Christopher Shen FM

Hi Christopher!

Your recent games show an ambitious, resource-hungry style that keeps opponents under constant pressure. Below is a quick snapshot of your current form:

• Peak blitz rating: 2632 (2023-03-19).
• Typical play times: see
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• Performance trends: see
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What you’re already doing well

1. Dynamic openings and early imbalances. In several wins (e.g. vs asansari) you steered the game into non-theoretical waters with 1.b3 or 1.d4 followed by early c4/e4 breaks. This often caught lower-prepared opponents off guard.
2. Sharp tactical awareness. • In the Reti/Sicilian Invitation game you unleashed 18.Nxe5! Nxe5 19.Rxe5, seizing the initiative.
   • Your combination 29.Rxf6 gxf6 30.Qxh6! exploited Black’s back-rank weaknesses precisely.
   These shots show you spot forcing moves quickly.
3. Confidence in time pressure. Many victories arrive when both clocks are low. You seem calm in sub-10-second scrambles.

Top priorities for the next rating jump

1. Improve conversion technique in clearly winning positions.
   Even in your wins you sometimes allow unnecessary counterplay (e.g. vs andreychumachenko after 37.Nd6 Kh6 the a-pawn nearly escaped). Recommendation: play the “how do I lose this position?” game during analysis. Each move ask, “What cheapo could my opponent try?” and build solid, prophylactic moves first.
2. Repair defensive instincts against direct king attacks.
   In the loss to Sepehr (August 13) you castled kingside and pushed …f5/…g6 without enough dark-square coverage, leading to 33.Rd7+ and a collapsed position. Study classic King’s Indian Defence games from the Black side to learn model setups where the light-squared bishop isn’t traded too early.
3. Endgame fundamentals: rook + pawn endgames.
   A few losses stemmed from misplacing the king or allowing passed pawns in otherwise drawable endings (e.g. …a-pawn race in vs omartoom). • Solve one practical rook-endgame each day. • Drill the Lucena, Philidor, and basic opposition patterns until they become muscle memory.
4. Cleaner pawn structures out of the opening.
   Your systems with early g4/h4 thrusts create initiative but often leave backward e- or c-pawns. Against strong defenders you might need a quieter plan. Consider adding one classical main line (e.g. Catalan with 4.g3 instead of 1.b3) to your repertoire so you can alternate between chaos and solidity.
5. Clock management when ahead.
   You’re comfortable in time scrambles, yet sometimes let the clock tick down in technically won positions. Try to keep >30 s when up material so you can calculate rather than premove. Practical tip: click the clock after you reach a stable +3 evaluation and take a literal deep breath—this re-centres you on conversion rather than attack.

Example study snippets

Model attacking sequence (keep doing this!):

Critical moment to analyse (defensive repair):

Training menu for the next four weeks

• Day 1-7: 30 min tactics (Puzzle Rush → rated), 15 min rook-endgame drills, annotate one of your own wins without an engine.
• Day 8-14: Build a mini-repertoire file for Black vs 1.b3 & 1.c4. Play at least five games focusing on keeping pawn structure healthy.
• Day 15-21: Watch two GM videos on prophylaxis—especially the concept of zwischenzug—and create a flash-card of 10 key positions.
• Day 22-28: Weekly “long think” game (15 + 10 or longer) where you record every critical decision. Post-mortem with engine only after personal notes.

Motivation corner

Your rating graph shows steady growth for months—plateaus mean you’re accumulating knowledge, not stuck. Stay curious, keep reviewing every loss, and the next peak is inevitable.

Good luck, and message me anytime you’d like to dive deeper into a specific line or concept!