Dan Wolf FM

Hi Dan — Your Personal Chess Progress Report

Snapshot

• Peak blitz rating so far: 2140 (2020-10-14)
• Last 10 games: 5 wins / 5 losses (solid but room to stabilise)

When you play & how you score:

Current Strengths

1. Sicilian handling as Black — Your victories versus rsuvacarov and lukr009 highlight good feel for Kan structures and typical breaks …b5, …d5.
2. Tactical awareness — Nice calculation in the following fragment, turning defence into counter-attack:
   
3. Clock management — You usually keep a time buffer and make practical end-of-game decisions.

Main Areas to Improve

1. White plans vs Caro-Kann & Modern
   Early pawn storms (h4-h5, c4) left weaknesses and cost two recent games. • Try the Advance 3.e5 (against Caro) and Classical setups (Be3, Qd2) against the Modern.
   • Delay flank pawns until the centre is settled.
2. Prophylactic thinking
   Several losses began with underestimating the opponent’s counterplay on the b-file or dark squares. Add a “What will they do next?” check before each committal move.
3. Conversion technique
   You often rely on flagging or opponent resignation. Strengthen rook-endgame basics (Philidor & Lucena positions) so winning games finish efficiently.
4. King safety during rook-pawn pushes
   The h-pawn thrust is powerful but risky. Keep a pawn (g-file) in front of your king and coordinate pieces first to avoid dark-square holes (e.g. 22…Qb6+ in your Caro-Kann loss).

Two-Week Action Plan

• Play 20 training games with the Advance Caro-Kann (3.e5); annotate mistakes right after.
• Solve 30 tactical puzzles daily, filtering for “defence & prophylaxis.”
• Study one master game per day in the Maroczy Bind to deepen your Sicilian knowledge.
• Drill rook-and-pawn vs rook endgames until you convert/hold 5 of 6 attempts consecutively.

Mindset Tip

When the position heats up, pause and ask: “How do I keep every piece safe for the next three moves?” This short reset cuts blunders without dampening ambition.

Keep enjoying the grind, Dan, and send over any games you’d like to discuss. Steady, focused practice will push that rating peak even higher. Good luck!