Coach Chesswick
Sharapov Evgeny – Personalised Coaching Feedback
What you are already doing well
- Dynamic Piece Play. You often seize the initiative with energetic moves such as 26.Nxg6!! in your win against Jan Rubeš. Tactical shots like this show good calculation depth and confidence.
- Conversion of Material Advantage. When you reach a position with “extra stuff”, you rarely let it slip. In several wins you simplified to rook-endings (or forced resignation) smoothly.
- Opening Flexibility in Chess960. By starting with moves like 1.Nf3/1.b3 you keep structures fluid and avoid heavy theory – a smart approach for 3 + 1 games.
- Good Fighting Spirit. Even in inferior positions you set problems, e.g. perpetual-check tries and resourceful counter-sacrifices.
Key areas to improve
- Early King Safety. Two recent losses featured late or risky castling. Against Sanan Sjugirov you left the monarch in the centre and lost on time under pressure. Aim to castle (or artificially secure) within the first 10 moves unless there is a concrete reason not to.
- Pawn-Storm Addiction. Repeated h-/g-pawn thrusts (e.g. 9.h4 vs Dennis Wagner) create weaknesses that strong opponents target. Use the “two-question test”: “Does it gain time and improve my structure?” – if not, reconsider.
- Prophylaxis and Opponent Threat Awareness. You sometimes miss forcing resources such as 20…Rxf2! in the same game. Spending just two seconds per move on prophylaxis (“What does my opponent want?”) will save many points.
- Time Management in Longer Time Controls. Your 600-second games show a large drop in quality after move 20. Try a “_disciplined think_” every 10 moves: invest 1 minute to update plan and candidate moves.
Illustrative Snapshots
Attack succeeds – thematic clearance sacrifice
Attack fails – neglecting king safety & forcing tactics
Training Plan (4-week micro-cycle)
- Week 1: 30 min/day on king-safety motifs.
• Solve 40 “Expose the King” puzzles.
• Analyse your own miniatures – why did the king fall? - Week 2: Solid openings project.
• Prepare one “model setup” vs …g6 systems (you lost twice).
• Play 20 unrated games focusing only on completing development and castling by move 9. - Week 3: prophylaxis drills.
• After every rapid game write down three opponent threats you noticed and whether you parried them.
• Do 100 moves of “find the opponent idea” exercises on a tactics trainer. - Week 4: End-game & time discipline.
• Repeat 20 basic rook-ending positions against an engine set to 2000.
• Introduce a “move pair” ritual: decide on a move within 30 seconds, then spend 10 seconds checking blunders.
Useful Stats & Rhythm Check
Your peak blitz rating so far: 2707 (2025-06-17). Keep an eye on how performance varies through the week:
Quick Reminders before each session
- “King safe, pieces coordinated, loose pawns defended” – then attack.
- After every opponent move ask: “What changed? What is threatened?”
- When below 60 seconds, simplify instead of complicate.
Keep up the creative play, Evgeny – tighten the bolts in the early middlegame and you’ll break the 2200 barrier soon!