Coach Chesswick
Hi Ravindran, here’s some focused feedback from your recent 3-min blitz sessions.
What you’re already doing well
- Initiative with White: In several wins you kept the pressure with the quiet d3 g3 Sicilian set-ups, showing good grasp of pawn-break timing (e.g. 15.d4! vs LM_KVS).
- Resourceful Defence: Your comeback in the Scandinavian end-game (🎯 37.c7! vs Blindov) proves strong calculation when under fire.
- Piece Activity Mind-set: You rarely leave pieces undeveloped; even in losses you reached full development by move 9-10.
Recurring issues to address
- Time management in technical phases
Four of the last five losses were on the clock or in positions that were still defensible. When the queens come off, switch to incremental thinking: simplify your calculation tree and play the obvious safe move first. - Premature central breaks with Black
• In the Ruy López vs Ruslan Gadzhiev you played 11…c5?! allowing 12.dxc5 and a weak pawn on c6.
• In the Slav vs Ivan Ivanisevic you met 4.e4 with 4…e5?! which handed White a long-term space plus a4-a6 grip.
Drill the typical counter-plans in these openings: – Ruy López Open → …Be7, …Nc6-e7-g6 setups. – Slav Gambit → 4…Nf6 5.Nf3 b5 (main line) or solid 4…Nd7. - End-game technique: converting extra pawns
Even in a win (vs Blindov) conversion took 30 moves after the last major pieces left. Study key endings where outside passed pawns win faster. A quick refresher on rook & 4 vs rook & 3 will pay off.
Micro-Lesson from a critical moment
Loss to Ga_R (diagram after 13.Ndf3):
[[Pgn|11...c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Ndf3?? (Instead 13...Qxd1?!) 13...Bf6 14.Be3!]]Key point: keep queens when your minor pieces out-coordinate the opponent; exchanging removed your last active piece and ceded the dark squares.
Action plan for the next 2 weeks
- Opening tune-up: Build a mini file with two safe choices vs 1.e4 (Classical Ruy López & Petroff). Play them in 10 practice games each.
- Clock discipline drill: In every game aim to keep >1:00 after move 20. If under, force yourself to blitz the next three non-tactical moves.
- End-game ladder: Solve 15 rook-pawn studies (start with basic Lucena & Philidor) and play them vs engine until you convert within 30 sec.
- Review routine: After each session, tag one Good Decision and one Improve Decision. This keeps learning concrete.
Quick reference sheet
- Peak blitz rating: 2807 (2025-03-22)
- Hourly win-rate trend:
- Day-by-day win-rate:
Motivational sign-off
You’re already performing at an elite blitz level—the gap between your wins and losses is decision speed, not chess strength. Tighten the time-use screws and polish a couple of Black structures, and 2800+ is well within reach. Keep the momentum going, Ravindran!