Dmitry Fedotov

Quick summary

Good work, Dmitry. Your recent blitz shows strong tactical awareness and an ability to punish mistakes quickly, especially in open positions. At the same time you have a few recurring leaks in king safety and endgame technique that cost you games. Below I highlight concrete things you did well, the mistakes that reappear, and a short training plan you can use right away.

What you are doing well

• Active queen play and tactics: you convert material and create mating threats quickly. See your finishing sequence in the win vs HenriqueSa: Review win vs HenriqueSa.
• You exploit opponent errors and traps effectively. Your openings stats show many wins from sharp systems and trap lines where opponents falter.
• You trade into favourable simplifications when ahead rather than overcomplicating the position.
• Good speed of play when the position is tactical. That helps in blitz to seize the initiative early.

Recurring problems to fix

• King safety in sharp middlegames. Several losses start with aggressive pawn pushes around your king or missed defensive resources. Example: the loss by mate after a long endgame sequence is a reminder to prioritize king activity and watch for opposing passed pawns: Review loss vs 152226gwyddbwyll.
• Allowing opponent counterplay on the kingside. In a couple of losses you allowed tactical sacrifices and then did not parry the threats cleanly (see the game vs IkerGarbi where a tactical sequence finished quickly): Review loss vs IkerGarbi.
• Endgame technique under time pressure. You sometimes reach winning or equal endgames but then mis-time king activation and pawn races. Practise basic king-and-pawn endings and opposition so you can hold or convert with confidence.
• Over-relying on opening traps. Your openings report shows good results in tricky lines and traps. That is useful, but when opponents avoid traps you must be comfortable with the resulting middlegames (Sicilian mainlines show lower win rate).

Concrete, game-specific advice

• Win vs HenriqueSa: you handled the material gains well and used the queen actively. To convert even faster, look for forced simplifications that remove opponent counterplay (checks and queen exchanges). Review the final sequence and try to spot earlier forcing moves that would have simplified the finish: Win vs HenriqueSa.
• Loss vs 152226gwyddbwyll: this became a pawn-endgame mating race. When pieces come off, centralize your king earlier and block passed pawns before they become decisive. Work the opposition and limit pawn breakthroughs. See the decisive final mating idea and rewind a few moves to find chances to activate your king sooner: Loss by mate - review.
• Loss vs IkerGarbi and cvargasm: both show you being caught by tactical shots after weakening moves on the kingside. Before pushing pawns around your king (g5, h4 etc), ask yourself what checks, captures and threats your opponent has. A quick defensive checklist would have prevented the tactical finish: Loss vs IkerGarbi, Loss vs cvargasm.
• Draw vs lorenzozork: solid defensive play led to repetition. Instead of repeating, try aimless small improvements: improve piece placement, prepare a pawn break, or force a favorable minor piece trade. Repetition often indicates missed chance to press: Draw by repetition.

Opening and repertoire notes

• You score very well in sharp, offbeat lines and trap-based openings (example: Blackburne Shilling and O'Kelly). That is an advantage in blitz because many opponents mis-handle unfamiliar lines.
• However your results in mainline Sicilian and the French Advance are weaker. Pick one mainline to learn deeper — understand typical pawn breaks, piece plans and one standard endgame that arises from that opening. That will reduce losses when opponents sidestep traps.
• Practical tip: keep a 2-3 move plan when playing blitz. If your opponent avoids the trap, follow your plan and trade to positions you know well rather than improvising.

Short training plan (daily 20–40 minutes)

• 15 minutes tactics — focus on combinations that include mating nets, back-rank tactics and knight forks. Blitz games punish missed tactics.
• 10 minutes endgames — king and pawn endings, Lucena and opposition basics, and simple rook endgames. Spend a week on each theme.
• 10–15 minutes opening + model games — pick one mainline Sicilian (or the French Advance if you play it) and study 3 typical middlegames. Learn 1-2 standard plans per side.
• Weekly: review 3 of your recent games (win, loss, draw). Annotate where you had candidate moves and whether you calculated tactics or missed them.

Practical blitz checklist (use during games)

• Before pushing pawns near your king ask: any checks, captures, threats for my opponent? If yes, pause and calculate one more move.
• If you are ahead materially simplify carefully. Exchange pieces, not pawns, unless pawn structure or passed pawns matter.
• In piece trades, always ask who benefits from a reduced material balance — sometimes keeping rooks is better for defending.
• When low on time, swap into simple winning endgames or liquidate complications. If you cannot calculate a win, repeat moves or trade to limit blunders.

Three next steps for your next session

• Do a 15 minute tactics sprint focused on back-rank mates and knight forks.
• Review the loss vs 152226gwyddbwyll and find the move where king activation would have changed the evaluation: Study this loss.
• Pick one Sicilian or the French Advance and learn two concrete plans (one for each side). Practice those plans in 5 rapid games.

If you want more

Tell me which game you want a deeper move-by-move post-mortem for and I will annotate the key moments (3–6 critical positions). Example choices: your recent win vs HenriqueSa, the mate loss vs 152226gwyddbwyll, or the tactical loss vs IkerGarbi.