Coach Chesswick
Hi Robert, great to see your recent games!
What you are doing well
- Reliable opening base. With the Petroff and Caro-Kann you consistently reach solid structures and keep the position under control.
- Sharp tactical eye. In your last win against nobody18072004 the sequence 22…Bxh3!! 23.Qd1 Bg4 24.Be2 Rxd2 showed excellent calculation and piece coordination.
- End-game conversion. When you reach a technical phase a pawn up, you usually bring the game home smoothly (see the Caro-Kann Exchange win vs morralover).
Growth opportunities
- French – Steiner structure. In the loss to Jesus Alberto Alcazar Jimenez your early …c6/…c5 plan left a backwards c-pawn that White targeted relentlessly. Study games where Black keeps the pawn chain fluid with …c5 breaks or aims for piece activity instead of pawn grabs.
- Caro-Kann Classical 7.h4 idea. Several strong opponents played the modern h4/h5 setup. Instead of the automatic …h6, test the cleaner lines 7…h5!?, 7…Qc7 or an early …e6 followed by …Ne7/…c5 which keep kingside pawns intact.
- King safety after pawn breaks. In a few defeats …f6 (French) or …g6/…h6 (Petroff) opened dark-square holes. Add a quick “what squares am I weakening?” question to your blunder-check routine.
- Clock management. suggests a dip in the final minute. Try 5-minute training games where you must keep 30 s in reserve, and blitz out “obvious” moves only then.
Four-week micro-plan
| Week | Main focus | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | French – Steiner Variation repair | Replay 5 annotated GM games, build a mini repertoire file. |
| 2 | Caro-Kann vs 7.h4 | Engine sparring: 20 blitz games from the critical position, score ≥60 % before moving on. |
| 3 | Prophylaxis drills | 50 “spot the threat” puzzles; verbalise opponent ideas before every candidate list. |
| 4 | Practical play & clock | Five 15 + 10 games; aim to reach move 25 with ≥5 min. Review endings with the engine. |
Stats snapshot
Peak Blitz: 2762 (2019-04-29)
Peak Rapid:
Critical moment to revisit
Black to move – loss vs Jesus Alberto Alcazar Jimenez, after 21.Ra1:
Final thoughts
Your strategic understanding is clearly 2600-level; tightening a few sharp-line details and preserving king cover will push your blitz rating higher in a hurry. Keep the curiosity alive and enjoy the journey!
— Your coach