Coach Chesswick
Hi halfnatty – here is a personalised feedback report based on your recent blitz games.
1. What you are doing very well
- Dynamic pawn play. In several wins (e.g. against Alejandro Uzcategui Rodriguez and FGHSMN) you used early ...g5/…g4 breaks to seize the initiative. You clearly enjoy unbalancing the position and are good at calculating the resulting tactics.
- Piece activity & centralisation. After the opening you rarely leave pieces passive. Notice how in the Ruy Lopez win you reached 26.dxc7!! followed by 41.d7! – constantly pushing active passed pawns.
- Fighting spirit in time trouble. Even with seconds on the clock you keep looking for practical chances (e.g. the mating net 54.Rd8# vs InitiatingASC). This is a valuable blitz skill.
2. Recurring issues to address
- Premature pawn thrusts weaken your own king.
Loss vs slorovel: 4…g5 5.d3 …h6 7…g4 created huge dark-square holes you never managed to cover.
Try the rule of thumb “launch the pawn storm only after castling opposite sides or when the centre is closed”. - Conversion in technical endings.
You were a pawn up against Pawngobblerx2000 but drifted into a lost king-and-pawn endgame. Spend a few minutes daily on basic K+P & R+P drills; they pay off quickly in blitz. - Handling the Catalan structures as White.
TheRigos punished 12.Nbd2?! – you allowed …e3/…Qxe3+ tactics. Aim for the main line set-up with 12.Qc2, 13.Nc3, keeping the e4-square firmly under control. - Time management.
Two of your five recent losses were mainly the clock (slorovel, Krakozia). Try the “30-20-10 rule”: keep ≥30 s for move 20 and ≥10 s for the final 5 moves before increment takes over.
3. Opening snapshot
| Colour | Main choices | Quick suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| White | English Four Knights, 1.e4 Ruy, occasional Catalan | Add one crisp anti-…e5 line after 1.c4 (e.g. 2.g3 & 3.Bg2 systems) to cut your prep time. |
| Black | D02 set-ups vs 1.d4, early …g5 Sicilians, English Symmetrical | Have a calmer back-up versus 1.e4 (e.g. Classical Sicilian or French) for days when the pawn storm feels risky. |
4. Concrete tactical fix
In the Catalan loss you missed a simple safety move:
Instead of 17.Ne4? the engine recommends 17.Qc1! keeping the queen on the long diagonal and the king safe. Add this to your notebook.
5. Off-board training plan (2-week micro-cycle)
- Day-to-day warm-up: 10 puzzles on “quiet defence” themes – look for moves that neutralise threats rather than create them.
- Two longer sessions: analyse one of your blitz wins without an engine first, then with it. Force yourself to write one strategic note every five moves.
- Endgame sprint: 15 minutes on rook vs pawns drills. Use tablebase positions to feel the winning zones.
6. Progress tracker
Keep an eye on these live stats:
- Your current 2803 (2019-11-28) shows that you are not far from the 2800 blitz milestone – but consistency will be key.
- Blitz performance by hour:
- Volume vs success through the week: