Donaldo Paiva FM

Hi Donaldo!

Great job keeping a very high performance level in quick-time games. Your recent bullet win against fullmetalplayer and the string of blitz victories in Titled Tuesday show serious tactical sharpness and practical end-game technique.

Your current profile at a glance

• Peak blitz rating: 2710 (2022-07-19)
• Favourite defences: Modern-style French (…e6, …b6) and Queen’s Gambit structures.
• Preferred time controls: Bullet & 3 + 1 Blitz.

What you’re doing well

1. Opening flexibility. You mix solid (…e6 setups) with surprise weapons such as 2…b6 in the French and the Baltic Defence with Black. This keeps opponents thinking from move 1.
2. Piece activity over material. In your 2024 wins you repeatedly gave up pawns (e.g. 14…Qb6 vs Pablo Salinas Herrera) to grab the initiative and succeeded once pieces sprang to active squares.
3. Conversion technique in time trouble. Several games reach messy rook endings with seconds left, yet you keep a cool head and convert. The sequence 25…Rd3 26…Bc5+ in your latest win shows this confidence.

Primary improvement targets

1. Connection / time-out losses. Your five most recent losses ended after move 0 or 1. Even when they’re due to lag, they hurt rating momentum. Make sure:
   • You refresh the browser before a session and close heavy apps.
   • Enable premove for the first reply (especially against 1.e4) so a single spike doesn’t forfeit the game.
2. Bullet opening depth. The French sideline 2…b6 works surprisingly well, but against stronger opposition you may get cramped. Add one main-line bullet repertoire to avoid being “mapped”. A good fit could be the Classical French (2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6) which keeps the same pawn skeleton you like.
3. Structure to simplify late-game decisions. When you have the choice between a clear extra pawn end-game or a sharp tactical continuation, favour the simpler path in low-increment games. In the win vs Evgeny Melikhov you kept the queens on and allowed 30…Bc5, missing a cleaner 30…Qxd3+. Try to spot these “easy conversions”.

Action plan

Notable recent PGNs

Key concepts to drill

• Bullet premove safety – know when it’s safe or dangerous to premove a recapture. Review examples of zwischenzug.
• French IQP endings – the pawn structure that arises after …c5xd4 often gives you an Isolated Queen’s Pawn. Practise converting those with both colours.
• Exchange sacrifice intuition – your 24…Rxe7 (!) vs Arthur Olinto de Souza was thematic; catalogue similar positions so you recognise them faster.

Closing thought

Your tactical eye and confidence under time pressure are already elite. By removing the “technical losses” and adding one or two sounder bullet openings, you should push your blitz peak even higher this season. Keep the discipline and enjoy the grind!