Coach Chesswick
Constructive Feedback for Eelke De Boer
Your recent form has been impressive, peaking at 2882 (2025-04-27). The games show an enterprising style that unsettles many strong opponents. Below is a summary of strengths, areas for improvement, and concrete next steps.
What You Already Do Well
- Opening Ambition & Variety. From the Saragossa (1.c3 Na3!?) to Bird’s (1.f4), you drag opponents out of theory early. The win against Eelke De Boer with 1.c3 …d5 2.Na3!? is a good example.
- Dynamic Piece Play. The attack vs irucv (15.Ng5! followed by a swift king hunt) highlights your tactical alertness.
- Clock Pressure. Many victories come from keeping positions complicated when the opponent’s time is low. Your instincts to maintain initiative are excellent.
Key Areas to Improve
- Time Management in Complex Positions. Three of the last five losses (e.g. vs Noah Thomforde-Toates) ended with <5 seconds despite playable positions. Adopt a “simplify or force” rule once you reach 30 seconds.
- King Safety in Dutch-Type Structures. In the loss to Luka Vojinovic, early …g5 weakened dark squares. Study model games where Black delays …g5 until …c5 has been achieved.
- Conversion Technique. The exchange-up game vs bigthighsman slipped away. Drill standard rook endgames to polish winning technique under time pressure.
- Central Counter-Break Awareness. Against Bird’s (loss to Om Kadam) you underestimated …e5/…c5. Add the central break to your opening checklist whenever you play f4 or c3 early.
Homework Plan (3 Weeks)
| Week | Task |
|---|---|
| 1 | Annotate five recent Dutch Defense games, focusing on moves 5-10. Note every missed tactical or positional idea. |
| 2 | Play twenty 5-minute training games starting from the diagram below and decide on a plan within 15 seconds each move. |
| 3 | Solve fifty rook-endgame puzzles, aiming for <60 seconds per puzzle. Track percentage score and average time. |
Key Reference Position – add to your flash-cards:
Progress Tracking
Review your performance trends with:
Keep embracing creative openings and tactical play, but bolster them with better clock control, tighter king safety, and solid conversion technique. Feel free to bring any annotated games to our next session for deeper analysis!