David Gasparyan NM

Hi David, here is some personalized feedback based on your most recent games.

1. What you already do very well

• Opening variety & flexibility. You comfortably switch between the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the English, and several 1.Nf3 setups. This makes you hard to prepare for.
• Tactical alertness. In the wins against Pranav Prem and triky_rat you spotted resource-saving tactics (…Nxd4, …Nd3+, …Rfc8+) in < 3 seconds. That is elite bullet skill.
• Practical time handling. Seven of your last ten wins came with the clock as an extra piece. You know when to blitz out forcing sequences and when to premove simple recaptures.

2. Priorities for quickest rating gains

1. Simplify when ahead on the clock.
   In the Chess960 daily game you were strategically winning by move 17, yet you kept the tension and the game dragged on until your opponent timed out. In bullet/blitz that is fine, but in daily or fast rapid games cash in:
   • Trade queens when you are up a clear pawn or have the safer king.
   • Convert extra material with a 3-step rule: win a pawn → consolidate → push passed pawn.
2. King safety in the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon Hyper-Accelerated Dragon.
   Three of your recent losses (vs. BigThighsMan, via1608, Zgorl) share the same pattern:
   • …g6 and …Bg7 without castling immediately leads to e5 or h-pawn storms.
   • Your queenside pieces come out (…Nc6, …Qa5) but the g8-knight is still on f6 and the king is stuck in the centre.
   Quick fix: after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3/4.e5, castle on move 6-7 and only then fight for …d5. A model line worth memorising is:
   
   
   .
3. Stop the b-pawn minority attacks in the Reti/English.
   In the loss to Zgorl you allowed b4-b5 to gain the à la Benoni space wedge. Remember this positional guideline:

   When you have a pawn on d4 and Black has fixed it with …d5, your b-pawn advances only after your pieces are ready to occupy the c5-square.

   Before pushing b4, post a knight on c5 or play a preparatory move (Rc1, a4) to control c5.
4. Tactical endgame conversion.
   You reached this won position against YIting Wu (Black, move 48), yet needed 10 more moves and a flag:
   
   .
   Aim to end such endings in <5 moves by:
   • Activating the king first.
   • Pushing the far-advanced passed pawn immediately.
   • Trading into a trivially won king-and-pawn ending instead of keeping both rooks.

3. Repertoire snapshot & targeted drills

Colour	Main line you play	One small upgrade
White	Reti/Zukertort	Study 15 games of Carlsen’s 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6/ 2…Nf6 structures.
Black (e-pawn)	Hyper-Accelerated Dragon	Add the Accelerated Maroczy with …d5 to meet 5.c4.
Black (d-pawn)	QGD / Semi-Tarrasch	Memorise the Carlsbad plan: minority attack vs. central break.

4. Training menu (6-week micro-cycle)

• Mon/Wed/Fri – 20 min tactics → motif: diagonal mates & deflection (CT-art set 23).
• Tue/Thu – 15 min endgame drill → rook + minor piece vs. rook.
• Sat – Play three 10|5 games focusing on no premoves, annotate one game fully.
• Sun – Review your
  and
  to choose your freshest playing slot.

5. Motivation corner

Your current record peak is 2689 (2025-02-18). Closing the gap to the next rating band (2700 → 2800 blitz) will come from one extra conversion per playing session. Stay consistent with the drills above and you will naturally tighten those loose endings and king-safety slips.

Good luck, and feel free to send me two of your annotated games next week for deeper feedback!