Hi Butch Villavieja!
Below is a concise review of your recent play and a roadmap for the next steps in your chess journey. Wherever possible I’ve pulled concrete examples from your own games so the advice is immediately actionable.
Your current milestones
- Peak rapid rating so far: 2306 (2015-07-09)
- Your play-time patterns
- Your weekly trend
What you already do well
- Tactical alertness. In your win vs rytisj you uncorked 30.Rxf7+, a shot that exploited an overloaded rook and forced resignation on the spot.
- Initiative-first mindset. With White you frequently castle long and launch g-pawn storms (e.g. Najdorf 6…e6 7.f4). That makes you difficult to face in shorter time controls.
- Rook activity. Your wins often feature heavy pieces on open files before move 20, a sign you understand basic piece co-ordination principles.
Main improvement priorities
1. Time management
Two of your last five losses (example below) were simply flags in equal or even winning positions. Adopt a “30-30-30” rule of thumb: spend at most 30 % of your clock on the first 15 moves, 30 % on the next 15, and keep the final 30 % for the endgame tactics scramble.
2. Closed-centre pawn storms vs the King’s Indian
When you play the King’s Indian as Black you follow the textbook …h6/…g5 plan, but you often allow White to open the b-file too easily (see moves 23–26 above). Study model games by GMs like Radjabov & Ding where Black delays …b5 until the queen’s knight can recapture on b5, or switches to a quicker …f5 break instead.
3. Technical endgames
The two losses to Alexander Lupian featured pawn-up rook endings that slipped away. Spend 15 minutes a day with Silman’s “Basic Endgame Course” or Lichess’ endgame trainer—focus first on R+P vs R and R+2P vs R+P.
Opening map (keep / tweak / drop)
| Colour | Current choice | Verdict | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 1.e4 & 1.d4 mix | 👍 Keep | Create a “menu”: for 1…c5 stick to the Najdorf 6.Bg5 lines you like; versus 1…e5 learn one anti-Berlin sideline so you don’t spend clock time reinventing it each game. |
| Black vs 1.e4 | Pirc / Alekhine | 👌 Tweak | Add a solid fallback (e.g. French Defense) for tournaments with increment to avoid early deep think-tanks. |
| Black vs 1.d4 | King’s Indian | ⚠︎ Refine | Memorise the first 10 moves of the Averbakh (Be2 ↔) line so you reach familiar middlegames faster. |
Two-week training plan
- Puzzles: 20 high-rated tactical puzzles daily; write down the theme you missed.
- Endgames: 3 positions from Rook & Minor Piece vs Rook each evening.
- Opening refresh: One YouTube recap (under 15 min) of your main line, then play two rapid games trying to reach that position.
- Game annotation: Choose one win and one loss each week, annotate them briefly, and compare with the engine. Focus on move-choice explanations, not just “+1.3”.
Quick-reference checklist (pin next to your monitor)
- “What changed?” after every capture or pawn push.
- Count attackers vs defenders before every tactical shot.
- Endgame switch-on: with 5 minutes left, simplify only if it increases King activity.
Implementing even a couple of the ideas above should convert several near-misses into wins. Enjoy the climb, and keep the updates coming—I’m happy to fine-tune the plan whenever you need.