daniel seleljo FM

Overall Performance Insights

Daniel, your recent games show solid competitive spirit with a balanced approach to attacking and defense. Your win rate across openings hovers around the mid-30% mark with king safety and tactical play often guiding your successes. Notably, your performance in less common openings like the Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation and Benoni Gambit Accepted showcases effective preparation and understanding, with win rates close to 50% and above.

Your rating trend indicates a slightly downward movement in the short term, but the positive slope in your trend suggests underlying improvement potential. This means that while recent results were challenging, your play is on an upward trajectory in terms of skill development.

Positives from Recent Games

• Opening Preparation: Your use of the Sicilian Defense with variations shows a comfortable grip, successfully deploying flexible plans and tactical shots.
• Attacking Play: In your last win, you demonstrated strong piece coordination and an ability to pressure the opponent’s king side effectively, leading to winning chances and forcing a time loss scenario.
• Endgame Awareness: In drawn and lost games, you show resilience and awareness of endgame nuances, often trying to simplify or trade off key pieces thoughtfully.
• Adaptation Under Time Pressure: Winning on time indicates good clock management, which is crucial in rapid games.

Areas for Improvement

• Handling Complexity in Middlegame: In some lost games, particularly in the London System and Queens Gambit structures, better positional judgment and tactical alertness could reduce unforced errors or missed opportunities.
• Opening Consistency: While your preparation is good in several openings, the 30-35% win rate suggests there is room for deeper study of critical lines and common plans, especially in Sicilian variations and Scandinavian Defense where your win rates are lower.
• Time Management in Critical Moments: Focus on maintaining steady clock usage through complex positions, avoiding rushed moves near the end which can cost games despite good positions.
• Transition to Advantage: Work on converting small advantages into full points, particularly in the endgame, by refining technique and spotting winning plans more consistently.

Practical Steps for Next Training Phase

• Review your recent losses with an engine, paying close attention to moments where you could improve move selection in tense middlegames.
• Study master games in the openings you frequently play to enrich your understanding of typical plans and pawn structures, especially in the Sicilian and the London System.
• Practice time management drills to maintain composure and accuracy when the clock is running low.
• Engage in focused endgame training with positions from your recent games to sharpen your conversion skills.
• Consider varying your opening repertoire selectively where win rates are below 35% to find lines leading to more favorable and comfortable play.