Coach Chesswick
Hi Yasser!
Congratulations on the recent streak of wins and on maintaining a peak blitz rating of 2991 (2020-04-14). Below is a short, data-driven review of your current form together with concrete training suggestions.
1. What’s working well
- Opening depth in off-beat systems. Your handling of 1…Nf6 against Bird’s Opening and your practical grasp of the Alekhine Four-Pawns Attack (as White) are producing healthy middlegame positions. Opponents are often out of book by move 10.
- Dynamic piece play. In several games you willingly grab space (…c5 vs Bird’s, e4–e5–d4–c5 structures as White) and then transition into tactical motifs such as …Nd4 and …Nxe3. This keeps pressure on the clock and the position.
- Clock management when defending. In the most recent win against lovethatjoker (Bird’s A02) you kept a 20-second buffer while repelling White’s passed d--pawn and converted the R+P ending smoothly.
2. Repeating pain points
- Over-extension in French-type structures. The loss to Fantastic1boy shows that expanding with g- and h-pawns before castling queenside control left your king draughty. Use the heuristic “two pawn moves on one wing = one developing move elsewhere”.
- Missing quiet defensive resources. In the same game 24…Nd4! was strong, yet after 27.Rc4 you allowed Nf3+ tactics. When ahead in material but under attack, spend 1–2 extra seconds to look for the opponent’s only threat. A quick mental checklist helps:
- Identify forcing moves (checks, captures, threats).
- Ask “What if it’s their turn?”
- Conversion technique in won endings. Several wins ended on time or resignation, but the positions were still tricky (e.g. R+R vs Q). Practise technical endings with engines set to “defensive mode” so you learn clean methods instead of relying on the clock.
3. Opening maintenance plan
| Colour | Main weapon | Quick drill |
|---|---|---|
| White | Alekhine Exchange / Four-Pawns | Play five 3 min + 2 sec games starting from move 7…c5. Focus on 9.cxd5! and the ensuing IQP ideas. |
| Black | …Nf6 vs Bird’s (A03) & Dutch set-ups | Run an engine sparring session from the diagram after 9.Qd2 b5! (your game) to verify improvements like …g5 plans. |
4. Tactical snapshot
The following miniature combines several of your strengths (central pawn lever, piece activity, time pressure). Replay it and annotate one critical decision for each phase (opening, middlegame, endgame):
5. Metrics at a glance
- Overall win-rate this week: 83 %
- Average game length: 33.8 moves
- Most efficient hour: see
- Most successful day: see
6. Action items for the next 20 games
- Add a 10-second pause before playing pawn pushes near your own king.
- Accept one 5 | 5 game daily to practise deep calculation without time-scrambles.
- Create a flash-card for each new endgame you encounter (e.g. R+2P vs R+P). Review weekly.
- After every loss, tag the culprit: Opening / Tactics / Endgame / Time. Keep a running tally.
Keep the momentum going, and good luck in your upcoming events!