Taha

Hi Taha!

Great job on steadily getting games under your belt. Below is some constructive feedback, drawn from your most recent games.

What’s already working

• Activity over material: In the win versus presty123 you willingly sacrificed pawns to keep your pieces active and were rewarded with a mating attack. This “initiative-first” mindset is valuable at every level.
• Piece coordination in the middlegame: Your rook lifts (e.g. Re1-e5 and Rf8-f5) show you’re comfortable bringing heavy pieces into play. Keep refining this skill.
• Open-file instincts: You often double or triple on open files, a key middlegame principle. The French-Defense win ended with …Rd1# after you occupied the d-file early.

Quick wins to level-up in the next 4-6 weeks

1. Tighten king safety before launching pawn storms.
   In your most recent loss (Owens Defence) you castled long into a half-open c-file while your queenside pawns were already stretched. Next time ask, “Will castling put my king behind or in front of my pawn shield?”
2. Cut down early queen adventures—yours or your opponent’s.
   Games often turn when a queen slips in with check ( Qa4+, Qa6, Qh5+). Add the habit of checking all checks on every move. A five-second scan will prevent 80 % of these accidents.
3. Respect the trade–replace–defend rule.
   Before capturing, ask yourself three questions: What comes to that square? What changes for my king? What does my opponent gain? In the French loss you played …22…Ra4? and the back rank collapsed because the rook left e8 undefended.
4. Practice converting extra material.
   You sometimes let winning positions drift (one game was lost on time while two queens up). Set up +5 positions against the computer and force yourself to finish in 40 moves or fewer.
5. Daily tactics—aim for 15 min a day.
   Most of the swings in your games are single-move tactics (forks, pins, skewers). Sharpening calculation beats any opening book right now. See if you can raise your solve-rate on puzzles involving a fork from 60 % to 75 %.

Opening road-map (keep it simple)

• As White: Stick with 1.e4 but learn one reply versus …c5 (e.g. the Grand Prix Attack) and one versus …e5 (the Scotch worked well for you).
• As Black vs 1.e4: Choose either the full open Sicilian or plain …e5. Mixing both (and the Owen’s b6) makes pattern recognition harder.
• As Black vs 1.d4: Your French set-ups (d5, e6, Nc6) are fine. Just study the main ideas for when White plays c4 or Nf3.

Illustrative snapshot

The position after 17…Nxd4 18.cxd4 Qxd4 from your loss shows both sides’ kings exposed. One tempo later White castled and your queen became overworked. Here’s the critical sequence:

Next milestones

• Reach 1071 (2021-02-19) +50 by focusing on tactics and endgames—not new openings.
• Track your performance during your most alert hours:
  . Try scheduling ranked games at those peak times.
• Review every loss within 24 h—write down one lesson, however small.

Keep the fun in it!

Enjoy the journey, celebrate the small improvements, and don’t hesitate to challenge stronger players—every tough game is a free lesson.

See you on the board,
Your Chess Coach Bot