Coach Chesswick
Hi Zsuzsanna, here’s some personalised feedback on your recent play!
🏆 What you are already doing well
- Tactical alertness – in your most-recent win against liante307 you spotted 15…Nxd5! and later 18…Qxg5, punishing an over-extended queen in just 19 moves.
- Piece activity from the opening – whether playing the Catalan or the English/Caro-Kann set-ups you routinely develop quickly and claim key squares (e.g. Bg2/Nf3/Re1 in your wins).
- Confidence against higher-rated opponents – you often choose ambitious lines (…e5 break on move 9 vs liante307; the early …b5 pawn sacrifice vs pinosava73) instead of drifting into passive play.
🚧 Main areas to improve
- King safety when castling long
In your loss to pinosava73 (Pirc, 2014) 12…O-O-O left your king exposed to a surgical b-pawn thrust. Ask yourself “What pawn storms exist once I castle?” and only castle long when the queenside pawn shell is intact.
Practical drill: set up typical Pirc/Modern positions and play them vs the engine, forcing yourself to keep the king in the centre until the queenside is truly safe. - Handling counter-punches after winning material
Even when a fork/skewer wins, look for the opponent’s dynamic chances. In that same loss you grabbed on a4 (15…Qxb4) and a2 (19…Qxa4) but missed 20.Rb7+! Follow the classic rule “After I take, his turn – what are his forcing moves?”. - End-game conversion & clock control
A separate defeat vs the same opponent in the French Exchange went all the way to move 66, ending on time. Consider adding two blitz sessions per week devoted solely to reducing won end-games with a 30-second increment so you practise both technique and time-management.
🎯 Opening suggestions
• With Black you already play the Caro-Kann very well – your handling of the 4.Bb5+ sideline was instructive. To complement it, try adding a solid 1…e5 repertoire. It will improve your feel for open positions and classical themes like central tension and zugzwang.
• As White, your Catalan scores excellently. Prepare a surprise weapon for opponents who meet 1.d4 with early …dxc4 (e.g. 5.Qa4+ immediately or 7.Ne5!?) so they can’t bail out into quiet end-games.
🔢 Stats & visual cues
Your current personal best is 2219 (2017-09-17). Keep an eye on when you play your sharpest chess:
📝 Action plan for the next month
- 3× per week: 15 tactical puzzles focusing on in-between moves and deflection.
- 2 rapid games (10|5 or 15|10). After each, spend 20 minutes annotating right away.
- Review the critical sequence from move 12 of the Pirc loss; store it in your personal “danger positions” file.
- Play at least one training game starting from the position after 17…Nxa2 in your latest win, but switch colours – feel what White should have done.
Stay curious and keep enjoying your chess journey. You have all the building blocks to break through your next rating barrier – let’s make it happen!