Jonathan Cruz IM

Jonathan Cruz – Personalized Feedback

Your Current Profile

• Peak bullet rating: 2904 (2023-08-03)
• Typical opening choices: 1.Nf3 / d4 systems (Reti-London family) with White, Scandinavian & Queen’s Pawn defenses as Black.
• Time control played most: 60″ (hyper-bullet).

What You’re Doing Well

1. Quick tactical eye. Your recent wins show you spotting loose pieces (e.g. 17.Bxa8, 21.cxd5!) and mating nets (…Qh1#) in mere seconds.
2. Flexible structure play. The London/Zukertort set-up lets you handle different Black plans without thinking long – ideal for hyper-bullet.
3. Conversion when ahead. When you keep a safe clock margin, you finish cleanly; see your last win:
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Main Pain-Points

1. Clock management. 8 of your last 10 losses are on time with playable or even better positions. You often dip under 10 s around move 20 while opponents still have >20 s.
2. Over-ambitious king hunts. Sequences like 17.Ng7⁺–20.Ng7⁺ burned 15 s and gave no material; meanwhile your own king became a target and you flagged.
3. Narrow opening repertoire. The same London-style set-up appears in nearly every White game. Strong opponents (e.g. Jose Fabian Benito) prepared early …e5/…Bg4 plans and steered you into pawn-down endings.
4. End-game technique under time pressure. Positions such as K+R vs K+R+P slipped because you kept premoving instead of activating the king or forcing a draw.

Targeted Recommendations

1. Time-Handling Drills

• Adopt a move-per-second rule: never spend more than 2 s during the first 15 moves. Use a metronome or coach-bot to practise.
• Premove only forced recaptures; for anything else use shift-click to schedule but cancel if the position changes.

2. Broaden Your First-Move Repertoire

• Add a direct 1.e4 mini-repertoire (Scotch or Italian) so opponents cannot auto-prepare vs the London.
• Against 1.d4 d5, test the Colle-Koltanowski for variety yet similar plans.

3. “Safety-First” Tactical Filters

• Before launching a knight sacrifice, give yourself a 1-second blunder check: “What is my worst piece? What is his next check?” (You’ll avoid loops like Ng7⁺–Ng5.)
• Review 3 puzzles daily that feature zwischenzug & windmill motifs; they recur often in bullet.

4. End-game Micro-Lessons

• Memorize two key resources: Philidor (R+P vs R) and Lucena. These decide many of your flag losses.
• Practise the “king walk” exercise: start with K+P vs K and win/draw vs computer in ≤10 s.

5. Review & Tracking

Use the following charts each Sunday to spot progress and tilt patterns:

Next-Week Action Plan (15-minute daily)

1. 5 min: Bullet opening warm-up (randomize between 1.e4, 1.Nf3, 1.d4).
2. 5 min: Puzzle Rush survival – stop the run after one miss to train caution.
3. 5 min: End-game bot – play K+R+P vs K+R with 10 s each side.

Stay consistent, track your clock usage, and enjoy the grind – small tweaks will convert many of those “lost on time” games into wins!