CheckmateChampion01 CM

Hi CheckmateChampion01!

Great work keeping your blitz rating in the 2300–2400 range and scoring recent wins against strong players such as Diana Preobrazhenskaya. Below is a balanced review of your current play, based on the most recent game batch.

What you’re already doing well

• Dynamic openings as Black. Your King’s Indian & Sicilian set-ups produce rich middlegames and you handle typical pawn breaks (…f5 in the KID, …b5 in the Najdorf-style positions) confidently.
• Tactical alertness. The conversion in your win over Cristian Robledo shows crisp calculation:
• Practical fighting spirit. Even in inferior positions you keep pieces active and create counter-chances, forcing opponents to burn time.
• Peak ability. 2324 (2024-09-03) demonstrates that you have already reached a very respectable strength—solid proof that the foundations are in place.

Recurring trouble spots

• Time management. Two recent wins were on time and three losses stemmed from low clocks (e.g. vs Kevin George, move 60). You often have <10 s with 15–20 moves left.
• Queenside over-expansion in the Alapin (B22). In the loss to Nathaniel Mullodzhanov your …a6/…a5/…Rfb8 plan let a7 and c-pawns race. Consider calmer lines (7…Qxd5 8.Nxd4 Nf6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10…Qxd1+ to simplify) or the main line 5…exd5 6.Nf3 g6.
• King safety in the French Tarrasch. The …f5 break on move 10 vs Kevin George opened dark-squared weaknesses that later allowed 33.Qg5 Kh8 34.f6! and the attack played itself. Make sure …f5 is backed by a concrete idea or play the positional …Bd7/…Be8 plan instead.
• Endgame conversion & technique. Against Florian Gatterer you reached a drawable Q+P ending but missed perpetual-check tricks and got mated. Similar story in the long grind versus sonicdravise. Most errors were basic zugzwang/zwischenzug oversights, suggesting you can harvest points quickly by polishing fundamental endgame patterns.

Action plan (next 4–6 weeks)

1. Clock discipline drill (daily). Play 3 games of 3 + 2 where you verbally call “30 seconds” at move 15 and “15 seconds” at move 25. Quit any line that forces <10 s before move 30.
2. Patch the Alapin repertoire (week 1). Analyse the critical position after 6.Qxd4 e6 with ChessBase/engine for 30 min, write a mini-file of two safe set-ups and commit to them for 20 games.
3. French structures (week 2). Study 5 GM model games where Black delays …f7-f5, focusing on the manoeuvres …Kh8, …Rg8 and …g7-g5.
4. Endgame mini-course (weeks 3-4). Solve 50 pawn & rook-pawn studies; repeat each until you can do it in <90 s. Finish with 20 queen-vs-bishop-pawn practical endings.
5. Performance review. Track progress with
   and
   . When endgame accuracy climbs above 60 % in your database, move on to more complex material.

Quick mental checklist before every move

1. King safety – any checks/captures vs my king?
2. Loose pieces – can something be forked next move?
3. Time – am I above 15 s? If not, simplify.

Keep the positive fighting spirit, refine a couple of strategic blind spots, and better manage the clock—you’ll punch through 2400 very soon. Good luck!