Hi Anysia, here’s your personalised feedback 👋
What you’re already doing well
- Activity first: In many of your Chess960 wins you rapidly place pieces on active squares (e.g. the Nf5/Bg4 motifs against Aleksandra Tarnowska), forcing your opponent onto the back foot.
- Tactical alertness: You spot one-move shots such as Bxe6 / Nxe6+ or the exchange sacs that opened files against Ansumana Kamara. Your pattern recognition is growing.
- Flexible pawn play: You’re comfortable employing flank pawn levers (b-pawn, g-pawn, h-pawn) to gain space or provoke weaknesses—an excellent skill in 960 where centre files can be blocked.
Top priorities for the next few weeks
- Time management. Seven of the nine recent losses were “lost on time” in roughly equal or promising positions. Aim to reach move 20 with >40 % of your clock left.
• Use the “two-candidate-moves” rule: if neither is blundering material, pick one and keep the game moving.
• Practise 5 + 5 rather than 3 + 0 for a week to train quick evaluations without flagging. - King safety first in 960. Several early queen forays (e.g. 2.Qxb7? vs Alexey Reshetnikov) left your own king in the centre. Try a “castle by move 8” challenge in your next ten games.
- Central footprint. Games such as the loss to boris abrashkin show pawns advancing on the wing while the centre remained undefended. When unsure, choose a central pawn move (d- or e-pawn) before flank play.
Opening habits to refine
• Knights before bishops remains a reliable guideline, even in 960.
• After …c5 against your English structures, consider d4 earlier to avoid the isolated-pawn you often accept.
• Collect a short “response kit” against …f5 setups (common in 960): e4, quick castling and press on the e-file.
Tactical & calculation workout
Allocate 15 min/day to mixed motifs: discovered attacks, overloading, and back-rank tricks. Your games already feature these ideas; deliberate repetition will speed them up.
Endgame corner
You sometimes reach won endings yet still flag. Study the Lucena and Philidor rook-pawn endings. Knowing the drawing borders will reduce calculation time over the board.
Progress tracker
Best so far: 2315 (2022-02-22) – keep pushing!
Concrete action plan
- Play 20 games of 5 + 5 with a self-imposed 30-second think limit per move.
- Analyse (with engine off) one win and one loss each session, writing down why you spent >30 s on specific moves.
- Finish “100 Endgames You Must Know” chapters 1-4 this month.
- Review this key tactical mini-game whenever you need inspiration:
Keep enjoying the journey, and let me know whenever you need a deeper dive into a specific topic such as zugzwang or pawn majorities. Good luck in your next session! 🚀