Coach Chesswick
Hi Gaswerd2 – Performance Review
What you’re already excelling at
- Opening versatility & preparation. Your recent wins feature the Maroczy-Bind Accelerated Dragon, Neo-Catalan and Leningrad Dutch – a broad, well-maintained repertoire that keeps opponents guessing.
- Early pawn-structure awareness. You consistently seize space with c- & d-pawns and restrict enemy breaks (e.g. …d5 in several English lines).
- Conversion skill when on the clock. The clean 36-move miniature against GEOMAX5 shows precise liquidation into a won queen ending.
Growth opportunities
- Clock discipline. Four of your last six losses were time-outs in winnable or equal endgames. Aim to reach move 30 with ≥30 s still in reserve.
- Technical rook endings. The 67-move loss to Samuel Fieberg revealed missed drawing methods in R + P vs R endings (e.g. keeping the king in front of the passed pawn). A short daily drill will pay dividends.
- Caro-Kann defence choices. In the Two-Knights (5.Qe2) you twice drifted into passive piece play with …Be6/…Bg4. Consider sharper plans such as …g6 with an immediate …Nc6 or the modern …Nd7 lines.
3-step action plan
- End-game sprints. Play 10 rook-and-pawn endings vs engine at 15 seconds/move; focus on the “Lucena” and “Philidor” setups (Lucena Position).
- Time-control rehearsal. Twice a week run 15-minute “Blitz Rushes”: 6 three-minute games where you force yourself to move < 10 seconds for the first 15 moves; review only the games you win on the board but lose on time.
- Caro-Kann tune-up. Build a micro-file with 15 model games (Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Firouzja) featuring your chosen branch and play out the critical middlegames vs engine until you win with ≤2 minutes remaining.
Reference game – latest clean win
Activity snapshots
Glossary quick-links
Hover for definitions: Maroczy Bind, Conversion Technique, Philidor Position.
Stay consistent and the next milestone is within reach: 2843 (2025-02-16). Good luck in your upcoming sessions!