Coach Chesswick
Hi sarvoc, here’s some personalized feedback to help you keep climbing!
What you’re already doing well ⭐
- Active, forcing play: Your wins often feature early Ng5/Nxf7 ideas, showing good tactical awareness and willingness to seize the initiative.
- Quick castling: In most victories (e.g. against whight-shadow and turkialhrb), you reached safety first, which is fundamental below 800-900 rating.
- Piece activity over material: You’re happy to sacrifice (or ignore pawns) for open lines; this is great for learning tactical patterns.
Key improvement targets 🔍
- Stop drifting with the queen in the opening. In your loss to br1con you played 5.Qe2 and 6.d3, but then 6…Be7 7.Ng5? Bd5! left the queen stuck defending f3 and h1. • Stick to the first three opening principles: 1) minor pieces, 2) king safety, 3) rooks to the centre. • Enter the middlegame only when the queen can’t be chased for free tempi. Quick drill: play ten games where your queen may not move until move 8 unless it is a capture or recapture.
- Calculate one move further in tactics. Losing a rook on h1 (…Bxh1) was a “hanging piece” oversight. Each time your opponent threatens a capture, mentally ask: “If I were them, what would I play next?” and force yourself to see at least the reply after your intended move. Daily puzzle goals: 3–5 correct puzzles/day at 20-30 sec each to sharpen blunder check.
- Time management. Against rocky11villa you flagged from a clearly playable position. • Use the increment: make a safe move every 2-3 sec to bank time. • During the opponent’s turn, decide your next plan instead of watching the board. and can reveal which sessions you’re most focused—try scheduling serious games there.
- Opening repertoire—add one solid line vs the French. You meet 1…e6 with 2.Nf3 and often push e5. After 4…f5 (see loss vs leomazzante), the position becomes sharp and you fell behind in development. Recommendation: Study the simple Exchange Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5) for a month. It teaches structure, center control, and reduces early tactics.
Illustrative moments 📚
Critical tactic from the loss vs br1con:
• 7.Ng5? was optimistic; simply 7.Nc3 or 7.Bg5 kept equality.
• Note how every move from 5-9 ignored Black’s threat to the h1-rook.
• Compare with your win vs Discount-fountain, where you kept pressure and defended your back rank before striking.
Next-week training plan ⏱️
- 10 rapid games (10 | 2 or 15 | 10) focusing on no queen moves until move 8.
- 25 puzzles (Theme: Discovered attacks & hanging pieces).
- Watch one short video or read one article on the French Exchange each day; then practice two games with that line.
- After every game, spend 5 min tagging one good move and one mistake. Build the habit of self-review.
Long-term outlook 🌱
With consistent blunder checks and better time usage, breaking 600 in blitz/rapid is realistic within 4-6 weeks. Track your progress: 595 (2025-06-16) 692 (2025-06-17)—let’s aim to update both soon!
Good luck, keep the pieces coordinated, and have fun!