Coach Chesswick
Constructive Feedback for Axel Rombaldoni
What you are doing well
- Dynamic opening choices. The early B g5 Trompowsky structures and h-pawn launches regularly put your opponents out of book and on the defensive. A good example is your recent win against u95412 where 24.Rxg7! simply collapsed Black’s king shelter.
- Tactical conversion. When the initiative is yours you convert efficiently, often finishing with mating nets or decisive material gains (e.g. 28…Qxf3+ followed by 38.Nxg4# in your win over Oleg Yaksin).
- Piece activity. Rook lifts (Rg1, Rdg1, Rh3, etc.) and switch-overs demonstrate excellent board vision and make it hard for opponents to keep all weaknesses protected.
Recurring issues to address
- Objectivity when sacrificing.
In the loss to Piotr Jagodzinski you invested a piece with 14.Bh7+?! yet had no clear follow-up, allowing …Qxg5 and a clean material advantage for Black. Before committing, run a quick mental “three-move check”: Do I get the king, force perpetual, or win back material? - Central stability.
Several defeats (e.g. vs uoschi_deluxe and lz31415) started with healthy centers for you that evaporated after premature pawn pushes on the flank. Keeping one healthy central pawn (d- or e-file) would have limited counterplay. - King safety as Black.
The Scandinavian sideline with …h5 in bullet may score occasionally, but when the attack stalls your king is frozen on e8 and becomes a permanent tactic target. Consider a more solid fallback such as …Nf6 & …e6 or a main-line Caro/French structure. - Time management.
Two recent losses were on time from clearly drawable positions (PracticeMakesOK, lz31415). Practical tips: pre-move obvious recaptures, use the opponent’s think time to plan the next two ply, and avoid very forcing sub-lines that require long calculation when under 10 seconds.
Action plan for the next week
- Pick one solid bullet opening with each colour and play at least 30 games exclusively in that repertoire to reduce opening clock burn.
- After each game, spend 5 minutes with an engine on the first critical tactical decision (“was the sac sound?”). Store the answers in your personal file.
- Do 15 tactics a day constrained to <30-second puzzles – this mimics bullet calculation speed.
- Play 5 rook-and-pawn endgames vs engine in time-odds (you get <10 sec, engine 30 sec). This specifically targets your flagging losses.
Perspective
Your current peak ratings (2837 (2022-03-10) / 2710 (2022-03-09)) are elite; the changes above aim for the extra 1-2 % you need to convert streaks into rating jumps.
Activity overview
Hourly performance:
| Daily performance:Illustrative mini-game
The following miniature shows a model treatment of the Trompowsky when the sacrifice is justified – use it as a template:
Good luck in your next session, Axel – keep the pressure, but stay objective!