Quick summary
Nice session overall — you closed out a clean tactical win with a promotion and showed good rook activity in the Caro‑Kann game. Your long‑term rating trend is very healthy (up recently) so your training is working. That said a few recurring tactical and king‑safety problems cost you games — most losses came from queen infiltrations and mating nets or from leaving back‑rank and loose pieces.
Highlights — what you did well
- Strong tactical finishing: you converted a promotion into mate (nice calculation and follow‑through). See the finish from your win here:
- Good use of open files and rook coordination in several games — you doubled / activated rooks quickly when the center opened.
- Opening repertoire producing results: you have a strong win rate in lines like Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation and Scandinavian Defense. Keep using what works for you.
Recurring problems to fix
- Queen infiltration & back‑rank/king safety: in the Sicilian loss you allowed a decisive queen invasion (Qxh1 followed by Qxf8 mate). Practice spotting enemy checks and queen escape squares before launching pawn storms on the kingside. Example of that loss for review (look from Black's view):
- Tactical oversight in sharp positions — several losses follow a single missed tactic (skewer, fork, or back‑rank mate). Your tactics volume should be increased and focused on patterns you actually see in your games (queen tactics, back‑rank, and mating nets).
- Time management / practical play: you sometimes spend a lot of time in the opening or early middlegame and then play quickly in critical endgames. Try to balance the clock — keep 10–20 seconds reserve for complex branching moments.
- Converting small advantages: you win lots of tactical games but sometimes fail to convert quieter technical advantages in rook/endgame or queen vs rook endings. A few endgame drills will raise your conversion rate.
Concrete drills & study plan (this week)
- Tactics (daily, 15–25 minutes): focus on mating nets, queen tactics and back‑rank patterns. Do sets of 8–12 high‑quality puzzles and review the missed ones.
- Back‑rank and basic mates (2×10 minutes): practice defending and creating back‑rank threats. Learn simple prophylaxis (luft, rook lifts, king escape squares).
- Endgames (3×15 minutes this week): king + pawn basics, simple rook endgames, and rook vs minor piece with pawns. Knowing one Lucena/Rook active‑defense idea helps a lot converting advantages.
- One‑game deep review (30–45 minutes): pick your last loss and last win. Go through both move‑by‑move without engine, mark turning points, then check with an engine. Write 3 concrete improvements from each game.
- Opening refinement (2×20 minutes): keep your successful Alapin/Scandinavian lines as primary, but study typical counterplay and common traps in the Closed Sicilian and Caro‑Kann since you play them often (Caro-Kann Defense).
Quick tactical and practical checklist — before you press the clock
- Are any of my pieces hanging or undefended? (look twice)
- Do I have back‑rank weakness? Can I give luft or move a rook to avoid a mate?
- What is my opponent threatening next move? (checks, forks, discovered attacks)
- If I win material, is the king exposed or will I get counterplay?
- Do I have 10–20 seconds reserve for the next critical sequence?
Short plan for next 10 games
- Games 1–3: focus on tactics only — pick clean tactical lines you missed recently and apply the checklist.
- Games 4–6: play the Alapin/Scandinavian lines you are comfortable with; aim to reach middlegame with good piece placement, not a pawn storm shortcut.
- Games 7–10: review one loss and one win from these ten — implement 2 concrete changes (e.g., luft earlier / avoid immediate pawn pushes).
Motivation & final notes
Your strength‑adjusted win rate (~49.8%) and the positive rating slopes show your overall level is high and still improving. Small targeted work on tactics, back‑rank safety and endgame technique will convert more of those close games into wins. Pick one concrete habit (check for back‑rank and hanging pieces) and train it for a week — you’ll see quick practical gains.
If you want, I can: analyze one of the PGNs move‑by‑move, create a daily 7‑day training plan, or produce 10 practice puzzles tuned to your recent mistakes.