Coach Chesswick
Hi Piotr!
Great job climbing through the 2700 blitz bracket – that is already an impressive achievement (your best so far: 2800 (2025-06-24)). Below is a short review of the last playing session together with an action-oriented improvement plan.
1. What you already do well
- Solid French repertoire. In virtually every win as Black you reached comfortable middlegames out of the French (Rubinstein/Fort Knox & Exchange). Your move orders are crisp, and you correctly seize the e5/c5 breaks when they appear.
- Tactical alertness. The miniature against North097 ended after 23…Nf6! – a nice prophylactic resource that also threatened …Rc1+, winning by force. These one-move “sting” solutions are becoming a trademark of your play.
- Converting extra material. Once a pawn up you rarely allow counter-play; the smooth rook endgame versus 8AFAZ8 is a textbook example.
2. Recurring problems that cost points
- Over-extension on the kingside when facing fianchetto setups. Both losses to cristianserban1 began with …g6/…h5 followed by conceded dark-square holes. A critical position is shown below – notice how every pawn move created a new square for White’s pieces:
- Piece mis-coordination vs. flank openings. In the English game you shuffled the knight (…Ne8–d6–f5–h4) while the queenside majority remained undeveloped. Learning typical plans against the English/Réti will prevent this.
- Playing for tactics before your king is safe. The Alapin loss came after 14…f5?! while still behind in development. Your instincts are right (look for counterplay) but the execution must respect king safety first.
- Clock pressure in sharp positions. Several blunders occurred below 25 seconds; tightening your think-ahead routine will keep you calm here.
3. Targeted training plan (next 4 weeks)
- Opening refresh vs. 1.c4 / 1.Nf3.
• Add a simple, principled system (e.g. …e6/…d5 with an early …c5) and rehearse 20 model games.
• Annotate each game, paying special attention to the dark-square strategy around your king. - Daily defensive tactics.
• 15–20 puzzles focusing on saving moves, zwischenzugs, and perpetuals.
• Use the “blunder check” feature right after each blitz session to tag motifs you missed. - Prophylaxis drills. (Understanding prophylaxis)
• Play training games against a sparring partner where you must verbally state one threat by the opponent every move. This slows you down just enough to avoid self-inflicted weaknesses. - Time-management ritual.
• Force yourself to spend at least 5 seconds before the first pawn move in any unfamiliar position; this reduces impulsive pushes like …h5/…f5.
4. Progress tracking
You can measure improvement via:
- Your hourly win-rate heat-map – see .
- Day-to-day performance swings – see .
- Head-to-head rematches (try challenging Serban Cristian once you feel ready).
5. Quick encouragement
Remember that every 2700 player still blunders – your edge will come from consistency. Stick to the plan above and the next jump (2750+) is realistic. Good luck, and feel free to send over any games you would like analysed in depth!