Deven Goswami

Quick summary

Nice fight — your long-term trend is up (3–6 month slopes strong), but your recent blitz session shows recurring practical weaknesses that cost you quick games. Below I highlight what you do well, the mistakes that cost the last few games, and a short practice plan you can use over the next two weeks to stop giving away points in blitz.

What you're doing well

• You spot tactics and sharp opportunities — many wins come from active, tactical play rather than slow maneuvering.
• You’re improving overall: your 3–6 month rating slopes and the large sample of games show sustainable growth.
• You have openings that work for you (Barnes Defense, French, Elephant Gambit) — play what gives you confidence and clear plans.
• You don’t panic in equal positions — you keep fighting and often create chances in complications.

Recurring mistakes from recent blitz (concrete examples)

These are patterns I see in the PGNs you supplied — they’re the cheap losses that are easiest to fix.

• King safety / wandering king: In the Philidor game vs krabbiee_26 you ended up with the king in the open (Kf7 → Kg6 → Kh5) and got checkmated after a simple pawn push. When the center opens against you, prioritize getting your king to safety (castle or keep pieces between king and enemy attackers).
  
  
• Weak pawn moves that create targets: Playing f6 early (or similar pawn moves that weaken your king shield) lets opponents get in with checks and pawns. In the same game you played f6 and the resulting holes and checks led to a quick collapse.
• Passive opening move orders and tactical oversight: Against abdalla_gads you faced a fast mate because f7 was left undefended after passive d6 and slow development. In blitz, simple principles beat passive play — don’t fall for early queen-and-bishop mates (cover f7, develop a knight, or play Nc6/Nf6 instead of d6 on move two).
• Falling for early queen tricks & leaving back-rank and f7 weaknesses: Opponents often play early queen moves to create immediate threats. Watch for queen + bishop battery threats and checkmate patterns (Scholar’s-style patterns). A single move to stop the mate typically saves the game.
• Time and flag risk: In very short games you sometimes play instantly without checking the opponent’s simple mating or tactical shots. Give yourself one extra second on critical positions to verify there isn’t a mate or fork.

Opening & repertoire advice

• Patch the Philidor line: your Philidor performance is a weak spot (win rate ~34%). If you want to keep it, revise the early move orders — avoid unnecessary pawn moves that open your king. Consider switching to or keeping lines where you castle quickly.
• Play your strengths: you have good results with Barnes Defense, French Defense and Elephant Gambit. In blitz, favor openings where you know the tactical themes and plans rather than ones that require long theory memorization.
• When the opponent plays early queen moves (Qf3/Qg4) remember the simple rule: defend f7 or develop a knight to attack the queen — often 2...Nc6 or 2...Nf6 is better than 2...d6.
• Study the term Philidor Defense in your opening drills so you recognize danger zones and typical king walks to avoid them in the future.

Practical drills (short, blitz-focused)

• Daily 10–15 min tactics: focus on mating patterns and forks. Do 20 puzzles aiming for speed + accuracy (not just completion).
• 10 rapid games (10+0 or 15+10) this week: force yourself to play slower and practice defending simple mating threats. Use the extra time to spot checks and captures before you move.
• Opening patch session (30 minutes): pick your most-played losing opening (Philidor Defense / Scandinavian Defense) and drill 5 common opponent traps and the one-line refutations for each.
• One game analysis per day (5–10 minutes): check your last lost blitz with an engine — only to find the tactical oversight and write down the “single reason” you lost (king safety / back rank / hanging piece / opening trap).

Two‑week actionable plan

• Week 1:
  • Every day: 15 minutes tactics (mating patterns + forks).
  • Every other day: two 10+0 games with post-game 5-minute engine check.
  • One 30-minute opening session: fix the Philidor/Scandinavian traps.
• Week 2:
  • Maintain daily tactics (10 min) and switch to 15+10 or 10+5 games to practice time management.
  • Do 3 focused analyses of lost games: identify the one inaccuracy that turned the game.
  • If you spot recurring king safety issues, do a session on basic mating nets (back-rank, scholar, smothered, common king walks).

How to think during blitz (simple checklist)

• Before you move: “Is my king safe?” — if not, answer how to make it safe (castle, trade, block checks).
• Watch the opponent’s checks and captures — ask “What checks do they have?” once per move.
• Avoid unnecessary pawn moves in front of your king (hasty f‑ or g‑pawn moves) unless you calculated them thoroughly.
• When you see the opponent’s queen near your king, verify f7/f2/back rank before moving a piece elsewhere.

Encouragement & next steps

Your long-term rating trend is positive and you already have a good tactical sense — tighten up king safety and basic trap defense and you’ll convert many of those close losses into wins. If you want, send one loss you want analyzed move-by-move and I’ll give a short post-mortem with exact improvements.

Quick links: opponent games referenced above — krabbiee_26 and abdalla_gads.