Overview
Great momentum recently — your rating jump shows you're improving fast. The games you sent highlight real strengths (active piece play and willingness to enter messy positions) but also recurring issues (time management and tactical oversights). Below are focused, practical steps to stabilise and expand your recent gains.
Short notes on the sample games
Win vs y0ungj0ny — you created tactical chances, used active piece play and converted under pressure. A quick, typical motif from open games is shown below:
- Motif (example):
- Takeaway: keep provoking weaknesses and look for forcing continuations — you did that well in the win.
Loss vs neo-c5h12 — the loss came from an opponent finding a tactical strike into your centre after your flank pawn advances. Key idea: flank pushes are fine, but they create long-term targets if you don't secure central squares and king safety.
What you do well
- Activate pieces quickly and look for concrete tactics instead of passive maneuvering.
- Comfortable in sharp, unbalanced positions — you generate practical chances.
- Strong short-term climb: your recent rating gains show focused improvement.
Main weaknesses to fix
- Time management: several games ended on time. Winning on time is fine, but avoid flagging in critical positions.
- Tactical blunders around weak central squares (e3, d4, etc.). Opponents successfully exploit these with forks/skewers.
- Premature pawn pushes on the flank (b4/a4) that leave holes or open files for the opponent without a follow-up plan.
- Mixed opening results — focus on sharpening a smaller, reliable repertoire rather than many unsound sidelines.
Opening guidance
- Keep using what works: your Nimzo-Larsen games are strong — study common plans in the Nimzo-Larsen Attack rather than long move-lists.
- Avoid entrances to lines where your win rate is very low until you have a prepared defensive plan (e.g., sharp traps you don’t fully understand).
- Build a compact repertoire: one main white setup and one main black reply per opponent-first-move (practise typical middlegame pawn breaks and piece placements).
4-week training plan (practical)
- Daily (10–20 min): tactics — focus on forks, pins, discovered attacks. Speed + accuracy over volume.
- 3×/week (20–30 min): play one rapid (10|5 or 15|10) and immediately review the critical 10 moves — identify missed tactics and decision points.
- 2×/week (15 min): endgame drills — king-and-pawn, basic rook endgames and simple conversion patterns.
- Weekly (30–45 min): opening study — pick one line you play often and review 3 model games focusing on plans, not rote moves.
- Clock drill: play a 10-game blitz set where your rule is never to drop below 15 seconds at move 20. If under 30s, simplify and trade down to reduce complexity.
In-game checklist (use every move)
- Before you move: are any of my pieces hanging or can my opponent play a fork/pin/discovered attack?
- What is my opponent threatening this turn and next turn? Do I have to react or can I pursue my plan?
- Is my king safe? If not, can I neutralise threats by trades or a prophylactic move?
- How much clock do I need to keep for the endgame? If I’m low on time, simplify and shepherd the clock.
Short-term (next 20 games) goals
- Cut time losses by 50%: target at least 15–20s on the clock at move 20.
- Fix one tactical theme (forks or pins): solve 20 puzzles in a row under a time limit.
- Make your opening puts less risky: eliminate or heavily prepare the single worst-performing line you play.
Want focused help?
I can annotate one of your recent games move-by-move (pick either the win or the loss) or prepare a 2–3 move opening plan for a line you play most. Tell me which and I’ll produce a short annotated review.