Chess Coaching Advice for Leonardo Borges

Coach Chesswick

Quick review links

Open the games I inspected to follow the notes below.

Recent win: Review this win (Closed Sicilian setup via Sicilian Defense: Closed)
Most recent loss: Review this loss
Recent draw: Review this draw (Alekhine style positions via Alekhine\u0027s Defense)

King side aggression and initiative: you consistently generate threats with pawn storms and piece activity. In your win you created a passed pawn and pushed it all the way to promotion while keeping the initiative.
Active pieces: you use knights and queen aggressively to invade your opponent's position. The knight jumps to strong outposts and your rooks become active in the middlegame transitions.
Conversion technique: when you reach a favorable endgame (passed pawn plus active king) you convert cleanly, which shows good practical endgame sense under time pressure.
Opening repertoire clarity: your results show you know these lines well. Stick to the systems that give you confidence — your Closed Sicilian and many Alekhine lines are working at a good rate for you.

King safety and tactical back-rank/h-file threats. In the recent loss the opponent delivered a decisive mating net after your kingside coordination loosened. Watch squares around your king (especially h7 and the back rank) before launching attacks.
Tactical oversights in sharp positions. You sometimes leave pieces en prise or allow forcing sequences because you do not check for opponent checks and captures before moving.
Time management under pressure. Clocks show many end positions with very little time left. That increases blunders. In faster games prioritize safe, forcing moves and avoid speculative long calculations when the clock is low.
Piece coordination when simplifying. You won by promoting a pawn, but in losses some exchanges left your pieces uncoordinated while the opponent had mating threats. When trading, double-check resulting king exposure and counterplay chances.

Daily 10–15 minute tactics: focus on mates in one, forks, discovered attacks and removing the defender patterns. These are the motifs that cost you games in time trouble.
Endgame micro-sessions (3× a week, 10 minutes): practice king and pawn vs king, rook endgames and converting a single outside passed pawn. Convert similar won endgames from your wins to make them routine.
One-game analysis routine (after each session): pick one decisive game (win or loss) and spend 5–10 minutes identifying the turning point. Ask: what was my last safe move? What checks or captures did I miss?
Opening refresh (weekly): review typical tactical shots and pawn breaks in your main systems (Closed Sicilian and Alekhine setups). Learn one short plan for when the opponent plays an unusual move so you don’t get out of book and panic on the clock.
Time control practice: once or twice per week play a session with slightly longer time (3+0 or 5+0) to practice accurate decision making without flagging. Then return to 1|0 or 0|1 to apply the improved checks.

Before every move, ask these two quick questions: am I leaving any checks/captures/attacks? and is my king safe? This prevents routine tactical blunders.
If you are low on time: trade to a simple position if you are already materially ahead or play a safe waiting move that maintains your threats instead of speculative sacrifices.
When you see a pawn break or passed pawn possibility, calculate only the critical forcing line and then play — avoid deep speculative lines in bullet.

Identify the single blunder or oversight that changed the evaluation.
Could the blunder have been avoided by one of the two quick questions above? If yes, reinforce that habit.
Save one position from the game to practice as a tactical puzzle or endgame to reinforce the learning.

Do 5 tactical puzzles daily and one 10-minute endgame drill three times this week.
Analyze the linked loss (Review this loss) and the linked win (Review this win). Mark the turning move in each.
Pick one tiny opening improvement: a single move or plan in your favorite line and practice it until it feels automatic.

Small, consistent changes beat big occasional efforts. Keep the good attacking instincts, tighten king safety, and stop the routine oversights.

Use these if you want to revisit training later: