Arina Kiseleva is a titled chess player who earned the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title from FIDE. Renowned for curiosity, resilience, and a touch of humor at the board, she navigates games with a calm, practical style. Her preferred time control is Rapid, and she enjoys testing ideas across fast formats as well as deep strategic battles. For a quick peek at her profile, you can view arinakiseleva, and you can glance at a chart of her Blitz progress
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Career Highlights
FIDE Woman Candidate Master title holder.
Peak Blitz strength highlighted by a top rating of 2341 (2025-03-11).
Active across multiple time controls, with Rapid as her preferred format.
Openings she enjoys in Blitz include the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation ([[Link|opening|London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation]]) and the Döry Defense family, reflecting a versatile repertoire.
Playing Style
Arina blends solid, flexible setups with tenacious endgame play. She studies deeply yet keeps a practical, adaptable approach, often turning tight positions into dynamic, fighting games. Her calm demeanor and sense of humor help her stay fearless at the board, even in the face of complex opposition.
You are showing steady progress in rapid play. Your results across several openings indicate you can handle both tactical and positional games when you know the plan. The data suggests you are comfortable with aggressive setups and you can create practical chances in complicated positions. The main opportunities are to improve time management, tighten conversion in midgame to endgame, and build stronger, simpler endings after you gain an advantage.
What you are doing well
You perform well in aggressive openings such as Amar Gambit and certain Sicilian lines, where you press and seek active play.
You have demonstrated reliability in the Australian Defense, achieving clean results in several games.
You handle dynamic middlegames effectively when you maintain practical activity and look for concrete plans rather than chasing every tactical line.
You show persistence in long games, which helps you convert pressure into real chances in the later stages.
Areas to improve
Time management: there are games where the clock becomes a constraint and you end up in tough positions or resignations on time. Practice keeping a steady thinking pace and set simple time checks for key decision points.
Endgame technique: after gaining material or activity, aim to simplify toward endings you are comfortable with, such as rook endings or queen endings with pawns on one side of the board.
Decision discipline in sharp positions: when the position is tactical, frame a clear plan quickly and avoid too many risky side lines that can lead to blunders under time pressure.
Pattern recognition: build a focused puzzle routine to reinforce common tactical motifs you encounter in your games.
Openings performance snapshot
London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation — 7 games, 3 wins, 4 losses, 0 draws, win rate about 43%.
Today’s focus: practice 3 tactical puzzles daily that reflect the kinds of motifs seen in your games (knight forks, queen traps, and piece coordination under pressure).
Endgame study: dedicate two short sessions per week to rook endings and king activity in simplified rook endings.
Time management drills: play short timed practice games (5+3 or 3+2) to build a steady thinking pace, then analyze how long you spent on critical moves.
Opening refinement: continue to lean on reliably successful lines (e.g., Australian Defense and Amar Gambit variants) but add one new idea per month to keep your repertoire flexible without sacrificing clarity.
Next steps and optional enrichment
If you’d like, I can provide annotated example moves from the recent games to illustrate concrete improvements, or generate a targeted 2-week practice plan tuned to your current openings and common middlegame themes. We can also set up a small review of a recent draw or loss to pinpoint the exact turning points where time or plan could have been managed better.
Progress indicators you can track
Keep a simple log of time used on each critical decision to monitor improvement in time management.
Track endgames reached after gaining material or activity and note how often you convert to a win or hold a draw.
Measure puzzle solve rate and note which motifs appear most in your recent games to target those patterns in training.
