Coach Chesswick
Hi Volen!
Below is a quick, mobile-friendly review of your recent daily games. I’ve grouped the comments into three sections you can glance at on the go:
1 · Time management first
- 7 of the 10 most recent results (both wins and losses) were decided by time-outs.
- Turning “won on time” into “won on the board” will grow your game far faster than studying new openings. Try a daily habit of checking your games twice a day and setting one reminder near every 24-hour deadline.
- Use the vacation button sparingly, but don’t hesitate to activate it if real life gets busy.
2 · Opening choices & early plans
As Black vs 1.e4
- You regularly play the very sharp Elephant Gambit:
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It is fun, but after 4.Qe2 you reach positions where one inaccurate move loses immediately. Consider adding a solid backup (e.g. the Petroff with …Nf6) so that you can pick the gambit only when you are in the mood to calculate. - Typical idea to remember: after 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3!?, do not rush to grab material—finish development (…Be7 / …Be6, castle, rook to e8) and you’ll keep enough play without relying on the clock.
As White vs the Caro-Kann
- You like the line 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2. Good! It avoids heavy theory and keeps extra space.
- Several games featured the flashy jump 7.Ne6!? sacrificing a knight. Once it works it’s memorable, but a sounder plan is simple development:
— keep pieces, attack later. - When the opponent replies …h6 to chase your knight, retreat to h3 or e4 rather than sacrifice automatically; you’ll save material for the middlegame.
Danish Gambit experiment
- Against Danish Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3), you reached a lively position but later fell behind on moves and time. If you enjoy gambits, keep it—just remember to castle by move 8 and put a rook on the half-open e-file.
3 · Middle-game & general technique
- King safety – in the Chess960 loss you advanced the g-pawn before castling and your king remained in the centre. As a rule: castle first, pawn storms second.
- Develop every piece once before moving any piece twice (unless you win material). That single habit cuts early blunders dramatically.
- Play the endgame, even if ahead. Many wins came from opponents timing out in equal or even better positions. Finishing the game over the board will teach you more than the rating points alone.
Rating snapshot
• 3-month change :+ 724 – great progress! • Last 30 days slope is slightly negative (-23) – mainly time-outs. Eliminate those and the curve will rise again.
Next steps for rapid improvement
- Commit to making at least one move each day in every game.
- Pick one solid opening with each colour and study a single model game until you can explain the first ten moves in words.
- Do 10 minutes of tactics puzzles daily; most rating jumps at your level come from spotting forks & pins, not new openings.
- Review one finished game per week, focusing on the first critical mistake only. Fix one error, not ten at once.
Have fun and keep playing—your upward trend shows that steady practice works. Good luck, and send me your next completed game for another review!