Coach Chesswick
Hola, Hinglish Hustler!
You are hovering just under the 1900-2000 band and already show the skills needed to push higher. Below is a snapshot of what is working, what is leaking points and a concrete plan to convert the leaks into new rating peaks.
Your current picture
- Peak Blitz: 1829 (2024-10-29)
- Peak Rapid: 1588 (2024-11-07)
- Best playing hour: see
- Week-day vs. week-end trend:
What you already do well
- Consistent Opening Menu. 1.d4 systems (Colle / East-Indian setup) and the French Defence as Black give you solid, familiar structures quickly.
- Crisp tactical vision. The combo 35.Bxh5–37.Bxg7! in your win over saturogojo1111 shows you spot forcing lines even in time trouble.
- Practical endgame technique. You converted a rook-and-pawn ending vs dmp777 with clean pawn breaks (24.Ba3!, 26.Rd6!).
Where rating points leak
- Clock handling. Two recent forfeits on time (vs svchess1956 & uae701) came from equal or better positions.
- King safety lapses. Against robbstark1313 you allowed …Qh1# after leaving back-rank holes. In the French you sometimes push …g5 / …h6 too early.
- French middlegame plans. In the loss to VoaraNandrasana the light-squared bishop was locked behind your own pawns and Nb3-d4 jumped into the hole. The typical French counterplay …c5 then …f6 never happened.
- Endgame evaluation. Versus DavoodFard you were fine but traded into a lost pawn ending. Knowing textbook positions (Lucena, Philidor, key squares) would have saved the half-point.
Four-week action plan
- Time--control switch. Play 5 | 5 for the next 30 games. Goal: still have at least 2 min on the clock by move 20.
- Opening refresh.
- White: prepare vs …c5 Colle lines (add 5.cxd5 or 5.Nbd2 & e4 breaks).
- Black: rehearse French Rubinstein (…dxe4 + …Nd7) and Steiner 2.c4 to avoid passive queen retreats.
- Theme tactics. 20 puzzles/day focusing on back-rank motifs, clearance, and the zwischenzug.
- Endgame micro-course. Study “pawn races” & rook basics (Lucena/Philidor). Ten minutes after each session, reproduce the winning technique on a board.
Micro-focus for your next 10 games
- Before every move ask “What is their threat?”—it prevents Qh1# type shocks.
- When up material, trade pieces (not pawns) and keep rooks active on the 7th.
- Give your king one luft square the moment queens are still on the board.
Motivation corner
Your streak of five straight wins when you kept the clock under control shows the upside is real. Stick to the routine above and the 2000 badge should follow quickly. Most importantly—enjoy the climb and keep hustling!