Coach Chesswick
Hi Patricia, here’s your personalized training report!
1. What you’re doing well
- Structured Opening Repertoire. As Black you rely on the French (Rubinstein & Exchange) and QGD structures; with White you favour 1.d4 and the Samisch/KID lines. Your first 10-12 moves are usually crisp and book-accurate, giving you solid middlegame positions.
- End-game Technique. In the win against ZCorrales you converted a pawn-up ending with calm moves like …Ke6-Kg4-Kf3, showing good king activation and conversion skills.
- Pressure Chess. You’re comfortable seizing space with pawn storms (h-pawn vs. French, g/h-pawns vs. KID) and often force your opponents into time trouble. Keep that attacking mindset!
2. Biggest improvement opportunities
- King safety blind spots. Three of your last five losses came from direct mating nets on g2/g7 or the back rank. Example: in the loss to CarolinaLujan, the seemingly harmless pawn push 20.d6 left g2 unguarded and ended the game instantly. Build the habit of asking “What checks, captures, threats does my opponent have right now?” before every move.
- Time management. Even in 60 + 1 you flagged on move 46 with an extra rook! Your clock usage is front-loaded (you often spend >40 % of your time in the first 15 moves). Aim to leave yourself at least 35 % of the clock for the final third of the game. Practical drill: play a few 3 + 2 games where you must move before your clock dips below 1 : 30.
- Tactical calculation depth. You calculate the first tactic but sometimes miss the rebuttal—e.g. 32…Qb5? in the Exchange French allowed Qxf6!. Daily mixed-theme puzzles (~15 min) will sharpen your vision; focus on motifs such as forks, back-rank mates and over-loaded pieces.
- Prophylaxis. Many setbacks started with neglecting opponent ideas (…h4-h5-h4 vs. your king, or …Rc8-c4 infiltration). Add “What does my opponent want?” to your pre-move checklist.
3. Action plan for the next two weeks
- 10 tactical puzzles daily (rated & unrated mix). Emphasise double-checks and deflections.
- Play three 15 + 10 rapid games per week. After each game, spend 20 min annotating without an engine; then compare to the engine.
- Review the critical French positions where you castle long. Save 5 representative games and create a mini-flash-card set of typical plans.
- End-game sprint: rehearse the Philidor, Lucena and queen-vs-pawn endings on a board until you can win/draw them in <30 sec OTB.
4. Quick stats snapshot
Peak Rapid rating:
When do you win most?
(try scheduling training games during your “green zones”).5. Mindset nugget
“Good players calculate; great players also ask what the opponent wants.”Keep enjoying the journey, Patricia—your attacking flair is your super-power. Let’s add a layer of defensive awareness and time discipline, and your next peak rating is within reach!
See you at the board!
—Coach