Daniel Taboas Rodriguez FM

Hi Daniel — quick summary

Nice run of rapid games — your results show you're creating chances and finishing games decisively when your opponents slip. The areas to tighten are recurring and fairly fixable: king safety in the opening/early middlegame, avoiding premature queen sorties, and checking for simple tactics before grabbing material.

What you did well

• You keep the initiative when your opponents overreach — you punish early mistakes quickly and decisively.
• Your practical finishing is strong: you convert mating nets and use tactical shots to end games cleanly.
• You’re comfortable with offbeat and aggressive openings (your results show good success with lines like Elephant and Barnes), which puts pressure on opponents right away.

Recurring issues to fix

• King safety: Several recent losses came after the king stayed in the center or got exposed. Prioritize castling or creating a safe escape square before going hunting for material.
• Premature queen moves: Early queen sorties (moving the queen very early to g5/h5 or similar) cost time and often leave the queen en prise or allow tactics against your back rank and center. Develop minor pieces first when possible.
• Tactical oversights: You sometimes miss simple forks, pins or discovered checks when you capture pawns or move the same piece repeatedly in the opening. Pause and scan for checks, captures and threats on every move.
• Pawn grabs that open lines to your king: Avoid grabbing central pawns if it opens files/diagonals toward your king without ensuring piece cover.

Game-specific patterns (examples)

• Against quick queen threats: opponents played early queen moves that created tactical shots against your king. When the opponent threatens Qxf7 or Qh5, ask yourself: can I safely ignore it, or do I need to trade or create luft first?
• King moves like stepping to d8/d6 after checks often leave heavy pieces undefended — prefer to interpose with pieces, block checks, or exchange queens when possible rather than walking into the center.
• When you win material (for example capturing a central pawn), check whether your king’s position is compromised — material is worthless if it costs mate or decisive attack.

Concrete drills — 2-week plan

• Daily tactics: 15–25 tactical puzzles focused on mating patterns, forks, and pins. Spend 10–15 minutes per day — emphasize speed + accuracy.
• Opening hygiene: pick 2 lines you play often (for example Center and Alekhine). Spend one 10-minute session each day reviewing the key move orders and typical king-safety traps.
• Play with a rule: in 5 practice rapid games, force yourself to castle by move 8 unless there is a clear reason not to. This will retrain your instincts about king safety.
• Post-game review: after each session, annotate your losses and find the single turning move — was it a tactical miss, a king safety lapse, or an opening mistake? Focus on learning that one point.
• Puzzle routine: twice a week do a 5-minute “mate-in-2/3” drill to sharpen pattern recognition for back-rank and mating nets you’ve been getting into.

Quick checklist to use during games

• Before capturing: ask “Does this open a line to my king?”
• Before moving the queen early: ask “Is this development or chasing? Am I creating a target?”
• Every move: scan for opponent checks, captures, and threats — don’t just calculate your threat.
• If under pressure, simplify: trade queens or neutralize attackers to reduce tactics against your king.

Study example — replay one recent game

Here’s a representative loss where early queen activity and king exposure were decisive. Replay it to spot the moment where king safety could have been prioritized:

Next steps

• Start the 2‑week plan and track one metric each day (tactics solved, games played with early castle enforced).
• After two weeks, review 10 games: count how many times king safety or queen misadventure was the decisive issue. If it drops, keep the routine.
• If you want, I can make a 4-week personalized practice plan (including exact puzzles and opening lines) — tell me which opening you prefer as Black and White.

Also, when you review games, you can compare with this profile: Daniel Taboas Rodriguez — useful when preparing against habitual opponents.

Closing

You're doing many things right — tactical finishing and practical play. Fix the few recurring safety/tactical habits and your win rate in rapid will climb. Tell me which opening you'd like to drill first and I’ll build a short study packet.