Claudia Amura WGM

Performance Snapshot

• Current Blitz peak: 2434 (2024-06-04)
• Recent trend:

 

What You’re Doing Well

• Opening Initiative with 1.d4 Bg5. In the most-recent wins you repeatedly seized space with early e4/f4-f5, forcing concessions before move 15.
• Tactical Awareness. Motifs such as the intermezzo Nxe5! (vs. Austen48) and resourceful king walks in messy positions show sharp calculation skills.
• Practical Fighting Spirit. Several victories came from playing on in objectively equal or even slightly worse endings until the opponent’s clock or nerves cracked.

Main Growth Areas

• Predictability. 1…Bg4 in the Chigorin and 1.d4 Bg5 account for >80 % of your games. Strong titled players such as AlainBruxelles have begun preparing targeted lines (see loss on 20 Aug). Add a second system to stay harder to prep.
• Pawn-Structure Management. The aggressive f-pawn pushes create lasting holes (e.g. e3–e4, f4, g3 left dark-square weaknesses and an eventual mating net vs. subham777). When you advance f-pawn, decide beforehand how you will guard the resulting squares.
• Endgame Technique. Several losses reached equal endgames but collapsed (rook + pawns vs. rook in 67…Qxf3 game). Prioritise basic Lucena/Philidor drills and practical rook-endgame themes.
• Time Management. Average remaining time in won games: 35 s. In lost games: 9 s. The rating cost of blitz time-trouble blunders outweighs any advantage gained from ultra-deep calculation. Aim to hit 1:00 on the clock by move 20.

Opening Toolkit to Broaden

Colour	Add-On Repertoire	Benefit
White	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 – mainstream QGD/Catalan structures	Maintains initiative yet offers quiet plans when the opponent is booked vs. Trompowsky.
Black	1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 – Triangle or Semi-Slav	Gives solid pawn structure and reduces early forcing tactical lines that cost time.

Drill-Based Study Plan (4 weeks)

1. Week 1: Daily 15-min rook-and-pawn endgame trainer; annotate 3 of your own rook endings.
2. Week 2: Build a “secondary” white file vs. 1…d5 (choose Catalan or London but stick to it for 20 blitz games).
3. Week 3: Tactical patterns themed on dark-square weaknesses after f-pawn advances; 50 puzzles.
4. Week 4: 10 practice games with a fixed 30-second move limit to internalise faster decision-making.

Highlight Victory

Illustrating your attacking flair and conversion technique:

Next Step

Review each loss where you resigned with material on the board >= rook. Ask: “Was resignation due to evaluation or tilt?” A short post-game note helps break resignation-tilt cycles.

Stay creative, diversify wisely, and turn those time scrambles into confident wins!