Al Kvas

Hi Al Kvas – Personal Chess Review

Your current peaks stand at 1770 (2025-07-23) in Daily and 1182 (2023-05-21) in Rapid play. For an at-a-glance view of when you score best, explore:

What’s already working

• Confident open-game play – Consistent …e5 responses give you central space and easy development.
• Piece coordination – The win vs lh2007 shows smooth manoeuvres (…Bg4, …Re8, …f5) that increased tension without over-committing.
• Kingside initiative instincts – Well-timed pawn storms such as …g5/…h5 frequently convert space to concrete threats.
• Technique once ahead – Several daily games finished with neat conversions of extra material; your end-game sense is solid when not in time pressure.

Main improvement priorities

1. Early-queen expeditions in blitz
   Live losses (e.g. vs afaan21) began with …Qh4/…Qh3 raids that stalled development.
   Goal: In your next 20 blitz/rapid games, keep the queen behind the 6th rank until move 10 unless a forced tactic appears.
2. Pawn storms before king safety
   Against utmankhil you weakened dark squares with premature pawn pushes.
   Checklist: (1) king castled, (2) minors developed, (3) rooks connected before launching flank pawns.
3. Time-management gap
   Daily ≫ Blitz results suggest decision-speed, not skill, is the bottleneck.
   Exercise: Play 10–15 min rapid and force yourself to spend ≥10 s on every non-forcing move; review immediately.
4. Classical rook-and-pawn endings
   A winnable rook endgame vs Robbie Gray slipped away. Refresh Lucena, Philidor and “cut-the-king” techniques.

Opening maintenance plan

Weekly training routine

• 3 × 20 min tactics (focus on double-attack & back-rank motifs).
• Self-annotate one of your own games, then engine-check. Start with this win:
  
• One end-game video / chapter per week (rook endings first).
• Five rapid games applying the “queen-behind-6th-rank” rule, reviewed the same day.

Quick reference checklist

• Is my king safe?
• Are all pieces active?
• Tactics for both sides?
• Identify opponent’s best piece – can I limit it?
• Do I have a plan before pushing a pawn?

Keep the adventurous spirit, Al Kvas, but anchor it with a touch more discipline and clock control. Your next milestone – a new – is well within reach. Good luck and enjoy the journey!