Hi Andrey – congratulations on your excellent recent results!
Your victory over Alexander Donchenko and a current 2897 (2024-01-02) near the 2800-mark show you belong among the very best online blitz players. Below are a few observations designed to help you squeeze out the next few Elo points.
1. Openings
- Smith-Morra expertise: Your wins against 2600–2700 opposition demonstrate deep pattern recognition in the typical Nd5/Qd3/Bf4 setups. Keep it in the repertoire, but vary move orders (e.g. 4. Nf3 followed by c3) occasionally so opponents cannot prepare a single antidote.
- Sicilian with Black: You score well in the Rossolimo/Accelerated Dragon structures, yet the game versus Cheer_Down shows that stubborn technical endings can still last 90 moves. Consider studying model endings with the …g5/h5 space-gain you like to execute.
- Benko Gambit pain point: The loss to WhooopsIDidItAgain featured an early queen invasion on c5 and a mating net. A single evening review of modern Benko theory (especially the 9…Qe7 line you used) will patch this hole quickly.
2. Middlegame trends
- Outstanding tactical alertness. Your combination 30…Nd3! in the Donchenko game is a textbook deflection, converting a spatial edge into extra material.
- Occasional neglect of prophylaxis. In the loss to Little_Skib, you allowed 34. Rb6! followed by 35. a4 with counterplay that swung the game. Insert a quick “What does my opponent want?” check every 5-10 moves.
3. Time management
You usually reach move 20 with ~2:00 left, but several critical positions (e.g. move 38 vs Little_Skib) were decided with you under 15 seconds. Try this drill once per session:
- Play five 3|1 games with a hard rule: never let the clock dip under 45 seconds.
- Accept that a few games will be lost on quality, but learn to trust your intuition earlier.
4. Endgame conversion
- The marathon rook ending against Cheer_Down was technically winning from move 60, but conversion took another 30 moves. A brief refresher on Lucena/Philidor plus side-rook techniques will save you valuable tournament energy.
5. Critical moment to review
From your loss to Little_Skib – Black (move 28 onwards). Try setting this up on a board and finding an improved plan for White before looking at the engine.
6. Statistics & rhythm
Peak performance currently comes late-evening UTC. If possible, schedule key rated sessions during those hours and use weekday afternoons for relaxed training games.
Action plan for the next week
- Spend 30 minutes on Benko Gambit defensive ideas.
- Play a training set of 10 rook-and-pawn endings against the engine from equal positions.
- Self-annotate the two most recent losses, focusing on the move where you first felt uncomfortable.
Keep up the terrific work, maintain the fighting spirit, and the 2900 blitz milestone will be within reach soon!