Coach Chesswick
Feedback for Aaron Mendes
What you are already doing well
- Opening variety. In the past few sessions you have employed Petroff, Queen’s Gambit Declined, French-style structures and even 1.a3. This keeps opponents guessing and shows healthy curiosity.
- Tactical alertness in sharp positions. The win against Ludvig Carlsson (June 3) featured 20.Nc7! and 24.Rd8+, converting initiative into material and a lasting attack.
- End-game tenacity. In several wins you nursed small edges deep into rook-and-pawn endings without rushing. Your technique looks especially clean when the position is simplified and the evaluation is static.
- Clock handling once ahead. When you reach a winning position you rarely flag; you tend to accelerate rather than freeze, forcing the defence to consume time.
Highest recent snapshot
2940 (2025-05-03)
Key areas to address next
-
Convert initiative before allowing mass exchanges.
In the loss versus Hikaru Nakamura you traded queens (11.Qxd8) and reduced attacking potential. Keeping tension with 11.Qe1 or 11.Qa4 would have preserved pressure on the dark squares and saved tempi. -
Practical king safety when ahead on material.
Winning line vs VKMATTA was spectacular, but 31…Qf6+ created unnecessary counter-chances. Adopt the principle “If I’m up a queen I castle, consolidate and only then resume tactics.” -
Handling opposite-sided pawn storms.
Games against Sanan Sjugirov and eljanov show hesitation in meeting pawn pushes. Study typical ideas in the King’s Indian and Sicilian opposite-wing races, paying special attention to pawn breaks and piece sacrifice motifs. -
Piece activity vs pawn grabbing.
In several defeats you accepted loose pawns (e.g. 22.Bxa5 against Hikaru) at the cost of coordination. Ask “Will this pawn help my pieces?” before capturing. If not, prefer improving a passive piece. -
Time-management in critical middlegames.
Most losses featured a clock deficit of 15–25 s by move 25. Challenge yourself to play the first 15 moves within 90 s, saving time for tense tactical phases.
Model study plan (next 2 weeks)
- Day 1-2: Review 3-4 model games in the King’s Indian Orthodox line (E91) focusing on typical plans after …c5 & …Re8.
- Day 3-5: Tactics set centred on interference and Zwischenzug themes (20 positions/day).
- Day 6-7: End-game drill – rook vs rook+pawn “side-checks” and building a bridge.
- Second week: Play 15 blitz games restricting yourself to no pawn grabs in the opponent’s half before move 20, then annotate the three most difficult decisions.
Illustrative moment to revisit
In the game with Hikaru the critical slip started here:
Progress tracker
Use the charts below after each study block to visualise results.
Encouragement
Your current level shows you can score against 2600-2700 blitz specialists. By tightening conversion skills and sharpening time-usage you’re on track to push past 2900+ with consistency. Keep the curiosity alive and good luck!