# Week 54: my first 1300 rapid chess rating

> Week 54: 32 rapid games, 21 wins and 11 losses, 1238 → 1334 (+96). I reached 1300 for the first time, helped by opponents who didn't punish my worst moves.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w03/
- Updated: 2026-10-29
- Author: Ignacio Soler

January 13–19, 2025: **32 rapid games, 21 wins and 11 losses**, and my rating moved from **1238 to 1334 (+96)**. On January 15, in game 1313, I reached my first 1300 rapid chess rating. The three positions below show why the results and the quality of my moves need separate reviews.

## My first 1300 rapid chess rating: the week in numbers

| | |
|---|---|
| Rapid games | 32 |
| Wins / losses / draws | 21 / 11 / 0 |
| Rating | 1238 → 1334 (+96) |
| Record with White / Black | 13–3 / 8–8 |
| Average accuracy | 76.1% |
| Blunders (mine) | 75 |
| Most played openings | Pirc Defense Classical Variation (4), Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation (4), London System (3) |

The start was the best stretch of the whole winter: after losing the first game of the week, I won **seven in a row** (games 1299 to 1305) and went from 1229 to 1287. January 14 alone had ten games, and I went 7–3. With White I was almost unbeatable, **13–3**: the London System went 3–0 and the Zukertort Chigorin 3–1. With Black, 8–8, and my Pirc Classical went 1–3 again.

The opponents got stronger as I climbed, averaging 1316, and I beat several players rated well above me: **TheLastPrince7 (1405)** with 98.1% accuracy, my best game of the week, plus **AlexChenkov (1396)**, **Retroperspective (1346)** and **Teng234 (1340)**.

Now the less flattering part. My average accuracy, 76.1%, was lower than in either of the two previous weeks, and I made 75 blunders. The game that took me over 1300, against **mafimoshgele (1290)**, had 58.1% accuracy and five blunders from me, including 26...Kf7, where I had a mate in two and played something else. I won it anyway.

## Three key moments

### Game 1299: the knight that was shielding my queen

With White against **Rocket_ua (1214)** in the Zukertort Chigorin ([game on Chess.com](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130518037631)), I was completely winning, +7.59. My knight on c6 was attacking the rook on b8.

> **Taking the rook looks free, but the knight on c6 was also standing between the two queens**
> Position (FEN): `1r3rk1/p2q1ppp/2Np2b1/8/Q3p3/2P1P1B1/PP3PPP/R3K2R w KQ - 1 17`
> Played: Nxb8 — Nxb8 takes the rook, but opens the line between my queen on a4 and the black queen on d7
> Better: O-O-O — O-O-O castles queenside: king to safety and the rook onto the d-file

Nxb8 grabs a whole rook. The problem is what it uncovers: my knight on c6 was sitting on the diagonal between my queen on a4 and Black's queen on d7. Once it left, the two queens were facing each other, and it was Black's move. After 17...Qxa4 the evaluation was −3.41: I had won a rook and lost my queen. The engine's choice was simply O-O-O, bringing the king to safety and the rook to the d-file, keeping +7.62. The game went 17...Qxa4 18.Bxd6 Rd8 19.b3, and somehow I won it by resignation. That was luck, not technique.

### Game 1300: a mate in three I didn't see

The very next game, with White against **ExponentialTilt (1223)** in an Indian Game ([game link](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130528886749)). The engine saw a forced checkmate for me.

> **Qg6 threatens checkmate on the next move; my knight move opened my own queen to capture**
> Position (FEN): `r1b2k2/pp1prB2/2n5/2q1P1N1/1bN2P2/1P6/P1Q2PPP/R4R1K w - - 1 21`
> Played: Nd6 — Nd6 attacks the bishop on c8 but opens the c-file between my queen on c2 and the queen on c5
> Better: Qg6 — Qg6 brings the queen next to the black king and threatens checkmate on the next move

The engine line is 21.Qg6 Rxe5 22.Nh7+ Ke7 23.Qf6#, mate in three. I played Nd6 instead, and it repeated the mistake from the game before: my knight on c4 had been blocking the c-file between my queen on c2 and Black's queen on c5. After Nd6, the engine's best reply is Qxc2, and the evaluation went from mate in three to −5.70. My opponent played 21...Nd4, and three moves later I mated on g8.

### Game 1298: a loose bishop I didn't attack

The week's first game, a Pirc Classical with Black against **nasinie (1224)** ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130497040455)). I was winning, −5.48.

> **White's bishop on c6 had no defender, and one rook move would have attacked it**
> Position (FEN): `1r1qk2r/2pnppbp/b1Bp1np1/6B1/3PP3/1P3N2/P1P2PPP/R2QK2R b KQk - 0 11`
> Played: e6 — e6 pushes the pawn from e7 to e6
> Better: Rb6 — Rb6 moves the rook from b8 to b6 and attacks the undefended bishop on c6

Rb6 attacks the bishop on c6, which has no defender. I played e6, and the engine's answer for White is e5, attacking my knight on f6. The evaluation flipped from −5.48 to +1.66. I lost this game later; it was marked abandoned.

## The lesson of the week

Two of these three moments are the same blunder: **I moved a knight that was blocking the line between the two queens, and my queen became capturable.** In both games my opponent was the one who had to find the punishment, and in one of them they didn't. A +96 week built partly on that is not something to copy. The practical habit I took from it is a one-second question before every move: **after this move, can anything take my queen?** For getting better at rapid, the parts I would keep are the boring ones: the same White openings every game, which gave me 13–3, and playing on in bad positions, which turned at least two losing evaluations into wins.

## All games this week

| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1298 | Jan 13 | Black | nasinie (1224) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense Classical Variation | 63.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130497040455) |
| 1299 | Jan 13 | White | Rocket_ua (1214) | Win (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 60.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130518037631) |
| 1300 | Jan 13 | White | ExponentialTilt (1223) | Win (checkmate) | Indian Game | 53.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130528886749) |
| 1301 | Jan 13 | Black | Luckyjim77 (1231) | Win (resignation) | Pirc Defense Modern Defense Geller System | 91.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130549229633) |
| 1302 | Jan 13 | White | joey131984 (1304) | Win (checkmate) | London System | 86.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130550379659) |
| 1303 | Jan 14 | Black | Brandonias12 (1247) | Win (checkmate) | Pirc Defense | 72.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130551050875) |
| 1304 | Jan 14 | Black | romdoman (1270) | Win (resignation) | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 92.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130581001277) |
| 1305 | Jan 14 | White | antitaf (1300) | Win (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 95.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130581039067) |
| 1306 | Jan 14 | Black | Pankajraka (1316) | Loss (abandoned) | King's Fianchetto Opening Indian Defense | 56.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130593627463) |
| 1307 | Jan 14 | White | Retroperspective (1346) | Win (resignation) | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 80.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130600815337) |
| 1308 | Jan 14 | White | durgaraouppili (1269) | Win (resignation) | Englund Gambit | 76.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130601496935) |
| 1309 | Jan 14 | Black | cimakul (1308) | Loss (resignation) | Pirc Defense Main Line | 82.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130602595027) |
| 1310 | Jan 14 | White | max12101979 (1260) | Win (resignation) | London System | 94.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130606801973) |
| 1311 | Jan 14 | Black | asujow (1348) | Loss (abandoned) | King's Indian Defense Orthodox Variation | 75.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130607499851) |
| 1312 | Jan 14 | Black | Badun_3D (1303) | Win (resignation) | Pirc Defense Main Line | 83.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130635069647) |
| 1313 | Jan 15 | Black | mafimoshgele (1290) | Win (resignation) | Modern Defense Three Pawns Attack | 58.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130667410979) |
| 1314 | Jan 15 | White | vp2play (1403) | Loss (abandoned) | Englund Gambit | 47.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130674040055) |
| 1315 | Jan 15 | Black | OliveRooster (1348) | Win (checkmate) | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 94.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130684880413) |
| 1316 | Jan 15 | White | AlexChenkov (1396) | Win (abandoned) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 78.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130698658203) |
| 1317 | Jan 15 | White | TAW1322 (1295) | Win (resignation) | English Defense | 94.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130723251193) |
| 1318 | Jan 16 | Black | gucka13 (1312) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense Classical Variation | 67.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130751993001) |
| 1319 | Jan 16 | White | TheLastPrince7 (1405) | Win (abandoned) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 98.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130769379057) |
| 1320 | Jan 16 | White | anitaggarwal123 (1395) | Loss (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 73.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130781493633) |
| 1321 | Jan 16 | Black | Yokomill (1384) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense Harmonist Variation | 81.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130791699749) |
| 1322 | Jan 17 | Black | Stolberger (1335) | Loss (resignation) | Pirc Defense Classical Variation | 77.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130841997493) |
| 1323 | Jan 17 | White | Teng234 (1340) | Win (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Horwitz Defense | 93.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130869080455) |
| 1324 | Jan 18 | White | punok (1371) | Win (abandoned) | London System | 89.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130897190689) |
| 1325 | Jan 18 | Black | diggyDduggy (1305) | Win (abandoned) | Pirc Defense Classical Variation | 56.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130954761535) |
| 1326 | Jan 18 | White | AtiqH007 (1420) | Loss (time) | Queen's Pawn Opening Krause Variation | 55.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/130955409437) |
| 1327 | Jan 19 | Black | rambir123 (1342) | Loss (checkmate) | Pirc Defense | 73.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/131019626721) |
| 1328 | Jan 19 | Black | arjuna1001 (1291) | Win (time) | Pirc Defense Modern Defense Geller System | 61.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/131040648965) |
| 1329 | Jan 19 | White | arabina (1320) | Win (resignation) | Englund Gambit | 69.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/131042417533) |

Previous: [week 53](/journey/week-2025-w02/). Next: [week 55](/journey/week-2025-w04/), where half of those points went back. All weeks: [journey hub](/journey/). If you want your own games checked for moments like these, [Chess Coach can review them](/features/ai-chess-analysis/) inside Claude.

For a general method beyond this week's games, see [the rapid improvement guide](/guides/how-to-get-better-at-rapid-chess/).

## FAQ

### What happened in the week I first reached 1300 rapid?

On January 15, 2025 I crossed 1300 for the first time, in game 1313 against mafimoshgele (1290). The week ended at 1334, with 21 wins and 11 losses from 32 games.

### When did you reach 1300 on Chess.com?

On January 15, 2025, in game 1313, with Black against mafimoshgele (1290). Going from 1200 to 1300 took me 76 games and 22 days.

### Did you win more with White or with Black that week?

With White, by far: 13 wins and 3 losses. With Black I went 8–8.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Week 53 (Jan 2025): Pirc Classical 1–4, Black 4–10](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w02.md)
- [Week 55 (Jan 2025): two time losses from winning positions](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w04.md)
- [Can Claude analyze chess games? Yes, with Stockfish](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/answers/can-claude-analyze-chess-games.md)
- [How to get better at rapid chess: play, review, repeat](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/guides/how-to-get-better-at-rapid-chess.md)