Chess Coaching Advice for Kasimir Yacinov

Coach Chesswick

Kasimir, here’s a focused improvement plan based on your latest blitz games

You often answer 1.d4 with the Englund Gambit (1…e5). While it leads to fun tactics, it also gives White a healthy plus if they know the theory. Try adding one solid reply (e.g. the Queen’s Gambit Declined) so you can choose between surprise value and sound structure depending on the opponent.
With White you favour the “early-e4” Queen’s Gambit Accepted lines. These are excellent, but be careful not to push e4 and f3 together unless your king is already safe – see the loss versus jojo67868.
Homework: build a 10-move “mini-repertoire” you can recall without thinking. The goal is to reach positions you recognise so the clock starts in your favour.

In half of the losses your king stayed in the centre long after move 10. A simple rule: if the centre is open, castle within the next two moves.
Practise spotting “loose” diagonals. In the loss to greerchess9990009 your queen raids pawns but allows 8…Qc3! winning a piece because e2 was unguarded.

Your rating range (1000-1100) is decided by short tactics. Every game you either won or lost a piece in under 20 moves.

Spend 10 minutes a day on puzzles rated 1000-1400. Aim for 80 % accuracy; speed is secondary.
Specific motif to drill: the knight fork on e5/e4 – it hurt you in both the win vs trentaa1 (you used it) and the loss vs jojo (it hit you).
Review this critical fragment and look for better replies:

In winning positions you sometimes continue attacking instead of simplifying. After 31.Rb6! in the game versus riko89 you could have exchanged rooks with 31…Re6 32.Rxe6 Qxe6 and reached an easy rook-and-pawn ending.
Rule of thumb: if you are up a full piece, trade queens or rooks immediately unless it ruins your structure.

Your average time spent on the first 10 moves is only 25 seconds. Use the opening “free time” to think ahead 2-3 plies so you don’t get surprised on move 12.
Consider adding a 2-second increment to blitz sessions; it will reward you for finding accurate defensive moves instead of flagging.

After a blunder you often blitz out 3-4 fast moves and the position collapses. When you spot a mistake:

Breathe, sit on your hands for 5 seconds.
Tell yourself: “lose slowly”. Active defence wins you extra half-points every session.

1100 (2025-02-07) – use this as a benchmark and aim for +50 points in the next month.
Performance heat-map:
(play when you score best!).
Streak tracker:
– note which days you tilt and schedule puzzle-only sessions then.
Glossary refresh: zwischenzug, tempo, open file.

Replay your cleanest recent win and annotate where you followed principles:

Keep the momentum going, Kasimir! One disciplined week of tactical reps and opening pruning will take you to 1100-plus.