Coach Chesswick
Personalised Feedback for GM Simen Agdestein
What you are doing well
- Dynamic Pawn Play: Your willingness to seize space with early h- and g-pawn thrusts (e.g. 13.h4/15.h5 against wanyaland) keeps opponents under constant pressure and often forces concessions before move 20.
- Piece Activity in the Middlegame: Games such as the win over ATM622 show excellent coordination; minor pieces quickly find central outposts (Nf4/Ne5) and rooks double on open files with impressive speed.
- Conversion Technique in Simplified Positions: Once you reach favorable rook or minor-piece endings you rarely let the advantage slip. The accurate a-pawn sprint (54.a7!) was exemplary.
- Versatile Opening Repertoire: Alternating between 1.e4, 1.d4 and 1.Nf3 makes preparation against you difficult and keeps your play fresh.
Areas to Strengthen
- Time Management (the main leak)
Five of the last seven losses were on time in objectively defensible positions. Re-watch the critical phase in the loss to Polina Shuvalova: after 40…Bc5+ you had >30 seconds but spent >25 on routine moves. Consider adding a “move commitment rule”—once you have a satisfactory move, play it within 3 seconds. - Over-extension on the Wing
The Reti-type structure with g- and h-pawn storms works well versus lower-rated opposition, yet against 2700-level players it left weak squares (e.g. f5 in the game vs Christopher Woojin Yoo). Insert an early Qa4/Nbd2 to discourage …b5/…c5 before pushing your rook pawns. - Handling of Opponent’s Counter-Breaks
In several defeats (e.g. 24…exd5! by jcibarra), central breaks hit when your pieces were still on the flanks. Build the habit of asking “What break is my opponent threatening?” every third move; this single question will save rating points. - Endgame Clock Usage
Positions such as the rook-and-rook ending against ReadySkate were defensible. Practise increment blitz endgames exclusively for a week to ingrain fast, correct reflexes.
Concrete Action Plan (2-week cycle)
- Bulletproof Opening Segments
Prepare a 10-move “autopilot” file for each main opening. Aim to reach a playable middlegame within 60 seconds on the clock. - Structured Calculation Drill
Daily 15-minute session: set a clock for 90 seconds per puzzle, verbalise candidate moves, commit. This mirrors the pace needed in 3 | 1 games and combats chronic Zeitnot. - Mini-Endgame Sparring
Starting from equal rook endings with 20 seconds +1 s increment versus a training partner; goal is zero flag losses. Track results → . - Post-Game Tagging
After each session label the critical move where your time dipped below 20 s. A one-word tag (“Hesitation”, “Calculation”, “Tilt”) makes patterns visible → .
Performance Benchmarks
• Current personal best: 2735 (2023-09-26)
• Target for next month: +25 Elo while keeping flag losses < 10 %
Motivational Snapshot
Remember the crisp 31.Ne5! vs ATM622 that turned the tide. Lock in that feeling—quick, confident, and forcing. Strive to replicate it every game.
Next Steps
I recommend annotating two recent time-losses in depth. If you paste one of them here I can supply a move-by-move improvement guide using
for clarity.Good luck, Simen—fine-tune the clock, and the results will follow!