Alex Truskavetsky IM

Hi Alex!

Your recent games show why you sit near the 2900 mark: you play fearless, initiative-driven chess, you gladly take on sharp pawn structures, and your tactical radar is usually on point. Below is some targeted feedback drawn from your last batch of wins and losses.

What you already do well

• Initiative first. In both the Nimzo-Larsen win and the Elephant-Gambit game you sacrificed material (or structure) to seize tempi, then kept the attack rolling until the clock or the position collapsed for your opponent.
• Piece activity. You rarely leave pieces undeveloped. Even in the Modern Defense, your knights and bishops get out quickly so you can hit the centre from multiple angles.
• Bullet instincts. Moves like 32…Rbf7+ and 36…Ng3+ in the Modern win show that you spot forcing continuations under 1-second pressure.

Growth opportunities

1. Time-management in technically winning endings

Two recent losses (Airquake and Oleksandr_Bortnyk) came when you were at least equal but flagged in rook-plus-pawn endings. Your conversion speed lags behind your middlegame pace.

• Practise “count-to-three” pre-move sequences (e.g. Kg7–Kf6–Kg5) in winning K+R+P vs K endings until they are muscle memory.
• Add five minutes of tablebase drills to each session – choose a random 5-piece position and convert vs engine.

2. Modern / Pirc centre handling

In the loss to Antoni Kozak (A40), …d5 …c6 allowed e5 and you slid into a passive formation. Versus d4 Nf3 c3 setups:

• Consider delaying …c6 and playing a Gurgenidze scheme (…d6 …e5 …Nc6) so your light-squared bishop stays alive.
• Revisit key break timings: when can you strike with …c5 vs e4-d4-c3? A 10-game engine sparring set with forced …c5 on move 4 or 5 will clarify evaluations.

3. King-safety awareness when you’re White

The Pirc (B07) game showed that after 13.f5 you left g3/h3 holes. Your attacking instincts are excellent, but keep a 10-second “reverse-scan” before each pawn thrust: “If the files open, whose king is actually weaker?”

Mini action-plan for the next two weeks

1. Daily – 15 bullet endgame drills vs bot, start from K+R+P vs K, 10 sec increment.
2. Alternate days – play rapid (10|0) Modern Defense exclusively; annotate where you voluntarily closed your own bishop.
3. Friday review – pick one loss where you were better but lost; write one-sentence “conversion rule” you ignored.

Useful stats & tracking

Monitor your own progress here:

• Peak bullet rating: 2982 (2025-03-08)
• Win rate by hour:
• Daily trends:

Keep the confidence!

You’re already converting tactics → initiative → scoreboard points. Tighten conversion technique and refine centre plans in the Modern, and 2950+ will follow. Good luck, and enjoy the grind!