Ruben Akhayan FM

Hi Ruben, here’s a personalised post-tournament review

1. What you’re already doing well

• Stable White repertoire. 1.Nf3 followed by d4/Bf4 has given you a solid +3 =0 –0 score in the sample shown. You almost always reach a comfortable structure where your pieces coordinate quickly.
• Tactical alertness. Motifs such as Ng5–h7 (vs BulletCloud & roka7), f-pawn breaks (f4/f5 in several wins) and the exchange sacrifice 23.Rxf8+ against Navyblue1 show good calculation speed.
• Practical mindset. You’re not afraid to loosen your own king (g-pawn pushes, early h-pawn storms) if it yields initiative—an excellent attitude for blitz.

2. Main growth areas

• Clock control: Three of the five losses were decided by time pressure or very low time leading to blunders. In the loss to StasSB you flagged in a completely drawable rook ending.
• Defence versus flank pawns. Games against roka7 and hongnhung1234 show trouble once White advances the h- and g-pawns. You often meet it with …g6/…g5 without a clear follow-up, weakening dark squares.
• Piece activity as Black. In several Ruy Lopez/Italian losses your minor pieces were driven back (…Bb4-a5-c7 or …Bf8e7-d6-e7). Opponents then seized space with c4/d4 or a4/h4.
• Conversion technique. Even in wins you sometimes need 10–15 extra moves in won rook endings. That costs precious seconds in 3 + 1.

3. Opening snapshots

White improvements

• Add an occasional c4-break to punish early …c5. It gives you a second lever besides your standard f-pawn push.
• Prepare a surprise weapon against …c5 systems: 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3!? or a pure Torre Attack setup to avoid predictable positions.

Black improvements

• Versus 1.e4 choose one main line that you know deeply. Your Arkhangelsk/Ruy-Lopez set-up is fine, but study critical plans for White’s a4 and h4 pawns. Consider watching 3-4 model games by Karjakin or Aronian.
• Against the London/Colle you face as Black, practice the …c5 + …Qb6 system you already use with added ideas like …Nh5 aiming for …Nxg3 to eliminate the bishop pair.

4. Middlegame checkpoints

• King-side pawn storms: Ask “Do I really need …g6?” If the answer is only “to stop a knight,” look for piece solutions first.
• Minor-piece exchanges: You often trade a good bishop (…Bxf3 vs hongnhung1234) too early. Use the “replace or retreat?” rule—if the bishop has a future on the long diagonal, keep it.
• Central tension: After 12.e4 vs StasSB you captured on d5, releasing pressure. Keeping tension would have preserved the more pleasant side.

5. Endgame focus

• Review rook endgames with two connected passers vs rook. In several wins you needed extra moves; in the loss to foxmanoban you resigned in a drawn R+B vs R endgame—likely due to low time.
• Learn the Philidor and Lucena positions thoroughly. They occur frequently in 3 + 1 events.

6. Two-week action plan

1. Day 1-3: Annotate all five losses without an engine, then check with an engine only to verify tactical spots.
2. Day 4-7: Watch one 20-minute video on “Defending against g/h-pawn storms” and play 20 positions vs the engine where you defend the king side without …g6/…g5.
3. Day 8-10: Solve 50 rook-endgame studies (~5 min each). Focus on building bridges and cutting off.
4. Day 11-14: Play 30 15 + 10 games to force better time management, write one-sentence self-feedback after each.

7. Helpful indicators

Check your performance trends here:

Keep going!

You’re already playing at an IM-level blitz strength. Patch the defensive loopholes and clock handling, and 2500+ blitz is well within reach.