delphin11 IM

Game Highlights and What You Did Well

Your recent games show a solid understanding of key opening principles and an ability to execute effective strategies, especially in rapid time controls. In your recent win, you demonstrated strong positional play in the King's Indian Defense with the Bayonet Attack, successfully using pawn structure and piece activity to pressure your opponent until they resigned. Your use of tactical exchanges around move 20 and beyond showed good calculation skills and confidence in complex positions.

Similarly, in your other win playing Black, you effectively handled the Sicilian Defense Kan variation, maneuvering to control important squares and creating threats that eventually led your opponent to lose on time. Your development and handling of counterplay was a notable strength here.

The consistency in your openings, such as the London System and Hungarian Opening with very high win rates, shows you have strong preparation in these areas. Your ability to avoid losses in these openings suggests you understand their key ideas well.

Areas to Improve

• Tactical Awareness in Sharp Positions: Your recent loss in an English Opening Symmetrical Variation indicates a need to sharpen your tactics, especially against aggressive play like early queen forays. Be cautious around early queen attacks that can exploit loose squares or weak back ranks.
• Endgame Precision under Time Pressure: Your wins sometimes include opponents losing on time or resigning late; make sure to capitalize confidently but carefully in such situations to avoid possible mistakes yourself.
• Opening Variation Breadth: While you have excellent results in a few openings, expanding your repertoire and deepening understanding of less-familiar lines like the Caro-Kann Classical Variation (where your win rate is lower) will add versatility and prevent opponents from easily targeting your weaknesses.
• Time Management: Some games show very fast moves early on, which can lead to time pressure. Maintaining a balanced pace through the middlegame helps reduce errors and improves execution of plans.

Rating Trends and Progress

You have shown remarkable rating growth over the past 6 to 12 months, with an overall upward trend reflected in your slope values and a strong performance even against higher-rated opponents (strength adjusted win rate above 60%). Your current rating changes suggest sustained improvement.

Though your rating has seen a slight dip in the last month, your longer-term momentum remains very positive. This suggests that with ongoing study and focus on your few weak spots, you can continue climbing.

Recommendations for Improvement

• Focus on Tactical Training: Use puzzles and exercises that emphasize spotting tactics early. Spend extra time on games with sharp lines like the English Opening and Sicilian Defense to improve recognition of common tactical motifs.
• Analyze Losses Deeply: Review your losses and close games with a goal to understand where your evaluation or calculation failed. Keep notes on typical pitfalls and positional mistakes.
• Expand Opening Study: Consider putting more study time into openings where your results are mixed or weaker, such as the Caro-Kann Classical Variation as well as refining your responses to uncommon lines.
• Work on Time Management: Practice playing balanced time use in training games. Avoid rushing in the opening phases to ensure fair time reserves for complex middlegame and endgame decisions.
• Endgame Skills: Study fundamental and common endgame positions regularly so you can confidently convert advantages and save difficult positions.