BlackbirdA7 NM

Hi BlackbirdA7 – personalised post-game feedback

What you are already doing well

• Opening variety & flexibility – you handle both the King’s Indian Attack (Nf3, g3, Bg2) and several Modern/Scandinavian set-ups as Black, so you are comfortable in a broad range of pawn structures.
• Practical speed – at bullet time-controls you score a high percentage of “win on time” results; your pre-move sense and mouse skills are clearly a competitive asset.
• File & diagonal pressure – in the wins against Salamancoo and SaltyLemonadeSoup you doubled rooks and coordinated queen/rook battery smoothly, converting pressure into material or mate.

Recurring issues that cost points

• King safety in sharp lines – the loss vs HidraulicnapresaR (21.Qxe8#) and vs real_ron show your king getting caught in the centre or on the back rank. Castling quickly and meeting flank pawn thrusts with healthy caution will save many games.
• Under-estimating opponent threats – a common thread is advancing pawns (…g5, …b5, h-pawns) without a final “blunder check” for tactics such as forks or back-rank mates. 30 seconds spent on a blunder check is cheaper than losing the game.
• Time allocation – bullet rewards speed, but you sometimes spend most of the 60″ in the opening, leaving no time for the critical middlegame. Learn to recognise “non-critical” opening moves you can play instantly and “critical” positions that deserve a 2-3 second pause.

Action plan for the next two weeks

1. Daily tactics (10 min)
   • Focus on mates in 2-4 and tactical motifs such as discovered attack, double attack, and back-rank patterns.
   • Mark each puzzle you miss and replay the motif the next day.
2. Switch half of your sessions to 3 | 2 or 5 | 5
   Slower blitz gives you time to practice a deliberate move order and to ask “what does my opponent threaten?” before each move.
3. Opening tighten-up
   • With White: After 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 your main problem is allowing …c5/…d4 without challenge. Prepare the line 3.Bg2 c5 4.0-0 Nc6 5.d4! to fight for the centre.
   • With Black: In the Scandinavian (1.e4 d5) review the critical 3…Qa5 line – especially the idea of retreating the queen to d8 in some lines to avoid tempo-gaining Nb5–c7+.
4. Post-mortem routine (5 minutes per game)
   Right after each game, scroll back to the first big evaluation swing and ask “why did I think my move was good?” That single habit improves pattern recognition faster than any amount of theory study.

Instructive moment