Robert Smith FM

Personalised Feedback for Robert Smith

Below is a concise review of your recent games together with practical ideas you can apply straight-away.

What you are already doing well

• Sharp opening repertoire. With Black you are consistently choosing the Sicilian Najdorf (ECO B90-B99) and scoring well. Your most recent win versus Shi Tian Yu Pan shows confident piece activity and an accurate tactical conversion.
• Good tactical alertness. In several games you spotted critical resources such as …Bxe4 (Doublefinger game) and long combinations in the mid-game. Tactics are clearly one of your strengths—keep nurturing them.
• Willingness to play dynamically. Even when under pressure you seek counter-play rather than passive defence, which is the right mindset at your level.

Key areas to improve

• Time management. Five of your last six losses were on time in roughly equal or even favourable positions. Try to keep ≥40 sec on the clock after move 25. Practical tips:
  • Use the opponent’s thinking time to plan your next two candidate moves.
  • Trust your intuition in familiar structures—avoid spending 30 seconds re-checking obvious recaptures.
  • Practise 1-min “move-only” drills on lichess.org’s Board Editor (no evaluation) to build speed.
• End-game conversion. In the loss to chessartist78 (Catalan) you entered a drawn rook-and-pawn ending but eventually collapsed. Set up K+R vs K, R+P vs R and basic opposition endings daily on a board for 10 minutes.
• Handling quieter positions. When the game slows down (e.g. your Catalan & Queen’s-Indian losses) you sometimes drift without a clear plan. Study the concepts of minority attack, good bishop vs bad bishop and outpost to broaden your strategic toolbox.

Opening-specific observations & recommendations

Illustrative Games

Stats & Activity

Your peak Blitz rating so far: 2287 (2020-09-18). Keep an eye on your performance trends below:

Action Plan for the next 4 weeks

1. End-game drill (15 min/day). Rotate through the Lucena, Philidor, basic rook vs pawn, and bishop of opposite-colour endings until you can execute them in <30 seconds. This will prevent flagging in won positions.
2. Opening refresh (2 games/week). Play two 15|10 games with the specific goal of reaching a Catalan structure as White and a Najdorf as Black. Review only the first 15 moves with an engine; focus on plans, not memorisation.
3. Practical blitz sets. Once a week play a 10-game set at 3|2. Stop the set immediately if you lose on time twice—review those two games and note where the clock first dropped under 20 sec.
4. Annotated master games (1 per week). Choose a game featuring a theme you struggled with (e.g. minority attack) and summarise the key idea in your own words.
5. Tactic surge. Continue your tactics but add a “slow mode” of 3 puzzles/day where you spend at least 3 minutes each—this nurtures deep calculation, not just pattern recall.

Implementing just a few of these points should convert several of those “flagged” games into wins and push your rating well beyond its current peak. Good luck, and feel free to ask for further guidance any time!