Danger_in_prime IM

Quick summary

Nice session overall — you converted material and tactical chances cleanly in several games, and you repeatedly finished with active rooks and queens. A recurring leak is king safety and handling sharp counterplay when you push on the kingside (the game where you were White and lost to Raja Rithvik R illustrates that). Below I list what you did well, what to fix, and a short practice plan you can start tomorrow.

What you did well

• Conversion skill: When you got material or a clear initiative you tended to simplify and push the advantage to a win rather than overcomplicating things — that’s a high-quality practical habit.
• Active rooks and queen play: In the blitz wins you used rooks and the queen to invade the opponent’s camp (back-rank pressure, passed-pawn support) — good piece coordination.
• Tactical awareness: You spotted decisive checks and mating nets quickly (example: a clean forced mate in one of your wins with a pawn/queen push).
• Opening variety that suits your style: You get good results with aggressive/uneven lines (Amar Gambit, Colle Rhamphorhynchus) — leverage these as surprise weapons.

Key patterns to fix

• King safety after pawn pushes on the flank — avoid creating long-term holes early. The game vs Raja Rithvik R shows how an early h-pawn push and an exposed king allowed a decisive tactical blow.
• Allowing enemy counterplay with knights and back-rank threats. Several losses happened after an opponent found a knight check or rook infiltration — double-check for opponent forks and back-rank weaknesses before simplifying.
• Certain opening lines are underperforming for you (your QGD line with 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 shows a low win rate). Either rework those lines or steer the game into structures you know better.
• Time pressure habits: you often reach sub-1-minute on the clock. In blitz this is normal, but in those turns you still make avoidable errors. Practice quicker, safe-to-play moves in the first 10 seconds of each move when low on time.

Concrete next steps (7–14 day mini plan)

• Daily tactics — 15 minutes/day: focus on forks, pins, back-rank mates and knight forks. Set the target to solve 30–50 puzzles; time each set to build speed under pressure.
• Endgame drill — 3× per week, 20 minutes: rook endings (Lucena and basic rook cutting), king and pawn vs king, and simple queen vs rook conversions — these will reduce losses when the game simplifies.
• Opening surgery — pick 2 problem lines to fix: the QGD line (low win rate) and any line you feel uncomfortable against. Replace them or study one new plan per line (typical pawn breaks, ideal piece posts). For your favored setups, keep sharpening the Amar Gambit / Colle lines that give you good results.
• Rapid review after every loss — 5 minutes: find the single turning move (tactical miss or strategic mistake). Mark it and make a short note: “missed X motive” to avoid repetition.
• One training control per week (10+5 or 15+10): play longer time to practice planning, then take concepts back into blitz.

Examples from your recent games

Here’s a short annotated example of a successful tactical finish from one of your wins (watch the queen + pawn mate pattern at the end):

Key finish (illustrative PGN snippet):

What this shows: when the opponent opens lines toward their own king, you timed the queen invasion perfectly and finished with a pawn/queen combination. Look for similar clean finishes — they suit your style.

Opening guidance — keep / cut / tweak

• Keep: Continue using the sharp surprise weapons that work for you (positions where you get dynamic play and pawn storms). Your Amar Gambit and some Sicilian/Moscow lines serve you well.
• Cut or reshape: The QGD line with 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 — your win rate there is low; either study it deeply (typical plans, pawn breaks) or avoid the exact move order and transpose to quieter systems.
• Tweak: Against Pirc-style setups (you lost a game playing the side that entered a Pirc) watch for early knight/rook tactics and avoid leaving back-rank weaknesses after exchanges — a small tweak like an early luft or rook lift often helps.
• Study suggestion: For wins that came from a Reti/English structure, revisit Reti Opening ideas and typical pawn breaks so you can hit opponents with prepared plans rather than improvised moves.

Practical blitz checklist (before you click “Play”)

• Have a 1–2 move opening plan for both sides of the board (avoid “I’ll figure it out later”).
• Count attackers/defenders before pawn moves that open lines around your king.
• When ahead: simplify into a won endgame (trade carefully). When behind: make the position complicated and look for tactical resources.
• If below 30 seconds: favor forcing or safe moves; avoid long-cutting quiet plans you won’t have time to calculate.
• After each game: save 2 minutes to make 1 clear note about the turning point.

Want a personalised plan?

If you want, I can produce:

• a 7-day tactics & endgame micro-plan tuned to your openings;
• a short annotated opening file (5–6 key lines) replacing the weakest lines in your repertoire;
• a 30-minute video-style post-mortem for one of the recent losses (I’ll highlight 3 key mistakes and show better moves).

Tell me which option you want and which game to analyze in detail (for example the loss vs Raja Rithvik R or a particular win), and I’ll prepare it.