Coach Chesswick
Hi Anca-Otilia!
Congratulations on climbing above 2000 in rapid – that is no accident. A look at your last few games shows clear strengths but also some patterns you can tighten up. Below is a blend of praise, diagnosis and a concrete action-plan.
Your current profile
- Peak rapid rating: 2135 (2023-10-07) (nice milestone!)
- Typical openings
• With White: 1.e4 aiming for open Sicilians and aggressive ♙f-breaks.
• With Black: Scheveningen-style Sicilians, plus occasional French / Caro-Kann. - Preferred style: Initiative-oriented. You are happy to sacrifice structure for piece activity.
What is already working
- Conversion skill in technical phases.
Your win over Ahmed7ebo shows patient, accurate technique once the queens were off: You kept checks going without blundering a perpetual – a common 2k blitz pitfall. - Tactical vision. In several wins (e.g. 19.f6!! versus jesterprinting) you spotted forcing lines that punished loose enemy kings.
- Clock handling when ahead. In the games you won, the clock never dipped below ~30 s. Once the position was winning you accelerated instead of admiring it.
Where rating points are leaking
- Pawn storms before king safety.
In your loss to Alex-Draifinger you played …h5/…g5 while still behind in development and stuck in the centre. The open g-file ended up helping White. - Alapin & c3-Sicilian structures.
Three recent losses started 1.e4 c5 2.c3/2.Nf3 e6 3.c3. The positions became closed, you lost space on the queenside and had no clear counterplay. - Critical-position time trouble.
The loss on time against Jarda7777 came after you spent 90 s on 18…Nb6 and never recovered. Spending that long is fine if it solves the position; here it only led to a slightly worse endgame. A practical rule: if your next move cannot change the evaluation from =/≠ to ±/∓, cap yourself at 60 s and move on.
Illustrative slip
The turning point in the Alapin game occurred right here:
Black has the bishop pair and pressure, but the queenside is hanging by a thread. The move 22…Na5 walked into Qb4+ and cost a tempi chain. A calmer option was 22…Nxb4 † 23.Qxb4 Qe7 activating the queen while keeping the c-file covered.
Training menu for the next 6 weeks
| Theme | Practical exercise |
|---|---|
| Handling the Alapin | Build a mini-repertoire (10 lines) with …d5/…exd5 setups. Play at least 15 training games vs. bots/friends starting from the position after 2.c3. |
| Prophylaxis before pawn storms | Annotate three of your own losses, writing down “What can my opponent do after my intended move?” before every pawn push. |
| Endgame clock management | Once per session, play a 10 + 0 game and deliberately do not look at the clock until move 20. Train your sense of safe, fast decision making. |
| Pattern-recognition tactics | Daily 15-minute puzzle rush capped at 42 puzzles. After each run, replay the three puzzles you missed and verbalise the motif (fork, skewer, zwischenzug, etc.). |
Mindset reminder
“An attack works when every piece joins in; an early attack fails when they get stuck at home.”
Your attacking instinct is your super-power. Temper it with two extra developing moves and you will feel the elo jump.
Good luck & good skill!
— Your virtual coach
Bonus charts: