Justin Oger

Hi Justin!

Great job keeping an active schedule and steadily pushing your rating (current peak about 891 (2020-09-26)). Your recent wins show a growing tactical eye and willingness to seize the initiative. Below is a snapshot of your performance trend:

Your Strengths

• Tactical alertness – the miniature against ARE888 finished with the neat 19.Re1+ Kd8 20.Bf7 Nh5 21.Re8#. Spotting that mating net at 450-level is excellent.
• Piece activity – in many wins you push pieces forward quickly, often winning material with forks or pins.
• Confidence as both colors – you play 1.e4 as White and 1…e5 as Black consistently, giving you useful pattern-recognition experience.

Priority Areas to Improve

1. King safety & basic development
   Several losses come from leaving your king in the center or castling late (e.g. vs Stephedong1234 you never castled and your king was stuck on f7/g7). Adopt a simple opening rule-set:
   
   • Develop both knights and bishops before launching pawn storms or queen raids.
   • Castle by move 8-10 unless there is a concrete tactical reason not to.
2. Blunder-checking routine
   Games against playerunknow-009 and boblabuche ended after dropping pieces to simple tactics. Before every move ask: “What can my opponent capture next move? What tactics exist on the board (forks, pins, checks)?” This 5-second check will save many points.
3. Opening clean-up
   You often meet the London System with …Nc6 and …e6, but later struggle when White castles long. Instead consider the symmetrical setup d5 » Nf6 » Bf5 » e6 » c5, keeping the dark-squared bishop outside the pawn chain. Stick to one simple line with clear plans so you spend less clock time on move-order questions.
4. Endgame conversion
   In the Stephedong game you traded into a rook-and-bishop ending but went pawn hunting instead of activating your king. Remember: in simplified positions activity beats material. Practice basic rook endings to understand concepts like the Lucena and Philidor positions.
5. Time management
   You often finish 10-minute games with 3-5 minutes left. Slow down during critical moments (openings blunder-check, tactical positions, endgame transitions). Spending an extra 20 seconds can prevent a losing oversight.

Illustrative Tactic

Review the following critical sequence from your best game and try to understand why each move works:

Suggested Training Plan (4 weeks)

• Daily: 15-20 tactic puzzles focusing on forks, skewers, and back-rank mates.
• 2×/week: Play a 15 | 10 game, then spend at least 20 minutes analysing it with the game review tool before checking the engine.
• Weekly: Study one master game in your chosen opening system; write down the main idea in your own words.
• Endgame Friday: 20 minutes on rook-and-pawn endings. Key terms to know: Lucena position, Philidor position.

Stick to these basics and your rating should climb steadily past 600 in no time. Keep up the good work, enjoy the process, and let me know if you need more specific opening recommendations!

Good luck and have fun on the board! – Coach