Coach Chesswick
Hi Nezuko432! 👋 Here is some personalised feedback based on your latest blitz games.
3167 (2024-12-15)1. What you already do well
- Opening repertoire consistency. Nearly every white game starts with 1.d4 and quickly heads for QGD / Queen’s-Indian structures. Familiarity is paying off – you scored three clean wins this session against Rudik Makarian largely thanks to smooth development and a clear middlegame plan.
- Playing for space & outposts. Moves such as 11.d5 (vs Rud_Makarian, twice) and 17.d6 (vs Blitz_Expert23) show good instinct for seizing protected passed pawns and clamping the position.
- Time management. You usually reach move 25 with 60-90 seconds left – comfortably ahead of many 2300-level opponents.
2. Priority improvements
- Deep calculation when the position opens. In your loss vs Rudik Makarian (Grünfeld, 25…Ra8 ??), the Nb5–Nc7–a8 sequence was a three-move forcing line that wins material. Build the habit of pausing whenever the opponent’s pieces cross your 5th rank – run a quick “checks, captures, threats” scan before committing.
- Queen placement in the early middlegame. In that same game …Qh5 and …Qh4 looked aggressive but actually drove your queen offside and cost several tempi. Ask “Can my queen be chased or trapped?” before advancing it beyond the 4th rank.
- Handling minority pawn storms as Black. The English Symmetrical loss (16.Nd6⁺!) shows discomfort when White hits the queenside light squares. Re-examine typical plans in the b6–e6–c5 set-up: often Black must meet Qb3/Qa4 ideas with …Be7 and …O-O before touching the b-pawn.
- Defensive resourcefulness. Five of your resignations were in tough but not yet completely lost positions (<-4 eval). Try to play on for a few more moves: blitz endgames are slippery and flagging chances are real.
3. Opening clinic
| Line | Tip |
|---|---|
| Grünfeld (…Qa5 + …Nc5) | After 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.Bxc4 O-O the main move is 9…c5. If you choose 9…Qxc5, be ready for 11.Nb5! and have the reply 11…Qf5 prepared to avoid the fork ideas you faced. |
| English, Symmetrical | Delay …b6 until the centre is closed. A safer move order is 1…c5 2…Nc6 3…g6 4…Bg7 5…e6 followed by …Nge7 & …O-O. |
| QID / QGD as White | Your setup with b3-Bb2-Rc1 scores well. Next step: learn a model plan against …c5 breaks (e.g. transfer a knight to d2-c4 and prepare b4). |
4. Tactical exercise themes
- Forks on c7/f7 & g4/e2 squares – they appear in both your wins and losses.
- Defensive Zwischenzug ideas (e.g. an intermediate check before recapturing).
- Endgame Prophylaxis: preventing passed pawns from queening rather than racing them.
5. Action plan for the next two weeks
- Solve 30-40 puzzles focused on knight & queen forks (rating 2200-2600 range).
- Analyse the critical moment of each game you lose. Write down at least two Candidate moves you missed.
- Play five blitz games from the Black side of the Grünfeld but restrict yourself to the solid 9…c5 line – no early queen adventures.
- Review one GM model game in the Queen’s-Indian Spassky System (b3-Bb2) and mimic the middlegame plan.
6. Performance snapshots
Keep up the disciplined opening work and sharpen those calculation muscles – breaking 2200 blitz is within reach soon. Good luck and enjoy the grind!