Alvaro Bayo FM

Hi Alvaro (“albayo”)!

You have an enterprising, tactical style that scores plenty of quick wins, yet some avoidable losses (often on time) keep your overall performance below its true potential. Let’s break things down and outline concrete ways to improve.

What you already do well

• Sharp tactical awareness. In your last two 10 | 0 games you created decisive combinations (e.g. 20…Rb8! and 25…Rb1+ in the Scandinavian) and a mating attack on move 16 in the Ruy Lopez. Your calculation under moderate time pressure is reliable.
• Willingness to take the initiative. With both colours you willingly sacrifice pawn structure for piece activity (…h5-h4 strikes, early …c5 in the Scandinavian, 8…Nxc5 + 9…Rxe5 in the Ruy). That fighting spirit is a big asset at any level.
• Versatile repertoire. You alternate between 1…d5 (Scandinavian), 1…e5 (Spanish/Berlin), and 1…g6/…d6 set-ups (Pirc/Modern) against 1.e4, and handle both English-/Réti-type and queen-pawn openings as White. Variety keeps you unpredictable.

Main growth areas & action plan

1. Clock management

Five of your last eight losses were on time, often from winning or equal positions. Good moves that arrive too late score 0 pts! Try:

• Strict “tempo budget”. Resolve to spend at most 10 sec in bullet and 30 sec in blitz on any single move unless the position is critical.
• Pre-move drills. In bullet, practise pre-moving forced recaptures and obvious checks in a safe Lichess/chess.com bot arena to gain confidence.
• Increment abuse. When you have +1 s increment, blitz out three simple moves to climb back over 5 s before calculating again.

2. End-game conversion

Your tactical strength often yields material edges, but several time-outs occurred in technical endings (e.g. rook + pawns vs rook). Faster, clearer technique will both save time and boost results.

• Daily seven-piece tablebase drill: load random KRK, KRB, KQ vs KR etc. with 30-second limits.
• Capablanca endings book or Chess.com lessons—choose one chapter per week.

3. Opening fine-tuning

You already surprise opponents; now add a touch more theory to avoid falling behind against titled players.

4. Defensive resilience

Your attacking play is great, but when your king is attacked you sometimes over-push. Incorporate one “defence only” sparring session per week—start from an inferior position vs engine set to 2200 and aim to survive 30 moves.

Stats & progress trackers

Peak ratings so far: 2647 (2022-09-20)  |  2424 (2025-05-13)
Activity visualisations:

Study reference from your latest win

The 26-move Scandinavian miniature offers a perfect rehearsal clip—review it once more, but focus on why each move works:

Next week’s drill card

1. 30 minutes of Puzzle Rush, aim ≥40 score.
2. Play five 3 | 2 games focusing solely on reaching an endgame with +2 pawns; convert methodically.
3. Review one master game in the Scandinavian every day, annotate key middlegame plans.
4. One blindfold session (set up a position, visualise 5 ply without moving pieces); improves calculation speed.

Implementing even two of these items consistently should lift your blitz rating by ~100-150 points in the next month. Enjoy the journey and keep those tactics flowing!