Coach Chesswick
Hi mavuba! Here are some personalized pointers to help you climb to the next level.
What you are already doing well
- Dynamic pawn play. In several wins (e.g. 2020-04-11 vs. bipe137) you used the c- and f-pawn breaks to seize space and open lines at the perfect moment.
- Conversion technique. Once you obtain a passed pawn or a material edge you generally keep things clean—notice how you never let the e-pawn slip away in the final phase of the same game.
- Opening variety. Modern Defense, Gurgenidze-style Caro-Kann, and the g3-Sicilian give you a rich set of positions and make you hard to prepare for.
Recurring problems that cost you points
- Premature wing pawn pushes. In your most recent loss (2020-04-17) the sequence 4.h3 g4 left dark-square holes Black exploited with …Bc5-e3-e6. Similar issues appeared on 2020-04-11 when 11.g4/13.f4 weakened the king and allowed …Na5/…Nc4/…Qb6 counter-play.
- Central tension released too early. Many of your losses with Black in the Modern (e.g. 2020-04-08 vs. rea5560) came right after you traded cxd4 followed by …d5 without finishing development. White’s central majority then steam-rolled you.
- Resigning too fast. A few games were abandoned in roughly equal positions (e.g. after 9…Be6 in the Four Knights—the engine still gives ≈0.00). Give yourself the chance to fight back, especially in blitz where anything can happen.
- Clock handling. You often dip below 40 s by move 20 while opponents keep >60 s. Fast, forcing moves like early pawn storms are tempting when low on time, but they magnify tactical risk.
Concrete training plan (4-week)
- Week 1 – King safety audit.
Take your last 20 games; for every wing pawn you advanced past the 4th rank, ask “did this create a target?” Annotate one example daily. (prophylaxis) - Week 2 – Modern/Robatsch repair.
Play 30 rapid games versus an engine / sparring partner starting from the position after 4.c4 c5 5.d5 e6 (your typical structure). Drill the classical plan …exd5, …Bg4, …Nbd7, and castle quickly before …d5. - Week 3 – End the early resignations.
Agree with yourself never to resign before move 30 or while the engine says the position is above −3. Use Game Review to check the “missed chances” score afterward. - Week 4 – Time-management ladder.
Play a set of 5-min games where you must spend at least 5 seconds on moves 1-10 (use the increment timer on your phone as a cue). The goal is to slow down the opening and save bulk time for the middlegame.
Micro-lesson: When to launch the g-pawn?
Using your 2020-04-11 loss, compare two branches: versus a calmer approach: The second line shows that waiting until your pieces are all on good squares makes the pawn storm far more lethal.Stats & Progress trackers
- Your current 2786 (2019-01-15) is impressive—aim to break the next band by tightening the issues above.
- Keep an eye on your activity graphs: and can reveal hidden tilt hours.