Igor Spiric FM

Hi Igor Spiric!

Great work keeping your blitz rating around 2463 (2020-11-28) and playing a broad mixture of openings. Below is some personalized feedback based on your latest games.

What You’re Already Doing Well

• Tactical Awareness – Your recent win against Valeriy Grinev featured a crisp mating net starting with 24.Qxb7! followed by an accurate king-hunt. You regularly spot resources such as the deflection on 24.e6!! ( win PGN ) and the decisive overload 38. Rh6+ in the 21-Aug game.
• Dynamic Opening Choices – As White you steer positions into familiar territory (Reti/Larsen systems, Exchange QGD, Nimzo-Indian Sämisch), keeping opponents out of theory and into middlegames you understand well.
• Converting the Initiative – In multiple wins you maintain pressure with consistent tempi-gaining moves (e.g. Nb5, Qf3, Rae1) and rarely let the opponent consolidate once you seize space.
• Activity over Material – Sacrifices such as 19.d6!! or 17.Nxb5! demonstrate healthy respect for piece activity and passed pawns.

Growth Opportunities

• Time Management – Two of the last five losses were on time despite winning or equal positions. With a 2-second increment you can usually avoid flagging if you pre-move obvious recaptures and trust your intuition in winning endgames.
• King Safety with the Nimzowitsch Defence – The loss to Anastasiia Hnatyshyn exposed recurring issues: early …Nc6, …e5 left the king on f8, and the h-pawn advance created dark-square holes. Consider a sturdier reply to 1.e4 (Caro-Kann, French, or even sticking to the Nimzowitsch but studying the main 4.Nf3 lines).
• Endgame Technique – In the defeat against myinthan1962 you allowed a passed b-pawn to queen after missing defensive resources like 39…Rh8. A short daily dose of technical endgames (rook vs pawn, rook & pawn vs rook) will pay off quickly.
• Pawn Discipline – Several losses stemmed from pawn storms (g- and h-pawns) that left your own king airy (e.g. 23…h5?! 28…g4?!). Before advancing flank pawns, do a quick “KSC” of open files and long diagonals.

Action Plan for the Next 4 Weeks

1. Opening Repair (3 hrs)
   • Pick one solid defence to 1.e4 and build a concise repertoire file.
   • Study first 10 moves only; annotate with plans, not variations.
   • Add a rescue line when the opponent avoids theory (e.g. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 transposes to a Philidor you already know).
2. Clock Discipline Drills (15 min/day)
   • Play 3-minute no-increment games focusing solely on moving under 5 seconds per turn.
   • Review only the moves made with <2 seconds on your clock to see if intuition holds up.
3. Endgame Routine (10 puzzles/day)
   • Cycle through rook-endgame themes: Lucena, Philidor, Vancura (see Vancura).
   • After each session, verbalize the drawing/winning method in your own words.
4. Self-Review Session (once per week)
   • Download your top five games of the week, run a quick blunder check, then spend most of the time annotating critical decision points without an engine.
   • Tag each game “Opening,” “Tactics,” “Endgame,” or “Time Trouble” so you can measure progress later against the
   trend.

Quick Reference Cheat-Sheet

Stay Motivated

Your aggressive style is fun to watch and tough to face. Small tweaks to time handling and defensive technique can easily convert 1-2 extra games each session, pushing you beyond your current peak. Keep the initiative flowing, and good luck in your next climbing spree!

— Coach GPT