Alexei Kornev GM

Overall Performance and Rating Trends

Alexei, your current strength adjusted win rate is just above 50%, showing that you are competitive at your level. Your rating changes indicate a healthy mix of ups and downs in the past six months:

• A slight drop of 10 points over the last month
• A positive gain of 26 points over the last three months
• A minor six-month dip of 11 points

Interestingly, your recent 1-month rating trend slope is quite positive, suggesting an upward momentum in your play, despite the slight rating loss. Maintain focus and consistency to capitalize on this improvement.

Insights from Recent Wins

Your recent wins illustrate solid understanding and good strategic planning, particularly in openings such as the Queens Gambit Declined and Grunfeld Defense. Here are some highlights:

• You effectively used pins and pressure early in the game to gain material advantage.
• Strong middlegame control: you maintained piece activity and capitalized on opponent's inaccuracies.
• Safe king positioning and careful exchange choices helped transition smoothly to advantageous endgames.
• Your precise handling of tactical shots, including attacking along open files and diagonals, led to opponent resignations.

Lessons from Recent Losses

Losses, while frustrating, are valuable learning opportunities. Here are some areas to focus on based on your recent setbacks:

• Opening Stability: Although your openings are theoretically sound, there were instances where opponents capitalized on slight inaccuracies, such as delayed development or pawn structure weaknesses.
• Handling Pressure: In some games, pressure on your king side or central pawns led to material losses or weakened positions. Improving defensive awareness will help in tight spots.
• Endgame Technique: A few losses involved critical endgame positions where precise calculation and careful resource management could have turned the tide.
• Time Management: Blitz requires rapid but accurate decisions; avoid rushing in complex positions and use the clock efficiently.

Opening Performance Tips

Based on your playing record and openings performance, here are some tailored suggestions:

• Continue refining your main openings repertoire, focusing on common plans and typical tactical themes for both you and your opponents.
• Experiment with slight variations to surprise opponents, especially in the Queens Gambit Declined and Caro-Kann Defense which you have played successfully.
• Study key endgame scenarios that arise often from your chosen openings to convert small advantages more consistently.
• Review critical moments from your losses where the opening phase transitioned into disadvantageous middlegames to improve move orders and prophylaxis.

Next Steps for Improvement

To build on your strengths and address areas of improvement, consider these training focuses:

• Analyze your recent games deeply, identifying patterns in your wins and losses, perhaps using annotated
  
  positions from your recent wins to reinforce good practices.
• Practice tactical exercises daily to sharpen calculation speed and accuracy in blitz scenarios.
• Work on endgame fundamentals, including king and pawn endings, rook endings, and minor piece technique.
• Incorporate time management drills during practice games to get comfortable balancing speed with accuracy.
• Review classic games in your preferred openings to internalize strategic ideas and typical plans.

Stay motivated and consistent. Blitz chess rewards quick thinking combined with strong fundamentals, which you are clearly developing well.