Zuhair Ahmad FM

Quick summary

Nice work, Zuhair — your recent blitz shows a clear attacking instinct and the ability to press opponents until they crack on the clock. A few wins came by timeout and resignation, which tells me you create practical, uncomfortable positions. You also have one painful mate loss where defensive care slipped. Below are focused, actionable points you can use right away.

What you're doing well

• Consistently aggressive opening choices — you get active pieces quickly, especially in Sicilian-type positions (Sicilian Defense), and that leads to initiative and targets for the opponent.
• Good pattern recognition in attacking positions: you find queen and rook lifts to the enemy king side and create mating nets or heavy-piece pressure.
• Practical clock pressure: you convert complex positions into wins by keeping the opponent low on time (Flagging). That’s a tournament-grade skill in blitz.
• Strong tactical sense — many games show clean combination starters (cycling through checks, captures, threats) rather than random hoping.

Biggest things to improve (high impact)

• Time management in the last 30–60 seconds: you win on time often, but you also lose by timeout. If you balance speed and precision you’ll convert more real wins instead of relying on the clock.
• Defensive awareness in the short game: one recent game ended with a mating motif against you (rook lift to h7). Build simple defensive checks — give your king an escape square and watch back-rank weaknesses.
• Avoid grabbing pawns that open lines to your king unless you calculate the resulting tactics. Those pawn grabs are often the start of counterplay for the opponent (watch for the Loose Piece that appears after pawn advances).
• Endgame technique under time pressure: when material is down/up with little time, choose simplification or safe technical conversion methods (pawn pushes toward promotion, forced rook end rules) rather than tactical complications you may mis-evaluate in the last seconds.

Concrete examples from your recent games

• Win vs gabriel-france — you opened lines toward the enemy king with pawn breaks and a timely rook exchange that simplified into a position where the opponent ran out of time. Strength: creating practical threats and keeping pressure. Improvement: after winning material or simplifying, look for a safe plan to convert so you don't depend on the clock.
• Loss vs sacrifiam — the decisive sequence involved a rook lift and mate on the kingside. Lesson: when a hostile rook or queen is ready to invade, prioritize luft and coordinate a defender (a pawn step, a knight to an outpost, or trading an attacking piece). A single prophylactic move often prevents the mating net.
• General pattern — you play dynamic Sicilian-type structures where doubled rooks and queen activity decide the game. Continue developing those attacking themes, but pair them with a checklist to avoid tactical refutations when under time pressure.

Key position to review

Replay the sequence that led to your most recent win — follow how you opened lines and executed the transition. Use this viewer to step through the game slowly and note defensive resources you missed in other games:

Short daily training plan (30–40 minutes)

• 15–20 minutes tactics — focus on 2–3 puzzle themes: mates, forks, pins. Speed + accuracy. Aim for 90% success at blitz tempo puzzles, then increase difficulty.
• 10 minutes endgame basics — king + pawn vs king, rook end techniques (Lucena and Philidor ideas). Practice quick technique so you don't scramble in low time.
• 10 minutes opening review — pick the two Sicilian lines you play most and review 3 typical plans and one common trap for each. Use a brief repertoire checklist (safe vs tactical, typical pawn breaks).

Practical blitz checklist (before each game)

• First 10 moves: get pieces out, castle, and note which side you will attack.
• When you have the initiative: simplify if the opponent gets lots of counterplay or if your clock is much lower.
• If opponent is low on time: keep creating safe threats, but avoid speculative sacrifices unless forced — aim to reduce complexity once you’re clearly better.
• Two-minute warning: aim to make non-critical moves instantly — pre-evaluate candidate moves during your opponent’s turn.
• Always scan your last-move safety: did any of your pieces drop en prise? Are there back-rank issues? (one quick check can save a game).

Study priorities for the next 4 weeks

• Week 1–2: Tactics streaks (daily), plus 30 quick rook end drills. Goal: stop losing winning positions to technique/time.
• Week 3: Opening consolidation — build a short set of move-order responses to the main anti-Sicilian replies you face. Make a 1-page cheat sheet for blitz.
• Week 4: Play 5 rapid (10+5) games applying the checklist — convert at least 3 won positions without relying on opponent’s time trouble.

Final note

You have a strong attacking toolkit and a demonstrated ability to press opponents — that’s a huge asset. If you combine that with sharper endgame technique and steadier clock management you’ll turn many of those “practical” wins into clean, confident victories. Keep the momentum — small daily habits (tactics + 10 minutes of endgames) will pay off quickly.

If you want, send 2–3 recent game links and I’ll annotate the exact turning points move-by-move for practice targets.