Greg B NM

Hi Greg B — personalised post-match review

🎯 What you’re already doing well

• Nerves of steel in messy positions. In your most recent win against Bengal_tiger07 you calmly accepted White’s “King-David” circus (2.Ke2?!) and just developed, castled and broke in the centre with …d5 and …b5. Staying objective instead of trying to refute every odd move on the spot is a real strength.
• Creating active pieces before pawn grabs. Notice how you delayed …Qxb2 in the Smith-Morra game until every major piece had a useful square. That habit will keep paying dividends in sharper openings.
• Converting technical endgames. In the same win you reached a 4-vs-3 rook ending and never let go, constantly improving the king and converting with …Rxd6. That shows good end-game fundamentals.

🔍 Key improvement themes

1. Time management under pressure.
   Your last loss to Evandro_Barbosa started well (structurally equal after 20.Bxc5) but you burned ~45 seconds between moves 24–30, letting Black seize the initiative. When the clock dips under one third of the starting time, enter “bullet-mode”: simplify, force trades or repeat once to buy thinking time.
2. Dark-square control.
   In the same game the chain d6-c5-b4 gave Black dark-square clamps (…Nc5, …Bxc5, …Rd8). Train recognising when your dark-squared bishop is about to be exchanged and immediately fill the vacuum with a knight or pawn. ▶️ 5-minute exercise: set up the diagram after 18…Nc5 and find three candidate plans to stop …Bxc5 followed by …Rd8.
3. Using the “make-a-threat-every-move” principle in attacking positions.
   When you were White in the Chekhover loss you had a monster knight on c7 and a queen on d4, yet allowed Black to consolidate with …e5 and …Bd6. Keep the tempo hammer going: consider 13.Qa4+, 13.Qd3 or 13.0-0-0 to drag targets into view instead of repeating captures. See the concept of tempo and zwischenzug.

📊 Trend snapshots

Your current form looks encouraging — here are quick visualisers for reference:

Peak so far: 2700 (2020-12-01)

📝 Homework

1. 30-minute end-game drill: rook + 4 pawns vs rook + 3 on the same wing, starting from move 37 of your win. Practise against an engine until you can finish within 15 seconds.
2. Opening refresh: Prepare a safer line against the Taimanov (…e6 & …Qc7) that avoids early ♘c6-x e4 pins; e.g. 6.g3 or 6.Be3 systems.
3. Tactics sprint: 20 puzzles/day focusing on dark-square motifs (pins, skewers, bishop-knight batteries).

👏 Keep it up!

Consistency is the key between your current level and the next rating band. Implement one theme at a time, review after 10 games, and remember to enjoy the journey.