Coach Chesswick
Hi petiofo_petiofo! 💡 Here’s a personalised review of your recent games
1. What you’re already doing well
- Awareness of tactical shots. In several wins you punished loose pawn pushes (…g5 and …g4) with the classic Nf7+ fork. Example finish:
- Quick development with 1.e4. You usually get pieces out rapidly and castle within the first 10 moves.
- Good fighting spirit. You keep looking for active resources even when material down, as seen in the Scandinavian wins.
2. Biggest improvement areas
- Opening discipline. Many losses start with sidelines like 4.Bxh6 or very early queen sorties. Stick to the basic rules: control the centre, develop all minor pieces, castle, then look for tactics. Tip: build a simple Italian Game repertoire as White and a Scandinavian/French main line as Black to get solid positions quickly.
- Seeing the opponent’s threats. • Loss vs IMPERIaoUS: you missed …Re5 skewering queen & knight. • Loss vs BABALAMI: ignored the mate threat on f2. Daily puzzle training (10 min/day) will sharpen defensive vision.
- King safety. Trading your f-pawn or g-pawn in the opening often leaves dark-square holes. Make “Is my king safe after this move?” a quick checklist before every capture.
- Resigning / connection issues. Several “game abandoned” results cost rating points. Try to play on (opponents blunder too!) and ensure a stable connection.
3. Practical action plan
- Solve 20 tactics a day on themes you miss most: pins, double attacks, back-rank mates.
- Watch one short video or read one article on the Italian & French main lines each week. Reinforce with five blitz games to practise.
- After every game ask: “Which three of my moves were worst?” and put them into a notebook with the reason they failed.
- Play a 15|10 rapid game twice a week to get thinking time; annotate it before checking the engine.
- Set a connection reminder: cable/Wi-Fi check & turn off battery-hungry apps before starting a game.
4. Quick opening menu (try this for the next 20 games)
- White: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 (Italian)
Focus on the Giuoco Pianissimo; aim for d3, c3, Re1, Nd2-f1-g3. - Black vs 1.e4: Scandinavian 1…d5 with 3…Qa5 main line. Avoid repeated queen moves; just develop quickly.
- Black vs 1.d4/others: Solid 1…d5 and copy classical development.
5. Motivation corner 🔥
Your highest rapid rating so far: 1189 (2024-01-03) – let’s set a new personal best in the next month!
Track your streaks here:
6. Final reminder
Keep the fun in every move. Small, steady improvements in opening understanding and tactical alertness will push you past 800 quickly. Good luck, and happy hunting on the board!