Holger Dietz FM

Hi Holger,
Here is your personalized coaching report

1. What you are already doing well

• Dynamic middlegames – the French-Rubinstein win against alive2022 shows fluent piece activity and good feel for initiative.
• Piece co-ordination – your Slav victories frequently feature harmonious minor-piece placement (e.g. …Bf8-e7-b4 & …Nf6-d7-b6 manoeuvres).
• Practical calculation speed – the sharp 18. d6! exchange sacrifice in the same French game demonstrates courage and tactical vision.

2. Main improvement themes

a) Time management – the biggest low-hanging fruit

Five of the last six losses were on time. You consistently enter the last 30–40 moves with <10 s, even from clearly winning positions.

• Adopt a decision-tree approach: invest most time at critical positions, play “routine” moves instantly.
• Set a hard rule: never be below 1 min before move 25 in 3|0.
• Practise “increment” games (3|2) to learn quick, high-quality decision making.

b) Converting technical advantages

The Benko endgame versus jiejio reached an easily winning R+passer vs B+2 pawns ending, yet you flagged. Work on:

• King activity in rook endings – centralise the king immediately once queens are off.
• Technique drills: play out “won” endgames against engines on defensive mode.

c) Opening discipline versus the Sicilian

In the loss to MrBad74 your …d5 break was good, but 22…Nb4 allowed White to seize control. Review the Kalashnikov tabiyas and typical pawn breaks.

3. Concrete study plan (4 weeks)

1. Week 1 – Clock handling: Play 20 blitz games with a maximum of 5 seconds per move. Analyse only critical moments to learn to spot them fast.
2. Week 2 – Rook endings: Interactive lessons on “Lucena” & “Vancura” + 50 endgame puzzles (Chess.com module).
3. Week 3 – Kalashnikov update: Build a mini-repertoire file with 8 main sidelines; test in sparring vs engine set to 2400.
4. Week 4 – Tournament simulation: Play a 10-game 3|2 mini-match each day against 2200–2300 opposition and track results.

4. Strength snapshot

Peak blitz rating: 2541 (2022-06-24). Keep aiming for the next 50-point jump – it is realistic once the time-pressure issue is solved.

5. Key concepts to revisit

• Prophylaxis – foresee opponent counter-play before launching f- and g-pawn storms.
• Tempo – save moves in the opening to arrive at favourable endgames with extra time on the clock.

Good luck!

Implement these tweaks and I expect your performance curve to rise quickly. Feel free to send me 3 annotated games next month and we will fine-tune further.