Hi GrnMTBoy! Here’s some personalised feedback based on your latest rapid games.
Quick stats
Current rapid rating: ~880 | Best so far: 1590 (2017-06-10)
Your activity patterns:
What you’re already doing well
- Fighting spirit – you rarely give up and often turn messy positions into wins (e.g. vs gulkamel, moves 31-40).
- Initiative-first mindset – you willingly push pawns to open files and launch pieces toward the enemy king.
- Basic mating patterns – nice use of back-rank and rook-lift ideas (see 33.Rd7+ & 40.Rexe5 in your last win).
Biggest improvement levers
1. Opening discipline
• Several losses start with early queen adventures (2.Qh5, 5.Qe2+, etc.). These moves violate “develop pieces before the queen” and invite ...… counter-punches.
• Recommendation: pick one solid setup for each colour and stick to it for 20-30 games. Examples:
• White – Italian (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 or Gioco Pianissimo).
• Black – Double king-pawn (1…e5) with the simple Four Knights lines, or the Scandinavian only if you know the main traps.
2. Blunder-checking habit
Many critical moments come from overlooking a single tactical shot. Train yourself to ask before every move:
“What are the checks, captures, threats for both sides?”
Daily tactic drills (10-15 puzzles) will sharpen your radar for forks, pins and zwischenzug opportunities.
3. End-game technique
The loss vs LaxmiPrasadChesskota reached a winning king-and-pawn ending for you, but you let the passed e-pawn run out of steam:
• Study basic endings (king opposition, outside passed pawn, Philidor/Lucena rook positions).
• Practical tip: in rook + 3 vs rook + 3 endings, activate the king before pushing pawns.
Targeted action plan for the next 4 weeks
- Opening focus: play the same first 10 moves in every game; review them with an engine afterwards and write one sentence on what you’d improve.
- Tactics: 100 puzzles on forks, pins and skewers (Chess.com trainer → “Intermediate”). Aim for 80 % accuracy.
- End-games: watch one short video or read two pages per day on king-and-pawn and rook endings. Then set up the position on a board and win against the engine.
- Post-game routine: annotate one win and one loss each week, marking (✓) good decisions and (?!) questionable ones.
Mindset reminder
“Play slow good moves, not fast interesting moves.” – If you can eliminate one blunder per game, you’ll jump 150+ rating points quickly.
Good luck, have fun, and let me know how your next set of games goes!