Dominik Pędzich IM

Quick summary

Nice run — you finished a string of blitz wins by combining clean tactics, active piece play and practical time pressure. Your recent games show strong pattern recognition (winning with mating nets and clean material gains) but also some moments of time trouble and occasional passive moves. Below I break down what you did well and practical steps to keep the momentum.

Replay your most recent win

Open this mini replay to step through the decisive game against alberto162. Use it to follow critical decisions (move 24–32 is especially instructive).

What you did well

• Active piece play: you consistently improved your pieces (Rad1, Rfe1, Nb4/Nc5 jumps) and turned activity into concrete threats.
• Tactical awareness: you converted small tactical chances (a clean knight capture on move 26, wins by forced sequences) — practical blitz strength.
• Finishing and practical play: you convert advantages while keeping the clock in mind — several wins were sealed by resignation or flagging pressure.
• Opening consistency: your opening win rates (Alapin, Four Knights, general Sicilian) are very strong — keep using these as reliable weapons.

Recurring weaknesses / mistakes to fix

• Time trouble habits: you reach low increments on critical moves several times. When the clock is under 30s, your accuracy drops — practice simple decision rules for blitz (trade complexity for safety when short on time).
• Occasional passive moves or slow reorganization: in some middlegames you lost a tempo or avoided direct plans — be decisive with a plan (break, piece to outpost, or target a pawn).
• Opening gaps in certain lines: your Openings Performance shows weaker results in Scheveningen and some Moscow lines. These are specific theory areas to tighten up so opponents can't equalize early and create counterplay.
• Late-game technique in some edge cases: while you convert nicely most of the time, practice common endgames (rook endgames, knight vs pawn) to avoid unnecessary complications when low on time.

Concrete next steps (this week)

• Daily tacticals — 20 minutes: focus on motifs you saw (knight forks, discovered attacks, back-rank motifs). Drill mixed puzzles but tag mistakes and review them.
• Blitz practice with increment: play 10 games 3+2 or 5+3. Force yourself to keep 20–30s buffer for critical moments. If you fall under 20s, trade pieces or simplify to practical plans.
• Opening tune-up — targeted 30–60 minute sessions: pick one weaker opening (example: Scheveningen / Moscow) and prepare 3 typical lines + 1 tactical trap for opponents. Use model games to learn plans rather than memorizing moves.
• Endgame micro-session — 15 minutes: rook vs pawns, king + pawn vs king, and basic checkmate patterns. Drill the simplest winning technique so you convert in low clock situations.
• Review 5 recent wins and 5 losses (15–20 minutes): annotate quickly — what was the turning point? Replace “could’ve played better” with a candidate move you would choose next time.

Blitz-specific tips (quick to apply)

• Two-move rule when low on time: pick the move that keeps threats/responds to the threat and avoids long calculation — avoid speculative sacrifices with 10–15 seconds.
• Pre-move discipline: only pre-move in obvious recaptures or forced captures. Avoid risky pre-moves in sharp positions.
• Trade when ahead on time: if you're winning on the clock but slightly worse on the board, simplify.
• Flag-proof technique: when ahead on time, create mating nets or perpetual threats that force the opponent to use time defending.
• Keep an eye on opponent patterns — some opponents panic under minor threats; you can increase pressure with checks or pawn pushes.

Study plan (4-week cycle)

• Week 1 — Tactics + openings: 20m tactics / 40m opening work (patch Scheveningen/Moscow weak spots).
• Week 2 — Practical blitz training: 3 sessions of 10 blitz games (3+2 / 5+3), plus 15m endgame drills after each session.
• Week 3 — Game review + pattern consolidation: review your toughest losses; make a 1-page cheat sheet of typical plans from your chosen openings.
• Week 4 — Test and adjust: play a mini-tournament (20–30 games) and compare performance; iterate on openings and time management based on results.

Where to focus based on your stats

• Your Strength Adjusted Win Rate is ~53% — already good. Small gains in time management and patching a couple of openings will move that into a stronger band quickly.
• Openings to prioritize: Scheveningen and Moscow lines (win rates 40% and ~37%) — tidy up sideline theory and typical middlegame plans.
• Keep doing what works: Alapin, Four Knights and general Sicilian work very well for you — keep those as core repertoire items.

Micro-drills (5–10 minutes each)

• Spot the loose piece: 20 puzzles where the winning idea is "piece is hanging" — builds quick pattern recognition (Loose Piece).
• One-move conversion: set of endgames where one accurate move wins (king + pawn vs king, basic rook endgames).
• Speed calculation: force yourself to find checks and captures first in each position for 5 minutes.

Notes & reminders

• Small rating dips (3/6/12 month negative slopes) are normal — focus on process (tactics + time control) rather than immediate rating jumps.
• Keep a short “post-game checklist”: key turning move, time management mistake (if any), opening novelty encountered. Do this for 3 games after each session.
• If you want, I can annotate any specific loss or the game above move-by-move — paste a game and I’ll highlight the critical decision points.

Fun closing note

Nice finish — you’re converting well and your win record is strong. Keep tightening opening holes and practice blitz time rules. If you want, I’ll prepare a 4-week training calendar you can follow day-by-day.

Opponents you can review quickly: lejon_kurt, misiek_123 and of course alberto162.