Coach Chesswick
Quick summary
Good session, Marcal — you generate activity and concrete targets well, but time trouble and recurring king-safety problems are costing you close games. Focused tactical drills, a short opening cheat-sheet, and simple bullet-specific habits will turn many of those losses into wins.
What you're doing well
- Active play: you bring rooks and bishops to useful squares quickly and look for infiltration on open files.
- Creating passed pawns: in your win vs Denis Shurakov you converted queenside pressure into a passed pawn and reduced counterplay effectively.
- Practical intuition in chaos: you play naturally in messy positions, which makes you dangerous in bullet time controls.
- Opening variety gives surprise value — your frequent use of the Alekhine Defense is paying off tactically.
Key weaknesses to fix (high impact)
- Time management — several games end or decay in severe clock pressure. That -93 rating shift last month points to this as a major factor.
- King safety and mating nets — repeated queen checks and back-rank threats (see the loss vs Raffael Chess) show you need faster king-safety checks.
- Allowing queen infiltration — when the opponent’s queen gets active, you sometimes fail to trade or create luft quickly.
- Some opening lines (e.g., certain French and Colle structures) leave you passive; pick fewer lines and learn the core plans so decisions in bullet are automatic.
Concrete weekly training plan
- Daily (10–15 min) — tactics: focus on mating patterns, queen forks, pins, and discovered checks (prioritize puzzles that end with mate or decisive material win).
- 3×/week (15 min) — endgame drills: king+pawn races, basic rook endgames, and queen vs pawn promotion races.
- Weekly (30–45 min) — openings: pick 2 main systems (your Alekhine + one solid defense). Make a 1-page cheat-sheet with typical pawn breaks, common middlegame plans, and two tactical pitfalls to avoid.
- Before bullet sessions — 5 min warm-up tactics, then 20 bullets with one constraint (e.g., “no premoves” or “trade queens when ahead”). Review 3 losses briefly after.
Bullet-specific habits (fast wins)
- If you’re low on time: simplify (trade queens if it reduces mating chances) and avoid speculative tactics that require long calculation.
- Use premoves sparingly — only for forced recaptures or clearly safe pawn pushes.
- Create an escape square (luft) when the opponent’s queen and rooks are nearby — a single pawn move can stop many mating nets.
- When ahead materially, exchange pieces and steer to simple endgames you know how to convert quickly.
Short mid-game checklist (use every move)
- Any immediate checks or sacrifices against my king? (Look first.)
- Do I have an escape square or luft for my king?
- Can I trade queens safely if under mating pressure?
- Is my last move creating new weaknesses around my king?
- Am I low on time? If yes → simplify and avoid complex tactics.
Personalized moments from recent games
- Win vs Denis Shurakov — you converted activity into a passed pawn and traded into reduced counterplay. That practical follow-through is exactly what wins bullet games.
- Loss vs Raffael Chess — the deciding motif was repeated queen checks and mate on g7. A faster defensive resource (giving luft or trading queens) would have neutralized the threat.
- Multiple games show the same pattern: strong piece play but vulnerabilities around the king. Fix the defensive checklist and your Strength Adjusted Win Rate (~48.6%) should tick up.
Quick drill list (do these today)
- 20 mate-in-2/3 puzzles (back rank, Greek gift, smothered mate).
- 10 endgame king+pawn race exercises (who promotes first?)
- 10 opening-middlegame patterns from the Alekhine Defense — know the plan for the minor pieces and the typical pawn breaks.
Next-session experiment (one-week test)
- Play 100 bullet games with a single rule: when ahead, always force at least one simplification (trade queens or a pair of rooks) within 6 moves. Track win rate change after 100 games.
- After each session, annotate 3 losses focusing only on "why the king was mated/attacked" — not every move, just the tactical trigger.
Want deeper help?
I can:
- Annotate 2 full games (move-by-move) and mark tactical turning points.
- Make a compact 2-week opening packet for your Alekhine + one defense with 10 themed tactics.
- Create a 30-minute warmup + drill plan you can run before every bullet session.
Which would you like first — a detailed review of the win vs Denis Shurakov or the loss vs Raffael Chess?