Coach Chesswick
What you did well in your recent blitz games
You show good energy and a willingness to test practical attacking ideas. In blitz, the ability to create pressure and keep pieces active is valuable, and you’ve demonstrated that by driving play and complicating positions when your opponent is unprepared.
- Active piece coordination: your minor pieces and rooks often work together to target open lines and the enemy king.
- Creative pawn play: you use pawn pushes to open lines and generate practical chances, especially when you sense an opportunity to attack.
- Endgame conversion: when you reach simplified positions with material balance, you tend to keep the pressure and look for winning chances.
- Resilience under time pressure: you maintain fight in sharp moments, which is crucial in blitz where quick, confident decisions matter.
Key improvement areas to focus on
- King safety and structural soundness: avoid premature pawn advances or opening lines unless you have a concrete plan. In blitz, a momentary lapse in king safety can turn the tide quickly.
- Time management: allocate your time more predictably, especially in the middlegame. aim to finalize your opening setup and basic plan within the first portion of the clock so you’re not scrambling later.
- Endgame technique: strengthen rook endings, king activity, and simple pawn endings. A few reliable endgame patterns can turn many near-wins into clean conversions.
- Defensive decision making: when under pressure, consider safer continuations and look for clear simplifications rather than chasing risky tactical lines.
- Opening plan and repetition risk: build a compact blitz repertoire for both colors with clear middlegame plans. avoid overcomplicating lines where you’re less comfortable.
Concrete drills you can try this week
- Daily tactical puzzles focusing on back-rank issues, forks, and discovered attacks (10–15 minutes).
- Two 5-minute practice games focusing on solid development and safe castling; resist initiating pawn storms too early unless you have a concrete plan.
- Endgame practice: study rook endgames and king activity; practice common patterns like rook behind passed pawns and mutual opposition in king+pawn endings.
- Opening study: pick two frequent defenses you face and review their main plans. write down 3 typical middlegame ideas and 2 traps to watch for.
Optional note
If you want, I can annotate one of your recent games step by step and point out exact moments where a different plan or defensive resource could have improved the result. Just say which game you’d like reviewed.