Coach Chesswick
Hi Changren Dai, here’s a concise review of your recent games and some action-oriented tips.
What you’re doing well
- Dynamic middlegames. Your wins versus Chessscape and pradychess show confident pawn storms and piece activity. You often seize the initiative early and keep the pressure until resignation.
- Spotting tactical shots. Moves such as 22.Ncxa4!! and 26.Bd3! in your King’s Indian victory demonstrate sharp calculation skills.
- Practical rating strength. You’re holding your own around 2644 (2025-03-18), beating players in the 2600 range.
Recurring problems
- Loose king safety in 960 positions. Five of your last six losses came from castling-rights confusion or an exposed monarch. Example: in the loss to Wei Yi (Bird’s setup), …9…Nxf4 grabbed a pawn but opened dark-square mates (13.Qxg6⁺ 14.Ng7#).
- Handling counter-punches. When opponents return material you sometimes overextend. In the same game you played …8…Ng6 allowing Nb3–Nxf5 forks; a slower move like …8…e6 consolidates.
- Time management. In several losses you were under 10 sec by move 40 while your opponent had >30 sec. This leads to blunders in otherwise equal endings.
Targeted training plan
- 960 opening patterns. Spend 15 min/day on random-start setups. Castle early, activate your queen’s bishop, and avoid premature pawn grabs. Reviewing master 960 games will build an instinctive framework.
- Dark-square defence drills. Use puzzle rush filters for “mate-in-two, double check, back-rank” motifs. Aim for 50 puzzles/week focusing on defensive resources.
- Convert winning endgames. Re-play move 31-61 of your long loss to LOVEVAE and challenge yourself to finish with 30 sec increment. Then compare vs engine. This will hard-wire winning technique under time pressure.
- Structured openings. Add one solid line to balance your aggressive style—e.g. the London System as White or the Slav Defense as Black—so you can “switch gears” when needed.
- Clock discipline rule. At move 20 you should still have ≥60 sec. If not, skip “pretty” moves and play solid developing moves to catch up on time.
Illustrative snippets
Sharp win – keep doing this:
Painful moment – learn from this:
Progress tracker
Use these dashboards weekly to verify improvement:
Next steps
• Review one recent win and one loss after every session.
• Play two slow (10 + 5) games each week to practice the new opening lines.
• Keep me posted; we’ll refine the plan once you hit your next 2644 (2025-03-18) milestone!
Good luck, Changren! — Coach