Rohan came to coaching frustrated. He had read the books and grinded the puzzles, but his rating had not moved in three years.
Diagnosing the plateau
A review of his recent games showed the real problem was not tactics — it was getting playable, familiar positions out of the opening. We trimmed his repertoire to a small set of systems he could understand deeply.
Targeted study
- Two main openings for White and Black, learned by plans not memorisation
- Weekly endgame drills on the positions that actually decide games
- Honest post-game analysis instead of engine-only checking
Within four months the climb that had stalled for years resumed — and he crossed 1700 for the first time.