Coach Chesswick
Hi Jorden, here is a focused review of your recent blitz sessions
Quick performance snapshot
• Overall trend: solid +18 ↗ since last week, but swingy session-to-session.• Peak blitz rating so far: .
• Activity charts: (use these to pick your most productive slots).
What is working well
- Flexible openings – You handle double-fianchetto structures (1…g6/Nf6 set-ups) comfortably and out-play strong opposition (e.g. win vs Arkadiy Khromaev, PGN 2).
- Transition to favorable endgames – The Alekhine Defense win on 03-Jun shows good technique converting material with limited time.
- Piece coordination – Notice how quickly your pieces harmonised in the B3–Bb2 Queen’s Indian system (PGN 1). Opponents struggled to equalise.
Recurring problems spotted
- Over-reliance on …Nh5 / …f5 in King’s Indian & Modern
• In two losses, …Nh5 led to dark-square holes around g6/h6.
• After 14.Qh6! (loss to TrimitziosP7) your king was stuck on h8 with no counter-play.
Drill: Search database for GM games where Black postpones …f5, study alternative plans with …c6/…b5. - Critical pawn pushes left hanging pieces
• 31…f5? (loss vs Arkadiy) weakened e6 & d6 simultaneously.
• 35…h5? turned a holdable rook ending into a mating net.
Exercise: 15 min daily of “find the pawn break” puzzles; aim to calculate three moves deeper before committing. - Converting extra pawns in queen endings
• In the Reti endgame (TrimitziosP7) equal material turned into a lost K+P race because you pushed the a-pawn too late.
• Similar hesitation vs Arkadiy in the a-pawn race after 66…Rb8?.
Study: Practical queen & pawn endings; start with the Philidor & Lucena analogues in queen endings. - Clock management
• Average remaining time on move 30 in wins: 41 s ; in losses: 18 s.
• Blunders spike when you drop below 12 s.
Fix: Adopt a “delay-move” rule – if still above 1 min by move 20, invest 8–10 s every turn to double-check tactics.
Opening tweaks to test
| Current line | Issue | Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| Reti / Nimzo-Larsen as Black (1.Nf3 b3 g6 …Nh5) |
King stuck; slow development | Try 4…d5 → Grünfeld-like structures; keep knight on f6 |
| Closed Sicilian with early f4 as White | Pieces drift, c-file pressure ignored | Adopt Botvinnik setup: Be2, d3, e4–f4 only after castling |
| King’s Indian (Classical 7…Bg4) |
…Bg4 trades key defender too soon | Study Petrosian line 7…Nc6; keep dark-square bishop |
Illustrative moment
White exploited the pin & weak dark squares – a common theme when you exchange your dark-square bishop early.
4-week action plan
- Week 1: 30 puzzles/day focused on defensive resources; annotate each mistake with theme tags (pin, back-rank…).
- Week 2: Play 20 blitz games without …Nh5 jumps; review middlegames with lichess studies.
- Week 3: Endgame grind – solve 25 queen-pawn endings from “100 Endgames You Must Know”.
- Week 4: Record & self-commentate three training games (15 + 10); share with a sparring partner for feedback.