Coach Chesswick
Hi Liliam Barbara!
Great job competing in high-level blitz events—you’ve already beaten several 2400+ players! Below is a personalized review of the most common themes I noticed in your recent games, followed by an action plan.
What you’re doing well
- Quick development out of the opening. In both French-Advance wins you followed the main ideas (space on e5, c3–d4 break) and reached pleasant middlegames.
- Direct tactical vision. Motifs such as Qg4/ Qh5 and the sacrifice on Bxh6 show you spot king-side targets fast.
- Practical endgame persistence. The 81-move win vs 2476 shows you can convert small advantages in time pressure.
Recurring issues to fix
- Premature pawn thrusts when you’re Black.
• In the Scandinavian loss you played …g6 and …f5 without finishing development, letting White’s pieces invade.
• In the Modern Defence loss, …d5 and …c6 left dark-square holes.
👉 Tip: Before pushing a wing pawn, ask “How many of my pieces defend the squares I’m weakening?” - Missing zwischenzug opportunities.
• Italian Game: 13…dxe4 was fine, but 16…gxh6 walked into 17.Qg3+!
👉 Add a daily 5-minute drill: after every capture in tactics puzzles, look for a forcing intermediate move Zwischenzug. - Rook-endgame technique.
• You converted vs YasinEmrah, but allowed unnecessary counter-play because the rook became passive on f5.
👉 Practice Philidor & Lucena positions once per week; play them vs. an engine starting at depth 10. - Clock management.
• Two recent losses were on time; in the 3 + 1 pool you sometimes reach move 20 with <60 s.
👉 During opening phase adopt a 5-second move budget unless the position is critical.
Opening map
| With White | With Black |
|---|---|
| French Advance, Vienna Game, Caro-Kann f4-line | 1…e5 vs e4, Scandinavian, Modern / Pirc mix |
Consider narrowing your Black repertoire: mastering either the French (you already like the pawn structure) or a pure 1…e5 system will reduce prep time.
Action plan for the next 4 weeks
- Week 1: Review 10 model French-Advance games by Giri/So; annotate your own PGN with one improvement each move.
- Week 2: 100 intermediate-move puzzles (theme filter “zwischenzug”).
- Week 3: Rook-endgame boot-camp: finish all “Rook vs Pawns” lessons in Chess.com Drill or Lichess Studies.
- Week 4: Play 20 rapid games (10 + 5). Focus on spending >30 seconds on three critical positions each game, then review with engine blunder-check.
Progress dashboard
Peak blitz rating: 2274 (2024-12-10)
Activity charts:
Visualization corner
Replay your nicest combo once a day to build confidence:
Final thought
Your attacking instincts are your super-power; balance them with a bit more patience in defense and you’ll break 2300 blitz soon. Keep up the great work!