Coach Chesswick
Hi ThatGuy369! 👋 Here are some tailored pointers to keep your rating trending upward.
1. Quick data pulse
- Favourite Black opening: Scandinavian ( 1…d5 ) – appears in 5/6 recent Black games.
- Typical White repertoire: e4 with Closed/Grand Prix-style Sicilians and occasional French-buster set-ups.
- Most common game result: decisive tactical skirmish inside 25 moves (both wins & losses).
Visualise your trends here:
2. Opening observations & fixes
As Black – Scandinavian
- You often choose 3…Qe5+. Against 1700-level opposition it scores well, but the queen can become a tempo magnet. Consider adding the calmer 3…Qa5 line to minimise early queen walks.
- Your best win vs arabitop showed excellent piece activity, but you missed an easy upgrade: after 12…Qa7 you could have already played …e5 to seize the centre.
- Homework: Watch 3 GM games in the “Icelandic Gambit” branch; copy the develop-fast-then-hunt-king blueprint.
As White – Closed Sicilian / Nc3 lines
- In the loss to sl1kysss you played 4.h3 & 14.Bg5 but then castled into your own pawn storm. Follow the rule “pawn hooks = castle opposite side” or keep the pawn shield intact.
- Add one Open Sicilian line (e.g. 6.Bg5 in the Najdorf) to practise playing with an early space advantage.
- Versus the French you repeatedly offered the queen trade Qg5/Qh4-Qh7+ but slipped into a worse endgame. Instead, hit the d5-pawn early with c4 or Nb5 ideas – classical French strategy.
3. Middlegame themes to polish
- Over-extended pawns: several losses feature advanced a-/h-pawns that became targets (see moves 10–16 vs atlantidalusitana76). Before pushing a flank pawn, ask “what square will it be defending in 5 moves?”
- King safety & file tension: you like open g/h-files for attacks, but so do your opponents! Try the checklist: 1) Is my king safe? 2) Are my heavy pieces ready? 3) Only then open the file.
- Study the tactic Zwischenzug; both your win vs ArabiTop (18…Qe3+!) and loss vs memerxdlmao (24…b5! creating a zwischenzug) hinged on intermezzos.
4. Endgame & practical play
- Several games end by abandonment/flag when still drawable or even better. Aim to keep at least 30 s in reserve; if under 20 s switch to premove-friendly plans (king activity, passer creation).
- When ahead a piece, simplify earlier. Vs reza2020 you were up two pieces on move 15 yet allowed messy pawn races until move 60. A quick piece exchange (…Rc7–c4!) would have finished things in half the time.
- Add one technical endgame to your daily study – start with rook + 4 vs 4 side-pawn structures.
5. Highlight tactic – keep doing this!
From your best recent win:
Excellent use of an active rook on the 3rd rank plus a tactical clearance. Memorise this pattern; it appears in many Scandinavian structures.
6. Action plan (next 2 weeks)
- Play 10 games with 3…Qa5 Scandinavian; annotate two thoroughly.
- Solve 30 mixed tactics / day, tagging every missed fork or pin.
- Watch one 15-minute video on “Open Sicilian basics” and try it in at least 3 games.
- Finish the Silman basic endgame ladder up to rook endgames, or any equivalent course.
Keep up the fighting spirit, enjoy the grind, and your next milestone (1975 (2023-07-07)) is within reach!