Coach Chesswick
Quick summary
Nice run — your adjusted win rate is around 71% and your rating trend is sharply upward (about +200 and a strong positive slope). You’re winning a lot of games and converting advantages well, especially in sharp openings such as the King's Gambit and French Defense. Keep building on the aspects below to turn this form into stable, higher-rated play.
What you’re doing well
- Strong conversion skills — you consistently convert material or positional advantages into wins instead of letting opponents escape.
- Good attacking instincts — many wins show direct play against the enemy king (pawn storms, piece sacrifices, exploiting open files).
- Opening variety and practical success — good results in Sicilian Defense, French Defense and gambit-type lines; you handle imbalanced positions confidently.
- Bullet clock management in fights — when the position gets tactical you often keep enough time to finish the job (helpful in bullet).
- Mental momentum — your win/loss record (29–7–3) and recent rating jumps show you’re on a streak and capitalizing on momentum.
Key areas to improve (actionable)
- Time management in equal/simple positions — several games ended on time or with rushed decisions. In bullet, don’t spend too many moves on quiet maneuvering; simplify your decision tree: ask — “is this forcing?” If not, play the safe developing/creating a target.
- Avoid premature simplifications that relieve opponent counterplay. In some wins you traded down and then had to defend under time pressure; keep a reserve of active pieces and pawns to avoid passive endgames.
- Tactical calm under premoves/premove use. Premoves are powerful but risky — use them only when the captures/recaptures are forced. Practice spotting refutations quickly (see drills below).
- Endgame technique polish — you convert well when ahead, but a few games show hesitation in king-and-pawn or rook endgames. Drill basic Lucena/Vancura and simple king + pawn races to eliminate uncertainty when up a pawn.
- Opening depth vs. bullet speed — you have great opening variety. Pick 2–3 “bullet-ready” lines to master for now so you can reach middlegame with a comfortable plan without using too much clock.
Practical drills and short training plan (daily 15–30 minutes)
- 10 minutes tactics: focus on forks, pins, and mating nets (set difficulty to quick puzzles). Goal: faster pattern recognition so you don’t waste time calculating.
- 10 minutes bullet openings: pick one main line for White and one for Black. Memorize 6–8 moves and the typical pawn breaks/targets. Example picks: King's Gambit ideas for sharp play, and a simple French Defense setup for Black.
- 5–10 minutes endgame: one theme per day — Lucena, king + pawn vs king, rook vs pawn. Practice the fastest conversion and the fastest defense technique.
- Weekly review: once a week, open 5 recent wins/losses and ask — “what one move changed the evaluation?” Add that move to your repertoire of pattern responses.
Concrete tips for your bullet games
- Early game: play simple developing moves when unsure. Prioritize king safety and piece activity over trying to force a win immediately.
- When ahead: simplify to an endgame you know how to win, but keep your clock in mind — trade when doing so saves time in the defence. If the opponent has counterplay, keep at least one active piece.
- Against time trouble: make quick threats (checks, captures, attack of higher-valued pieces) that force the opponent to think and reduce their counterplay rather than long strategical moves.
- Use premoves sparingly: premove in forced recaptures only. In unclear positions, pre-moving can turn a winning game into a loss.
- Psychology: keep using direct king hunting and aggressive plans — they're working — but balance aggression with simple tactical checks so you don’t get punished for overreach.
Example game for review
Here’s a recent game you can step through and study the critical moments. Look for when you chose simplification vs. keeping attacking chances and how the clock influenced those choices.
Suggested study focus: the moment you traded rooks (move 24–26 in the PGN) and the final sequence where you exchanged queens then used your king activity to convert.
Follow-up plan
- Next two weeks: stick to the daily 15–30 minute routine above. Track time usage per phase (opening/midgame/endgame) for 10 games — try to keep opening time under 10% of your clock in bullet.
- Send me one losing bullet where you think you had chances; I’ll give targeted feedback (one game per review).
- If you want, focus your opening book to two bullet-ready lines and I’ll help craft a 6–8 move plan (with common tactical motifs) for each.
Resources & placeholders
Look up key terms and opponents quickly:
- Opponents you recently faced: Never_walk_alone, Микола Боднар, DMGame
- Openings to reinforce: King's Gambit, Sicilian Defense, French Defense
Keep the momentum — your form shows real improvement. Small, focused work on time management, premoves, and a tiny set of endgames will pay big dividends in bullet.