Coach Chesswick
Hi StevyIX – Your Personal Chess Feedback
Big picture
You are experimenting, you fight for the initiative and you have already reached 618 (2025-02-20). The foundations are there – now let’s add some structure so your rating climbs in a straight line instead of a roller-coaster.
What you are doing well
- Consistent White repertoire. 1.d4 with early Bf4 (London-style) gives you a familiar pawn skeleton and led to several clean tactical wins (see PGN #1 below).
- Killer instinct. When the opponent’s king is unsafe you rarely hesitate – the back-to-back mates on c7 prove you can finish the game when a tactic appears.
- End-game nerves. The 62-move conversion versus gion54it showed patience and calculation under time pressure.
Highest-impact fixes for the next 2 – 3 weeks
- King safety as Black. Early …f6, …g6 or queen raids (…Qh4, …Qf6) invited Scholar-type attacks from players rated 500. Follow classical rules: develop two minor pieces, castle, only then push flank pawns or move the queen.
- Tactical vision. Nearly every loss features a one-move blunder (forks, mate in one). Solve 15 tactical puzzles daily, focusing on fork, discovered attack and back-rank motifs. Your blunder rate – and the red bars in your – will drop fast.
- Do not grab material at the cost of development. In the Nimzowitsch loss you captured pawns on e4/d4, fell behind in development and never recovered. Ask “What will my opponent play if I take this?” before grabbing.
- Time management. Many moves are played in under five seconds even in 10-minute games. Try to keep at least 50 % of your starting time until move 15. Thinking before the blunder is cheaper than calculating how to survive after it.
Opening roadmap
- With White, add an early c4 break to your London set-up when Black plays …d5 – it fights for the centre and prevents …e5 thrusts.
- Versus 1.e4 adopt a no-theory, safe system such as the Scandinavian (1…d5) or French (1…e6). Both give clear plans and remove the temptation to play weakening moves like …f6.
- Against 1.d4 mirror your own set-up: 1…d5 2…Bf5/…Bf4. You already know the themes from the White side.
Track your progress
Review these dashboards every weekend to stay motivated:
Study corner
- Re-annotate your win against deiseb: after every move write “What is the threat?” – this habit sharpens calculation.
- Play through move 20-35 of the loss to hanina1. Pinpoint the single decision that let the attack explode.
- Watch a short lesson on the Englund Gambit so you understand why 2.dxe5 is correct and how to punish Black’s follow-ups.
Reference games
Clean tactical win
Learning from a loss
Next steps
Play 20 rapid games with the simplified Black repertoires above, review each with Game Review, and send me the three positions that confuse you most. We’ll dive into them in our next session.
Enjoy the journey and celebrate every improvement!