Coach Chesswick
Hi Nijat – personalised performance review
What you are already doing very well
- Initiative-first mindset: Your games feature early pawn storms (g- and h-files) backed by piece activity, often forcing practical errors.
- Tactical conversion: When the position opens you calculate quickly & precisely (e.g. 22.Bxd6! in the recent French-type win).
- Broad repertoire: From 1.a3 to King’s Fianchetto you keep opponents out of book, a real edge in fast time controls.
Areas that can yield the fastest rating gains
- Clock management
• Three of the last five losses were simply flags.
• Introduce a “20-second rule”: after 20 s of thought, choose the best move you see and trust your intuition.
• Drill bullet endgames (R + P vs R, B + wrong-rook pawn, etc.) with a 30-second starting clock so the technique is automatic. - Practical endgame choices
• Against pKiLz5Rn9b you flagged in a level R-and-pawn ending. If the win isn’t crystal clear, trade or repeat moves and bank the ½-point.
• Refresh the Philidor and Vancura set-ups; they often appear after your tactical middlegames simplify. - Mastering blocked pawn structures
• Two recent defeats arose when flank pawn pushes left you short of central breaks.
• Study 5–6 model games (Karpov, Carlsen) that showcase the themes of improving the worst-placed piece and timed pawn breaks. - Opening fine-tuning
• The 1.a3 line is fun, but after 9…Nxb4 Black equalised painlessly; mix in a main-line English or Ruy to keep a +0.20 edge.
• In the A40 Mikenas loss your knight danced Nc6-e5-xf3-d4; consider a solid 3…e6 Queen’s-Indian setup as an alternative.
Action plan for the coming week
- 10 min of high-rated tactics (2400-2600) every day – speed, not just accuracy.
- Play two 3|2 games daily; objective: still have ≥20 s after move 30.
- Add one fresh idea to each side of your main openings; even a single novelty keeps you unpredictable.
- Review your own stats: and to schedule serious sessions when you historically score best.
Motivational snapshot
Your present online best is 2742 (2016-01-06). Convert just a couple of those timeout losses and you’ll smash through the next ceiling.
Keep pushing!
You already bring Grandmaster creativity and fighting spirit to every board. Fine-tune the clock control and strategic patience, and the results will follow quickly. Looking forward to your next climb.