Coach Chesswick
Hi Iva, here’s your personalized coaching recap
Quick Stats
Current peak blitz rating: 2695 (2022-10-01)
Recent activity snapshots:
What’s working well
- Dynamic pawn storms: Your Keres-style g-pawn launches (e.g. 6.g4/7.g5 against the Sicilian and Philidor) consistently put opponents on the back foot. They scored 4/4 in the sample above.
- Tactical alertness: The sequence
from your win over Florescu Codrut Constantin shows sharp calculation under one minute. - Clock handling: You converted two equal endings simply by keeping pressure while your rival’s clock bled below 5 seconds. That’s a practical skill – keep it!
Recurring trouble-spots
- King safety in double-edged openings
Loss to shmuel9999 (Four Knights) ended after 14…Qh1#. The critical portion
shows how delaying d2–d3 and castling long left f2, g2, h2 weak. Your aggressive style is excellent, but add a “stop and ask: can my king be mated in 3?” habit before every pawn thrust. - Defensive resource awareness
Against Knyaz13 you resigned after 31.Nf6+ when 31…gxf6 32.Rxf6 still holds but 31…Kh8 was playable and messy. Spend a few seconds looking for quiet defensive moves in tactical storms. - Transition to endgames
In the Caro-Kann loss (Nov 3) you reached a drawn rook-and-pawn ending but drifted. Once tactics settle, switch mindset to “worst piece first” and activate the king immediately.
Opening check-up
| Side | Frequency | Performance | Coach note |
|---|---|---|---|
| White: 1.e4 | ≈85 % | Excellent vs …c5 & …e5 | Add a calmer system (e.g., Ruy López/Italian d3) for variety. |
| Black vs 1.e4 | Philidor / 1…e5 | Solid | Consider a second weapon (Petroff or Sicilian) to avoid prep. |
| Black vs 1.d4/c4 | King’s Indian setups | Good | Work on handling early h-pawn pushes (see A45 win). |
Targeted training plan for the next two weeks
- Daily 10-minute “king-hunt prevention” drill. Pick three recent losses and stop before each of your opponent’s winning moves. Write down all checks & captures you can foresee.
- Endgame technique booster. Solve 15 rook-versus-rook puzzles (Lichess study or CT-ending set) focusing on converting an extra pawn and defending 4 vs 3 on one wing.
- Add a slow Italian with d2-d3 to your white repertoire. Play at least 10 games and annotate the pawn structures afterwards.
- Micro-goals during blitz:
- Castle by move 10 unless you have a concrete reason.
- Spend one extra second after every pawn move asking, “what did I just weaken?”
Mind-set cue
“Attack is great, but every wave needs a shore.”
Keep the initiative, yet build a safe harbor for your king before the next pawn hits the board.
Looking forward to your progress – see you at the next training session!