Coach Chesswick
Personalised feedback for Olga “lelya96” Artemyeva
1. Strengths to keep building on
- Enterprising mindset. Your willingness to sacrifice (e.g. 5…Bxf2+ vs sau6on) shows courage and creativity. When the calculation is sound, this pays off – see your elegant finish against Plamen Stefanov.
- Consistent opening choices. Torre-style systems as White and flexible Two-Knights/Italian setups as Black give you a clear game plan and save clock time.
- Endgame technique. The conversion against chessvr (…Rh1#) displayed good rook-endgame skills: cutting the king, activating your rook first and pushing passed pawns.
2. Priority areas for improvement
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Soundness of early sacrifices
Unsound sacs cost two games on 14 Dec (5…Bxf2+ and ↯17…Ng4). Train with the “blunder check” rule: before playing any speculative strike, spend 5 seconds verifying the forced sequence. If you cannot prove you win material or attack, keep the piece.
Critical moment example: . After 7.d4! White emerges with the extra piece. The sacrifice lacked sufficient justification. -
Defensive vigilance & prophylaxis
Several losses came after ignoring the opponent’s threats (e.g. 18…Qe5?? allowing 29.Qe6# vs chessllermo). Adopt the habit of asking “What does my opponent threaten?” every move. Study games by Karpov to improve prophylaxis. -
Clock management
Two time-forfeit losses in winning or equal positions indicate that pace, not chess skill, decided the result. Practical tips:- Aim to keep >50 % of your starting time after move 15.
- Use the opponent’s think time to plan your next reply.
- Play an instant “safe” move in severe trouble, then exploit the 1-second increment.
3. Opening adjustments
| With White | With Black |
|---|---|
| • Torre / Colle structures are yielding good results. • Add a sharper option (e.g. Queen’s Gambit or Catalan) to diversify when you need a win. | • Against 1.e4 the Italian/Two-Knights is fine, but prepare a solid back-up such as 3…Bc5 ➝ 4.c3 Nf6 classical lines to avoid dubious piece sacs. • Review Petroff main lines – your recent Petroff attempt drifted into trouble due to unfamiliarity. |
4. Tactical & calculation training plan
- Daily 30-minute puzzle rush or rated tactics focusing on motifs you missed (forks on f7/f2, under-promotion, back-rank mate).
- Once a week annotate one of your own games without engine, then compare – this trains calculation depth and error-spotting.
- Incorporate defensive puzzles; most of your slips were on the receiving end.
5. Psychological tips
- Your fighting spirit is a weapon – but balance it with restraint. Remember that accepting a draw in an inferior but holdable endgame saves rating.
- After a loss, take a 5-minute break. Statistics show your next-game blunder rate rises when you rematch instantly.
6. Progress tracker
Current blitz peak: 2502 (2020-02-19). Monitor your trend with:
and . Aim for a +55 % win-rate during peak hours.7. Next-step homework
- Revisit each loss from 14 Dec and write down the last correct move before the evaluation swung.
- Study the chapter on “The initiative andtempo” in Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual.
- Play three 15|10 games this week focusing only on time-usage discipline.
Keep up the hard work, Olga – the building blocks for 2300+ blitz are already there. Refine your decision-making and the rating will follow!