Coach Chesswick
Hi Yulya (“juli2512”)!
Congratulations on maintaining a solid 2000+ blitz level – your recent peak is 2231 (2021-03-16). The wins in the French Rubinstein and Accelerated Dragon show a confident attacking style and a good feel for dynamic pawn play.
What you’re already doing well
- Active piece play. In many of your wins you seize the initiative early (e.g. 15.Bxh7+!! against heaviside29) and keep the pressure on.
- Pawn storms on opposite-side castling. Your h- and g-pawn pushes often decide the game before move 30.
- Switching plans quickly. The transition from middlegame to a winning rook endgame versus hadi1989 was smooth and accurate.
Main improvement themes
-
Time management.
Your last two recorded losses were both on time in completely playable positions. • Aim to reach move 20 with ≥60 seconds. • Insert quick “safe” moves (king shelter, rook to an open file) when low on time instead of calculating deep lines. • Try 3-minute games with 2-second increment to retrain your move-flow rhythm. -
Technical rook endings.
In the loss to matanya_the_pro you reached a drawn R+P vs R ending but flagged. Review the Philidor and Lucena setups – knowing them by heart lets you play instantly. Here is the critical segment: Drill “Side-check defence” and “Third-rank defence” until they are automatic. -
Black repertoire against Anti-Sicilians.
Versus 2.Nc3/3.Bc4 you sometimes drift (…Be7, …c4) and concede dark-square weaknesses. Two practical fixes:- Adopt the Classical set-up (…Nc6, …e6, …d6, …Be7, …0-0) and postpone …d5 until castled.
- Memorise a five-move “skeleton” you can blitz out, saving time for the middlegame.
-
Convert pawn majorities earlier.
In your win vs hadi1989 you only pushed the a-pawn after move 30. Spot it sooner and force the queening race while pieces are still active – this reduces the number of moves you need to play in time trouble.
Suggested weekly routine (≈3 hrs)
| Session | Duration | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 × Tactics sprint | 30 min | Rated puzzles; aim ≥25/day. |
| 1 × Endgame drill | 45 min | R+P vs R & basic zugzwang themes. |
| 1 × Opening review | 30 min | Update Anti-Sicilian files. |
| 3-4 blitz sets | 60 min | Play 3 | 2 only; annotate one game. |
| Self-quiz | 15 min | Flashcards of critical rook-ending positions. |
Progress tracking
• Monitor your quick-play success rate:
• Check if specific weekdays correlate with rushed losses:Motivation corner
The graph of your results shows steady improvement. With sharper clock handling and a cleaner Anti-Sicilian plan, 2100+ blitz is within reach. Keep attacking, but remember: every saved second is another tactical shot you can calculate later.
Good luck with your training – see you at the 64 squares!