Adham Kandil IM

Hi Adham, here’s some tailored feedback to help you climb beyond the 2600-blitz mark ✨

1. What you’re doing well

• Opening versatility: You switch comfortably between the King’s Indian, Najdorf setups and English/Carlsbad structures. Opponents rarely catch you out of book in the first 8-10 moves.
• Tactical alertness: Many wins hinge on sharp combinations (e.g. …g5 vs MinaWael23 and the exchange sac 11…g5! in your latest win). Your eye for forks and deflections is a real asset.
• Practical fighting spirit: You convert messy positions into points even with little time, showing good nerves in tactical time scrambles.

2. Recurring trouble-spots

• Over-extension & pawn storms too early.
  • Loss vs Doubtless_precision: 14…a5 & 16…e4 left dark-squares weak.
  • Loss vs Huskyman2003: 8.g4/9.h4 without castling invited …Rxc3! and a queen raid.
  Remedy: Ask “What does my opponent want?” before pushing flank pawns. Train with the “two-move pause” rule to add prophylaxis to your style.
• Endgame technique.
  • Four losses were rook or rook+minor endings where you were equal/outplaying but drifted (e.g. conceded passer vs XChessKingRuix, move-40 rook ending).
  • You occasionally ignore activity (& the principle of putting rooks behind passed pawns).
  Remedy: 20-minute daily drill of basic rook endings (Lucena/Philidor) and “beat Stockfish 3” from equal rook endings.
• Clock management.
  • Roughly 60 % of your losses reach <6 seconds while the position is still drawable.
  • You often invest >20 seconds in the opening (moves 8-12) on familiar lines.
  Remedy: practise playing the first 15 moves of your repertoire against the engine at 0.5 s/move; aim to reach move 15 with ≥2:20 on the clock.

3. Micro-theme checklist for the coming week

4. Opening fine-tuning

• Najdorf / Scheveningen hybrids: After 12…g5 in several games you get great play; consider adding the …h5 & …Rg8 manoeuvre so you aren’t forced to sacrificially open the h-file every time.
• English with …Bb4 setup: Two recent losses stemmed from early …e5 breaks without full development. Delay …e5 until rooks are connected and queenside is safe.
• King’s Indian sideline: In E60 lines (your latest win) you handled the …dxc4 idea excellently. Next step: study model games by Radjabov to polish the …f5 push once White plays d5.

5. Concrete study plan (4-week)

1. Week 1: Endgame boot-camp – 30 positions from “100 Endgames You Must Know”.
2. Week 2: Strategy – annotate your own loss vs Doubtless_precision, focusing on pawn structure and weak squares.
3. Week 3: Calculation – daily 15-minute session of “blitz visualisation” (blindfold replay of your attacking wins).
4. Week 4: Opening refresh – build a mini-file with critical tabiya +3 side-lines for each main opening you play.

6. Motivational snapshot

Your current peak: 2658 (2023-11-07). Let’s aim for +50 in the next month. Monitor your grind here:

7. Highlight game for inspiration

The thematic dark-square domination vs MinaWael23 (note …Nd5-b6-a8 manoeuvre!) – replay & annotate:

Keep enjoying the process, analyse every defeat for one key lesson, and the results will follow. Good luck on your journey to 2700, Adham!