Hi Ana Barbara! 🎯 Key take-aways from your recent games
What you are already doing well
- Consistent opening repertoire: with Black you clearly feel at home in the Pirc / Modern structures. Your piece placement in the win against msakalli shows you understand typical manoeuvres such as …Na6–c5, …c6 and …f5.
- Sharp tactical eye: the 17.Ne6+ knockout versus einguter was found in just a few seconds. That’s world-class “tactics radar”.
- Fighting spirit: you keep games alive, even in worse positions, and often win on the clock. This attitude will serve you well once combined with better time management.
Biggest improvement themes
1️⃣ Time management
Three of the five most recent losses (e.g. vs Paulis888 and camilaavelino) were purely on time in roughly equal positions.
- Adopt a move-pair budget: aim to be above 1 min by move 20 and >20 s by move 35.
- When the position is quiet, “bank” time by playing sensible moves quickly.
2️⃣ End-game conversion
You reached a winning rook ending versus msakalli but needed your opponent’s flag to fall. A quicker technical plan was:
- Study fundamental rook endings (Lucena & Philidor) 10 min/day.
- Play an engine “defence trainer”: win the same end-game against a computer set to “best play”.
3️⃣ Pawn-break evaluation in the Pirc
In several defeats the break …c5 (or …e5) was delayed and you became cramped. In the loss to markoradoman (Panov vs Caro-Kann) the same passivity let White’s queenside pawns advance.
- Remember the rule of thumb: “In the Pirc, either strike with …c5 or …e5 before move 10, or be 100 % sure why you’re not.”
- Analyse the diagram position after 9…Bd7 (game vs MarkoRadoman) and add candidate breaks with an engine – you’ll see …e5 was already safe.
4️⃣ Over-reliance on the f-pawn thrust
With White you often push f4/f5 early (games vs Triorchid, ProfCalculus). This creates attacking chances but also permanent weaknesses on e3 & g3.
- Before pushing the f-pawn, ask: “What piece replaces its defensive job?” If none, postpone the push.
- Add the flexible 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 (Ruy Lopez) to your repertoire – you’ll learn slower, piece-based pressure.
Quick-win training plan (4 weeks)
- Daily tactics: 20 puzzles, all rated >2200.
- End-game drill: alternate Lucena & Philidor positions until you can win or hold in <60 s.
- Opening focus: Play 10 games with the sole goal of achieving …c5/e5 in the Pirc before move 10; review with engine.
- Time-handicap games: give yourself 2 min vs 3 min opponents. Objective: finish with >10 s every game.
Your numbers at a glance
Peak rating: 2143 (2020-06-07)
How performance varies during the day & week:
Final encouragement
You’re already hovering around the 2100-2200 blitz mark. Cleaning up clock usage and basic end-game technique alone is worth +100 elo. Stick to the plan and I expect a new personal best within the next 50 games.
Good luck, have fun, and feel free to share any game you’d like deeper analysis on!