Coach Chesswick
Hi Noe – here’s some constructive feedback based on your latest blitz sessions
What you’re doing well
- Tactical awareness: You routinely spot resourceful shots such as 24.Bxc6! (Italian win) and 13.Nd5! (Sicilian win), punishing loose enemy queens and backward pawns.
- Opening initiative: Consistent, well-prepared repertoires in the Open Sicilian and Modern Benoni give you active piece play straight from move one.
- Practical conversion when ahead: When the clock isn’t an issue you conduct clean technical finishes (e.g. rook ending after 25.Qxb4+).
- Fighting spirit: Even in worse positions you keep creating problems, often bouncing back on the clock or the board.
Main areas to improve
- Time management
Four of your last five losses were flagged positions that were objectively drawable or winning. Adopt a “good-enough, then move” mindset for 3-minute games and practise keeping ≥20 s from move 25 onward. - Over-extension of wing pawns
In the Najdorf loss you advanced a4-a5 and h4-h5 without sufficient back-up, inviting …b4 and …g5 hooks against your own king. Study the idea of the hook and only push when three or more pieces can join the attack. - Benoni structure maintenance
Allowing early Bxf6/Nxd7 exchanges leaves the c4 outpost and d6 pawn weak (see loss vs Revisor). Re-watch Bronstein’s model plans: keep the dark-squared bishop and aim for …b5 breaks before exchanging on c3. - Simplify into favourable endgames sooner
Several time losses came after declining queen trades you were better in (e.g. 32…Qxd4+? instead of 32…Rxd4! equal endgame). Remember: “When ahead on material – trade pieces, keep pawns.”
Action plan for the next 7 days
| Goal | Exercise | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Faster decisions | Play 50 bullet games spending < 3 s per move; review blunders afterwards. | Cut average think-time by 15 % |
| Benoni technique | “Guess-the-move” on 20 master Benoni games. | ≥ 65 % match score |
| Endgame stamina | Solve 30 rook-pawn endings. | 90 % accuracy |
Illustrative snippets
Sharp calculation under pressure
Missed simplification that cost the game
In the Modern Defense loss you could play 32.Rxd4! exchanging queens and reaching a drawn rook ending instead of 32…Qxd4+ followed by tactics against your king.
Stats & progress
Peak blitz rating: 2933 (2021-11-02)
Next steps
- Five-minute daily visualisation (replay a master game blindfold from memory).
- Arrange a time-odds sparring set versus Alexey Korotylev — you start with +15 s to focus on technique.
- Submit three annotated games by Friday for detailed commentary.
Keep the attacking flair, tighten the clock handling, and your next rating jump will follow quickly. Good luck, Noe!