Coach Chesswick
Hi Javier (a.k.a “vikingiv”) 👋
Great streak lately – you even touched 2551 (2020-05-30)! Below is some personalised feedback based on your latest wins & losses.
Your current super-powers
- Opening initiative with 1 d4 / 2 Nc3. You repeatedly reached pleasant middles by pressuring c7/e6 and keeping pieces active. Keep that repertoire, but diversify (see below).
- Tactical awareness. The miniature vs
Hirna2005featured Bh6-Bxg7-0-0-0 → a crisp mating attack. Your calculation speed is a clear asset. - Pawn-storm handling. When you get the space advantage (h-pawn pushes, f-pawn breaks) you coordinate pieces well – the diagrams show harmonious rook lifts.
- Practical time management. Most wins end with 40-60 s still on your clock, a healthy buffer in 3 + 2.
Current pain points
- Black vs 1 e4. Recent losses in the French, Pirc and Reversed Sicilian show hesitation after the opening. Plans felt reactive (…f7-f6, …g7-g5) rather than proactive.
➜ Pick one main defence and study its typical pawn breaks/endgames for a month. Even 15 minutes a day with a model game database will help. - Conversion in better positions. In the loss to
callmekaukyou were a pawn up but flagged. You spent ~40 s on moves 14-18 (forcing sequence already calculated).
➜ When you’re clearly better, switch to “technical mode”: play safe, quick, simple moves and preserve the clock. - Endgame fundamentals. Both July resignations stemmed from mishandled rook endings. Your middlegame creativity is great; balancing it with tablebase-level technique will add free Elo.
- Pawn over-extensions. Games vs
miso2211&the_namelessssshowed h-/g-pawn pushes that weakened light squares.
➜ Before advancing a wing pawn, ask the classical “can my opponent occupy the square I just weakened?”
Action plan (next 4 weeks)
- Opening sprint: choose a single reply to 1 e4 (recommend …c5 → Scheveningen or the …e5 → Spanish/Italian). Build a 15-line “move-order tree” and play it exclusively.
- Endgame reps: 3 rook-and-pawn studies per day. Focus on rook behind passed pawn & Lucena/Philidor. (Add triangulation and opposition to your toolbox.)
- Clock discipline drill: In three training games this week, force yourself to make every move above 20 seconds instantly. Review how many “insta-moves” were actually errors – usually far fewer than feared.
- Annotate one loss. Take the PGN below, add comments at critical branches, and try to find one resource per move you disliked.
When you’re hottest
Win-rate by weekday
Next step
Pick one of the bullet-points above and work on it today. Small, consistent tweaks beat big sporadic ones.
Good luck & see you on the board!
– Your Chess Coach 🤝