# Week 99: how to convert an advantage in chess, after ten wins and nine losses

> Week 99: 19 games, 10 wins, 1313 → 1328. Even my wins had wobbles, and five of my nine losses came from positions the engine had me winning.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w51/
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Author: Ignacio Soler

Nineteen games in six days, ten wins and nine losses, and my rating went from **1313 to 1328** (+15).
The week from December 16 to 21, 2025 started with four wins in a row, and three of my games went
above 95 % accuracy: 97.6 %, 96.8 % and 95.5 %. But when I went through the engine review, the theme
wasn't brilliance. It was the question every improving player hits: how to convert an advantage in
chess once you have it. Five of my nine losses came from positions where I'd been winning, and all
three key moments the engine picked for this week happened in games I won anyway.

## The week in numbers

| | |
|---|---|
| Games | 19 |
| Wins / losses / draws | 10 / 9 / 0 |
| Rating | 1313 → 1328 (+15) |
| Average accuracy | 75.1 % |
| Blunders | 40 |
| Most played openings | Modern Defense with 1 e4 (4), Queen's Pawn Zukertort Chigorin (2), Pirc (2), Queen's Pawn Zukertort (2), Indian Game (2) |

The split is telling: my wins averaged 84.2 % accuracy and my losses 65.0 %. With White I went 5–4,
with Black 5–5. Thirty-one of the forty blunders came in the middlegame. On the first day alone I
played six games — four wins, then two losses — and my rating touched 1345 before drifting back.

## How to convert an advantage in chess: three wins that wobbled

### Game 1890: the rook I didn't take

As Black against **tolivetolove (1325)**, a Pirc Defense, I reached an endgame where I was completely
winning. White's rook on f6 was attacked by my bishop on d4.

> **Move 42: White's rook on f6 can be taken by my bishop on d4**
> Position (FEN): `8/8/5R2/2pB4/3bPkp1/2r5/3K4/8 b - - 1 42`
> Played: Kg5 — Kg5 — king attacks the rook
> Better: Bxf6 — Bxf6 — bishop simply takes the rook

I played 42...Kg5, attacking the rook with my king. The rook just stepped away with check (43.Rf5+)
and my position went from "completely winning" (−7.31 after Bxf6) to "clearly better" (−1.85). I
still won by resignation six moves later ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146795578790)), but
that's the purest example of the week: when a capture wins a whole rook, take it. Attacking a piece
gives it a move to escape; capturing it doesn't.

### Game 1891: a quiet rook move with my queen far away

With White against **oliveticon (1325)** my queen had raided all the way to a8, on Black's back row.
The review had me at +5.30 before move 22.

> **Move 22: my queen is deep in Black's camp, Black's queen is on d3**
> Position (FEN): `Qnkr3r/2p3pp/1pBn1p2/3p4/PP1P4/3qP1P1/5PP1/R4RK1 w - - 0 22`
> Played: Rac1 — Rac1 — rook from a1 to c1
> Better: b5 — b5 — pawn from b4 to b5

After 22.Rac1 the engine's answer is 22...Qa6, which attacks my rook on f1 and my queen on a8 at the
same time — a double attack — and the evaluation turns clearly better for Black (−2.09). The pawn push
22.b5 kept me clearly better (+2.70). My opponent found 22...Qa6, the queens came off, and I added
three more blunders in the next seven moves (23.b5, 26.Rfc1 and 29.dxc5). The game still ended in my
favour when my opponent abandoned on move 41 ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146796210710)).
Lucky, not good.

### Game 1889: the pawn on a6

Against **Oswaldo_00 (1323)**, a Modern Defense, the position was level on move 29 (−0.07). I moved my
knight from d7 to f6, and the engine's replies include 30.Rxa6, simply taking my a-pawn (+2.05); in the
game the pawn fell a move later, 31.Rxa6.
From b8 the knight would have kept an eye on a6 and c6, and the engine rated 29...Nb8 about equal
(−0.20). I won that one too, when my opponent abandoned on move 45 ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146789783148)).

## The losses where I was winning

The other side of the week hurts more. Against **J4sure (1357)** I was −3.64 when 27...Rxf6 gave White
+9.28. Against **harryajm (1359)** I was −6.22 before 17...g5 handed over +3.65. And against
**saskaroni (1354)** I had +7.74 on move 42 with one second on my clock; I played 42.Bh5 and lost on
time. That last one isn't a chess lesson, it's a clock lesson: in a 10-minute game I had 244 seconds
left by move 23 and 77 by move 35.

## The lesson of the week

Converting a winning position is mostly about doing less. Take the free piece. Defend the loose pawn.
Don't start a second plan while your queen is far from home. When I'm clearly winning, my job is to
remove my opponent's chances, not to find the most beautiful move, and to keep enough time on the
clock to finish the game.

## All games this week

| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1888 | 2025-12-16 | White | Peacemanship (1310) | Win | Englund Gambit | 97.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146781306508) |
| 1889 | 2025-12-16 | Black | Oswaldo_00 (1323) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 85.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146789783148) |
| 1890 | 2025-12-16 | Black | tolivetolove (1325) | Win | Pirc, Classical | 87.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146795578790) |
| 1891 | 2025-12-16 | White | oliveticon (1325) | Win | Queen's Pawn, Zukertort Chigorin | 76.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146796210710) |
| 1892 | 2025-12-16 | Black | vipclubsto (1363) | Loss | Pirc Defense | 74.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146797947770) |
| 1893 | 2025-12-16 | White | SplendidAttack (1341) | Loss | Queen's Pawn, Accelerated London | 81.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146804459274) |
| 1894 | 2025-12-17 | Black | Sanjay_1666 (1334) | Win | Nimzowitsch Defense, Williams | 92.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146825568630) |
| 1895 | 2025-12-17 | White | rodrygoporcel (1366) | Loss | Indian Game, London System | 49.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146833971796) |
| 1896 | 2025-12-17 | White | korvlad21 (1299) | Win | Queen's Pawn, Zukertort | 96.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146846570856) |
| 1897 | 2025-12-17 | Black | J4sure (1357) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 54.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146850093906) |
| 1898 | 2025-12-18 | Black | mujobecirovic (1335) | Win | Pirc, Geller System | 75.3 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146889663068) |
| 1899 | 2025-12-19 | Black | harryajm (1359) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 57.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146906688930) |
| 1900 | 2025-12-19 | White | portjefferson (1349) | Loss | Indian Game | 76.3 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146919807024) |
| 1901 | 2025-12-20 | White | Sandu6161 (1317) | Win | Queen's Pawn, Zukertort Chigorin | 95.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146947006480) |
| 1902 | 2025-12-20 | Black | Devlad8 (1330) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 65.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146949778112) |
| 1903 | 2025-12-21 | White | saskaroni (1354) | Loss | Queen's Pawn, Zukertort | 57.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146985561108) |
| 1904 | 2025-12-21 | Black | smytt (1337) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 68.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/146992138264) |
| 1905 | 2025-12-21 | White | julermitmuler (1318) | Win | Indian Game | 55.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147009194938) |
| 1906 | 2025-12-21 | Black | mahmoudfetouh (1327) | Win | Pirc Defense | 80.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147010454896) |

Previous: [week 98](/journey/week-2025-w50/) · Next: [week 100](/journey/week-2025-w52/) ·
[The whole journey](/journey/) · [Review your own games like this](/features/ai-chess-analysis/)

## FAQ

### How do you convert an advantage in chess?

Start with the simplest win: take free material, trade when ahead and keep your pieces protected. In game 1890 I could just capture a rook with my bishop (−7.31, completely winning) and instead attacked it with my king.

### Why do winning positions slip away at club level?

In my week 99 games they slipped through moves that ignored my opponent's best reply, like 22.Rac1 allowing a double attack, and once through the clock: in game 1903 I was +7.74 with one second left and lost on time.

### Did the Modern Defense work for me this week?

Not really: 1 win and 3 losses with 1.e4 g6 as Black. Two of those losses were games where I had been clearly winning before a blunder.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Week 98 (Dec 2025): a rook captured with check](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w50.md)
- [Week 100 (Dec 2025): London System vs Qb6 cost me a rook](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w52.md)
- [Free AI chess analysis of your games, explained](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/features/ai-chess-analysis.md)