Bernardo Morand

Quick summary

Nice set of blitz games — you showed strong tactical vision and excellent endgame conversion in your win (you promoted and checkmated cleanly). At the same time a few recent losses point to recurring tactical oversights in messy positions and some time-management slips. Below are concrete strengths, recurring problems, and a short training plan to keep improving.

What you did well (so keep doing this)

• Strong tactical finishing: you converted a passed pawn into a decisive queen promotion and checkmate in your win — great sense for simplification and calculation under time pressure. (
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• Active piece play — you pushed pawns aggressively (kingside storms and queenside b‑pawns) to create concrete targets and open lines, which is excellent for blitz.
• Good opening variety — you play lots of Sicilian/Scandinavian setups and are getting practical chances out of them frequently (your strength‑adjusted win rate ~50.3% is solid).

Recurring problems to fix

• Loose pieces / tactical oversights in complicated positions. In a recent game against caerwynlz you got caught in a sequence that left pieces vulnerable in the melee — watch for forks and back‑rank tactics when knights and rooks trade suddenly.
• Overextension: aggressive pawn storms sometimes leave holes and targets for counterplay. When you push on the flank, pause one extra second to ask “what counterplay does my opponent get?”
• Time management in the midgame. A few critical moments showed rushed moves — in 3–5 minute games a 2–3 second pause to verify a tactic will pay off more than speed alone.
• Opening consistency: you play a lot of different Sicilian sub‑lines. That gives practical variety, but it also increases risk of early inaccuracies. Pick 2–3 go‑to systems and drill the typical plans and pawn breaks for each.

Concrete examples (what to notice)

• Win vs https://bit.ly/38OZoI9 https://www.pamietnikgieldowy.pl/ — great decision to simplify into a winning pawn mass and to go for the pawn promotion. The final conversion came from active rooks and forcing trades; keep prioritizing active rooks on open files.
• Loss vs caerwynlz — the position became tactical very quickly. When you saw the opponent's knight jump into c3 (a tactical fork theme), you needed to check both back‑rank and loose pieces. When pieces start hopping into your camp, double‑check hanging pieces and possible forks.
• Losses vs mds029 and grafulo — these games show a pattern: kingside pawns and piece trades opened lines against your king. Consider prophylaxis (air for the king, a luft or extra defender) before committing to pawn pushes.

Practical drills (15–30 minutes sessions)

• Tactics blitz: 15 minutes of mixed tactics (forks, skewers, promotions, deflections). Focus on 2–3 puzzles where you found the tactic in a real game and replay the tree until the pattern sticks.
• Endgame drill: 10–15 minutes practicing pawn promotion races and rook+pawn conversions. Create positions where you must promote against active pieces — practice forcing lines and ensuring king activity.
• Opening micro‑study (10 minutes): pick your two main Sicilian lines (e.g., Alapin and Closed) and study 3 typical middlegame plans each — pawn breaks, target squares, and one model game per line.
• Blitz time control check: play 5 games at your usual blitz control but force yourself to take one extra second on every critical capture/queen trade for the first 10 moves — build the habit of verification.

Opening & repertoire notes

• Your best win rates are in the Scandinavian and many Sicilian lines — continue to play those, but sharpen specific tactical themes (knight jumps to c3/d4, open c‑file ideas).
• For systems where your win rate is lower (Caro‑Kann, some Closed Sicilians), either simplify the line (choose solid, easy‑to‑play setups) or study one typical model game to learn the main break ideas.
• Prepare a simple anti‑attacking rule: when you castle short and advance pawns on the kingside, always have one piece that can return as a defender (knight or rook via the third rank).

Short weekly plan (next 7 days)

• Day 1–2: 30m tactics + 15m endgame (rook/pawn vs rook and pawn races)
• Day 3: 20m opening study — pick 2 lines and review 1 model game each
• Day 4–6: 6 blitz games applying the “one extra second on critical moves” rule, review mistakes after each game
• Day 7: 30m annotated review of your winning game (promotion game) and one loss (CaerwynLZ) to extract repeating errors

Next steps / small checklist

• Before every critical capture: quick tactical scan for forks, skewers, and discovered checks (2–3 seconds).
• When you push pawns for an attack, ensure at least one defender can return to the king side.
• Keep the repertoire tight — two Sicilian flavors + one universal response for 1.d4 will reduce surprises.
• After every lost game, write one short note: "Why did I lose? (tactic / time / opening)" — this builds pattern recognition fast.

Games for review

• Win (promotion + mate): embedded replay below so you can step through the key moments.
• Losses to review: caerwynlz, mds029, grafulo — open each game and look for the moment where the balance swung (often a tactical shot or an undefended piece).

Final note

Your overall results and activity show you already have strong tactical instincts and practical understanding. The next gains come from reducing the small tactical blunders and tightening time management. Do short, focused drills (tactics + endgames) and keep the repertoire compact — you’ll see the rating trend turn back up quickly.