Coach Chesswick
Quick summary
Nice session — you finished with several clean wins and a couple of losses that show clear, fixable patterns. Your strengths in blitz are piece activity, creating passed pawns and practical pressure; the recurring weaknesses are time management under tension and occasional tactical oversights in complex openings (especially when the opponent storms your king after opposite-side castling).
Games I looked at (high level)
- Win vs romanrybachok — tactical middlegame, opponent flagged in a messy endgame.
- Win vs the_real_jerome_genzling — you converted a queenside majority and used active rooks + passed pawns to win; opponent resigned.
- Win vs sindre977 — quick tactical blows early; you punished loose pieces and simplified into a winning position.
- Loss vs Osvaldo Antonio Butti — you ran into strong kingside activity after opposite-side castling; the game ended quickly after a sharp pawn break and tactical sequence.
- Loss vs Mellows — exchanged into a position where an opposing knight penetration and kingside pressure decided the game.
What you’re doing well (blitz strengths)
- Active piece play — you look for activity (rook on open files, bishop diagonals) instead of passive defense.
- Creating and pushing passed pawns — you convert space advantages into real endgame threats frequently.
- Practical pressure — you capitalize on opponents’ time trouble and pose concrete problems rather than subtle ones.
- Opening repertoire pays off — your work in Sicilian/Caro‑Kann/Scandinavian gives you many winning chances.
Recurring weaknesses to fix
- Time management: several wins were won on the opponent’s clock and several games show both players skinny on time near critical moments. You should avoid spending your remaining seconds on non-critical moves late in the game.
- Opposite-side castling king safety: when the opponent castles long (or you do), you allowed pawn storms and tactical breakthroughs — be prepared to either simplify or keep a sturdy pawn shield and pieces ready for defense.
- Tactical oversights in sharp openings: a couple of losses started with tactical sequences in the opening/middlegame where a small mis-evaluation led to quick collapse.
- Trading into unclear minor-piece endgames without a concrete plan — sometimes simplification handed the opponent counterplay instead of removing threats.
Concrete, practical next steps (what to do in the next week)
- Daily 10–15 minute tactics warmup before each blitz session to reduce basic oversights — focus on pins, forks and discovered attacks.
- One "opposite‑castling" study per session: go through 5 model games where one side castles long and the other attacks. Make a short checklist to follow in such positions:
- Who has pawn breaks (g/h/a/b)?
- Can I trade queens to reduce mate threats?
- Where is my king’s escape square and do I need to shift a rook to defend?
- Time control drill: play 5 games at 5+3 and force yourself to keep 20–30s buffer at move 20. If you fall below, resign and review — the goal is to learn pacing.
- Analyze your two last losses with a quick engine pass and then manually identify the one move where evaluation swung the most — write it down and memorize the lesson.
One tactical position from your wins (study this pattern)
Review this short sequence from your win where you exploited loose back-rank and rook activity. Use it as a mental pattern to spot similar opportunities:
Training plan (4 weeks)
- Week 1 — Tactics and pacing: 15 minutes tactics + 3 games 5+3, focus on not dropping below 30s at move 20.
- Week 2 — Opposite‑castling module: study 6 model games and practice one training game per day where either you or opponent castles long.
- Week 3 — Endgames & conversion: 10 endgame drills (rook + passed pawn vs rook, bishop vs knight in open positions) and convert two won technical positions from your own games.
- Week 4 — Opening reinforcement: pick your top 3 Sicilian lines (Najdorf, Classical, Four Knights/Cobra) and drill common middlegame plans + 5 novelties/ideas for opponents' most frequent responses.
Small checklist before each blitz game
- Clock plan: decide early if you’re playing fast or thinking deep (aim for at least 30–40s on move 20).
- King safety: if either side will castle long, mark pawn storms and queen trades as high priority.
- Loose pieces: a 3‑second scan for undefended pieces after each opponent move.
- If you’re worse: trade queens or simplify; if you’re better: keep pieces on and increase pressure.
Follow-up
If you want, I can:
- Annotate one loss move-by-move (manual + engine check) and give a short corrective checklist for that game.
- Prepare 10 tailored tactics based on patterns from these games.
- Make a short opening bullet-point plan for your favorite Sicilian lines.
Tell me which of the three you want next and which game to analyze first (you can pick Osvaldo Antonio Butti or any of the wins above).