Coach Chesswick
Hi scandi11 – constructive feedback from your coach
Quick dashboard
- Current best rating: 1900 (2025-04-01)
- Playing pattern:
What you are already doing well
- Punching above your weight. You are scoring against 2300-rated opponents despite being ~1900. Your latest win (Najdorf English Attack) showed confident piece co-ordination and an excellent knight outpost on d6.
- Sharp tactical eye. Many of your Sicilian games feature sacrifices on g6/h6 and you spot forcing continuations quickly.
- Practical fighting spirit. In several lost positions you kept creating problems and occasionally turned the tables (see your win with …Na3+ in the QGA).
Key areas to improve
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Time management.
• You flagged in the 32-move Scheveningen game while still objectively better.
• Even in wins you often reached <1 min with 10-15 moves left.
Training task: play 10-minute sessions where you must have >3 min on the clock by move 20. Focus on making one sensible candidate move rather than the “best” move. -
King safety in your 6…g6 Najdorf.
Three recent losses came from the same structure: …g6, …Bg7 vs White’s h4-g4 pawn storm. The dark squares (f6, h6, g7) and the h-file collapses after Nf5/Qh2 ideas.
Options:- Replace 6…g6 with the Classical line 6…e6 7 f3 Be7/…h5 (cuts g4 permanently).
- If you keep 6…g6, study the model game Shirov–Topalov 1998: notice how Black meets h4 with …h5 and delays castling until queenside pressure is under control.
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Conversion of extra material in endgames.
In your most recent loss you reached a technically won rook-and-piece ending yet allowed Rxg4+ and Bh5 skewer. Introduce 15 minutes of pure end-game drills (e.g. Lucena, Philidor, opposition) into your weekly routine.
Opening snapshot
Nailing down one critical variation
Position after 10 h4 gxh4 11 Rxh4 in the English-Attack-vs-Najdorf:
Black to move should not castle short immediately.
Recommended plan: …Nbd7, …b5, …Bb7 first, then castle only once the h-file is blocked.
Next steps for the coming week
- Play five rapid games without the 6…g6 Najdorf – test 6…e6 or even the Taimanov/Accelerated Dragon to broaden horizons.
- Solve 25 mixed tactics with a 3-minute timer each day – this will reinforce your already strong calculation while instilling quicker decision-making.
- Analyse one of your time-trouble defeats with engine + notes; write down why each long think occurred.
Keep up the fighting spirit and feel free to send me any games you want a deeper dive on. Good luck at the board!