Coach Chesswick
Hi Renate Vidruska!
Congratulations on your steady progress and the fighting spirit you show in every game. Below is a summary of what is already working well, the most urgent areas to address, and a four–week action plan to help you climb to the next rating band.
What you are doing well
- Initiative-first mindset. Many of your victories (e.g. vs. Billy Fellowes, move 19 Bg7!) show a willingness to seize space and keep the opponent on the back foot.
- Practical attacking skills. You spot tactical resources quickly (21 Qh6# in the game vs. SivertG) and are comfortable launching pawn-storms on the kingside.
- Versatility. Mixing standard chess with Chess960 broadens your pattern database and long-term understanding.
Biggest improvement opportunities
- Time management. Four of your last six losses were flagged or happened with <10 s on the clock. Good moves that never get played are worth 0 points.
- Defensive technique. When the attack fizzles you struggle to switch to damage-control. Study typical saving resources such as the intermezzo (zwischenzug) and perpetual-check motifs.
- Conversion in winning endgames. In the Chess960 loss to VladyC you were up material on move 45 but let the queenside passer run. Strengthen your technical endgame play and decision making with simplified positions.
- Opening depth. Many games start 1 e4 d3/2 d3 systems. While they avoid theory, they also concede the centre. Adding a main-line you can play quickly will save early clock time.
Four-week training plan
- Tactics diet. 25–30 puzzles a day, five of them composed (higher-difficulty) to stretch calculation depth.
- Time-control ladder. Two 10 + 5 games daily with a forced “move by 1 min” rule; then review with an engine to measure average move time. Aim for ≤ 8 s in the opening, ≤ 20 s in middlegame.
- Endgame module. Three times a week solve a rook-vs-pawn race and a basic king-and-pawn study. (Use Lichess/Chessable drills or your favourite source.)
- Opening spring-clean.
- Add the Scotch Game as White: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4. Natural piece play and low theory.
- As Black vs. 1 e4, try the Scandinavian 1…d5 – easy to learn, forces early queen tradelines you already like.
Illustrative moment
The following miniature shows how quickly you can finish when pieces coordinate. Replay it once a week to burn the pattern in:
Tracking progress
Keep an eye on your trend graphs; healthy plateaus are fine as long as the underlying numbers improve.
- Peak blitz so far: 1768 (2013-02-11).
- Hourly performance: .
- Playing-day consistency: .
Final tips
- Play one “serious” (15 + 10 or longer) game every weekend and annotate it yourself before engine check.
- When ahead on material, ask yourself every move: “What is the cleanest win?” – Often it is simplification, not further attack.
- In Chess960, memorise the two castling rules; many early-game time burns come from uncertainty here.
Stick to the plan, and I expect your blitz rating to break the next milestone within two months. Enjoy the journey and keep the pieces flying!