Asher Higgins

Hi Asher! Here’s a focused review of your recent rapid (60¯) games and some concrete next-step recommendations.

1. What you are already doing well

• Active piece play when you are Black. In several French-type structures you generated counter-play with …c5, …f6 and quick pawn breaks on the kingside. This shows good appreciation for dynamic imbalance.
• Tactical alertness. You converted a material advantage with the sequence 31…Nxc3 32.Qxc3 Rac8!! in your win vs Chesstos07, and you found the cute …Nh3# finish vs Tweezer503—nice pattern recognition!
• Willingness to castle opposite sides and race pawns (see the b-pawn push vs mansuousman). This keeps positions double-edged and suits your tactical style.

2. Recurring issues that cost you points

1. Time management. 5 of the last 6 losses ended by flag in equal or even winning positions. Your moves/minute trend drops sharply after move 25. A quick glance at
   confirms that games played late in your session have a lower finish rate.
   🡒 Action: Train with 3-min “move-every-2-seconds” drills or use an over-the-board clock and force yourself to move when the hand reaches the 12-second mark.
2. Opening inefficiency. With White you play 1.e3 2.Be2 3.b3 in almost every game. That setup is solid, but you often spend two tempi shuffling the queen (Qc2/Qb1/Qe2) and develop the dark-square bishop only on move 12+.
   🡒 Action: keep the same comfort system but trim the fat:
   • e3, d4, Nf3, Bd3, O-O, c4 → 6 moves, all pieces out.
   • Save b3/Bb2 for later unless Black already fianchettoes.
   Try the model game Short–Timman (Tilburg 1991) for inspiration.
3. Endgame conversion. In the loss vs StealingCompanyTime you reached a winning rook + bishop vs rook ending but drifted into zugzwang and flagged. Your technique with extra passed pawns also wavered vs Chesstos07 (game finished 40…Rg1! but clock killed you).
   🡒 Action: daily 10-minute drill on “rook-and-pawn vs rook” and the Lucena/Philidor positions.
4. Premature pawn storms. Several Black games feature …g5/…h5 before your king is safe (e.g. 10…g4 vs Chesstos07). When opponents kept cool, you were left with holes on f5 and h5.
   🡒 Action: Before pushing a wing pawn, run the 3-question blunder check:
   1. Does it open files toward my own king?
   2. Can I meet a central break immediately after?
   3. Am I ahead in development?
   If any answer is “no”, postpone the pawn thrust.

3. Specific positions worth a deeper look

• Most recent win, move 23…Ba6! – an instructive interference tactic. Revisit this with an engine to see why White’s queenside queen sortie failed.
• Loss vs Chesstos07, move 12.d5! – White seizes space because your …g5 plan neglected the centre. Practice the idea of a timely break in the centre when a flank attack starts.
• Missed shortcut vs StealingCompanyTime, move 40…Bd4! – a study-like stalemate trap if White grabs on d4. Worth analysing for calculating forcing lines.

4. Study plan for the next two weeks

1. Alternate 15-minute tactic sessions with 15-minute endgame rook-pawn drills (Chess.com drills #34-45 cover these).
2. Play one 30 | 5 game per day, annotate for 20 minutes, then run engine for blunder check only after self-review.
3. Memorise two model games that feature your preferred pawn structure (French with …b6) – start with Botvinnik–Rauser 1938 and Korchnoi–Karpov 1978 g18.

5. Quick stats snapshot

Peak blitz rating:    Peak rapid rating:

Keep it up!

Small structural tweaks and better clock discipline will convert many of those “lost-on-time” games into wins. I’m excited to see your progress in our next review. Good luck and enjoy the grind!