qe2+ in Viacheslav92-elpepinillo14). Study 10-15 instructive games by Karpov to internalise small defensive moves. Use the concept of zugzwang to appreciate subtle waiting moves.
Three concrete training goals (next 14 days)
- Play 20 blitz games as Black vs. 1.d4/1.Nf3 using a single structure (e.g. …d5/…e6 Queen’s Gambit Declined). Review only the first 15 moves – ignore tactics, focus on plans.
- Solve 200 mixed-difficulty puzzles with a 30-second soft cap per move to reinforce your calculation pattern recognition.
- Annotate one of your own endings each day (won or lost). Use the mnemonic KP2 C-L (King-Placement, Passed pawn creation, Piece Coordination, Limiting counterplay).
Illustrative moment
Compare the critical fork in your loss to ESultanov:
Black’s attack evaporates because the queen & rook coordination was traded for a single pawn. In future, consider the intermediate move zwischenzug 23…Nxe4! first.
Next steps
Use the
to schedule sessions when your performance peaks; pair them with short post-game self-reviews.Reach out any time with questions or PGNs – I’m excited to see you push beyond 2750 blitz soon!
— Your Chess Coach 🏁