Dinesh Kannan

Quick summary

Nice work — your recent results show clear improvement over the last 6 months (positive slope, +204 rating over 6 months). You're an active attacker who converts chances when pieces coordinate. At the same time you’re losing many games to tactical shots, early queen skirmishes, and time pressure. Focused, small changes will remove the most common loss causes and turn more of your good positions into wins.

What you’re doing well

• Strong attacking instincts — your win vs eugdiratcdhjeyjdduygh shows effective pawn-storming and piece coordination on the kingside (pawns and rooks working together).
• Willingness to simplify and trade into favorable endings — you exchange when it helps your attack or clears lines for rooks.
• Good opening variety — you play many sharp systems (Scotch, Elephant Gambit, Amazon Attack) and score well in them, which suggests you’re comfortable in tactically rich positions.
• Progress over months — the long-term trend is strongly positive; your hard practice is paying off.

Main weaknesses to fix (practical)

• Avoid early queen outings and repetitive queen moves in the opening. In several recent losses you released central tension with Q moves and then got hit by tactics (discoveries, knight forks, or piece trades that favor Black). Build development first: knights, bishops, then queen.
• Back-rank and king safety. In fast games you sometimes leave the back rank weak or fail to create luft; opponents exploited that with checks and mating nets. Make a habit: one-pawn luft (h3/g3) or rook lift when safe.
• Tactical oversight under time pressure. Many games end by mate or lost material while low on the clock. Slow down slightly in critical positions — spending an extra second to ask “What is my opponent threatening?” prevents many losses.
• Premoves and flagging risk. Some losses were “won on time” for the opponent or you lost on time yourself. Practice keeping a small time buffer (aim for 8–12 seconds in 2|1 games) and prefer safe premoves only in forced capture sequences.
• Opening lines with poor win rates. Consider trimming or reworking lines where your win rate is low (for example Bird Opening: Dutch Variation shows a weak record). Focus on 2–3 reliable systems you know well.

Concrete drills and a 2-week plan

• Daily (15–20 minutes):
  • 10 tactical puzzles (pattern focus: forks, pins, back-rank mates, discovered attacks).
  • 5 minutes of fast games (1|0 or 2|1) playing only one opening system as White and one as Black — force repetition to build familiarity.
• Every other day (30 minutes):
  • Review 3 lost games: identify the decisive mistake and write one sentence takeaway for each (e.g., “Don’t play Qg4 before finishing development”).
  • Practice one simple endgame (rook+pawn vs rook, basic king+pawn promotion patterns).
• Weekly:
  • Play a set of 25 blitz/bullet games but stop 2 minutes early and review the worst 3 positions — keep the learning loop fast.

Technical tips you can apply immediately

• In the opening prioritize:
  • Develop knights before bishops in most lines, then castle early.
  • Avoid moving the same piece 3 times unless there is a clear tactical payoff.
• Tactics checklist before every move (especially low on time): “Are any of my pieces hanging? Any checks, captures, or threats from the opponent? Do I have a safe square for my king?”
• When ahead in time or material, simplify toward a winning endgame — trade queens if you can win a technical endgame, but don’t trade into your opponent’s activity.
• When down on time, prefer forcing moves that limit opponent’s replies; avoid long multi-purpose moves that invite tactics.
• Trim your opening repertoire to lines you understand; for a quick boost pick 1 reliable response to common replies (example: if you like Scotch and Elephant Gambit, deepen those instead of many shallow systems).

Key positions to study from your recent games

Study the decisive attack that finished your win — it contains great examples of opening the f-file, doubling rooks and delivering the final infiltration. Replay it slowly and ask at each move: “Who is attacking? Where is the king? What can be traded to open lines?”

• Replay the final sequence from your win vs eugdiratcdhjeyjdduygh:

[[Pgn|e3|e5|c3|d5|d3|f5|Bd2|c5|Ne2|Nf6|d4|e4|Na3|Nc6|Nb5|a6|Na3|Bd6|dxc5|Bxc5|b4|Bd6|Nd4|O-O|Be2|Nxd4|exd4|f4|O-O|f3|gxf3|Bh3|Bg5|h6|Bh4|g5|Bg3|Bxg3|fxg3|Bxf1|Bxf1|exf3|Qxf3|Ne4|Qh5|Qf6|Qe2|Qf2+|Qxf2|Rxf2|Bh3|Raf8|b5|Rd2|bxa6|bxa6|Bg2|Rff2|Bxe4|dxe4|Re1|Rxh2|Rxe4|Rdg2+|Kf1|Rxg3|Re8+|Kf7|Ra8|Rxc3|Nb1|Rc1#|fen|R7/5k2/p6p/6p1/3P4/8/P6r/1Nr2K2|orientation|black|autoplay|false]

Openings — small edits to improve your win rate

You have strong results in dynamic openings like the Scotch and Elephant. Double down on those, and consider simplifying or replacing lines where you struggle (for example the Bird Dutch line from your Openings Performance). Learn the typical pawn breaks and one safe plan against the opponent’s most common responses.

Next steps (this week)

• Do 3 × 10-minute sessions of tactics focusing on forks and back-rank mates.
• Play 20 rapid/bullet games but review the 5 worst positions after each session.
• Pick one opening you feel comfortable with and learn 2 typical plans for middlegame/pawn structures.

Motivation & final notes

Your rating graph and month-on-month gains show substantial improvement — keep the structured practice. Small, repeatable habits (tactics every day, consistent opening choices, 3 quick game reviews) will convert your attacking potential into a reliably higher score.

If you want, I can:

• Make a 2-week training calendar tailored to your schedule.
• Annotate 2 of your losses and show exactly where to play differently (move-by-move).

Which would you like next?