Coach Chesswick
Hi GaryColdman – performance review & actionable ideas
What you’re doing well
- Tactical alertness. Your wins feature clean piece-sacs such as …Rxe3 and …Bxh3 in the Caro-Kann, converting instantly to mating attacks.
- Dynamic pawn storms. The h-pawn launches in the nimzo-larsen are a trademark weapon. Example miniature: .
- Conversion technique. The rook ending versus PawnStorm199 showed good use of tempo moves and restraint of enemy passers.
- Clock handling. Even in sharp 3-min games you keep ~10-15 s for the finish – vital at your rating level.
Recurring problems & how to fix them
- Premature wing-pawn pushes.
Losses to Tunartank & Turkchess show h- or a-pawns racing while pieces lag. New rule: no pawn past the 4th rank until king is safe and all minors are out. Do a 2-second “blunder-check” before every pawn move. - Overlooking counter-play in semi-open centres.
In the Panov loss 19.Qg4? allowed …Qa4 & …Nd4. Train the “shock-absorber” habit: after finding your move, spend 5 s only on opponent’s forcing replies. - Owen’s Defence repertoire.
Your 5.Bd3/6.Nd2 line is passive. Try the modern main line 5.Nf3 Bb4 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O with c3 & Re1 backing an e4-e5 break, or the g3/Bg2 setups. - Endgame recognition.
Against XSamin you resigned an opposite-coloured bishop endgame still holding drawing chances. Ten minutes a day with an “endgame simulator” (rook + minor vs rook + minor) will pay off. - Session fatigue.
& hint at dip-offs in long streaks. Limit blitz sets to 6-8 games, take a break, then start fresh.
Two-week tune-up plan
| Day | Task | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Study & flashcard new anti-Owen line. | Prepared up to move 12. |
| 4-6 | 50 tactics/day on “pawn storms & back-rank mates”. | Faster pattern pick-up. |
| 7 | 10 blitz games with no wing-pawn pushes before full development. | Create discipline. |
| 8-10 | Endgame simulator, 15 rook + minor positions/day. | Confidence to defend/play on. |
| 11-14 | Alternate Puzzle Rush (even) with annotated Caro-Kann master games (odd). | Tactical speed & strategic blueprint. |
Quick stats
Your current peak: . Track how the next surge correlates with lower blunder count, not higher risk.
Motivation corner
“Improvement happens between the games – not during them.”
Patch the three leaks above and a 30-40 point gain will follow naturally.
Good luck, have fun, and keep those h-pawns rolling – at the right moment!