Adrian Martinez Fernandez IM

Quick summary for Adrian Martinez Fernandez

Great recent run — you pushed your live rating up to 2604 and showed strong practical play, especially in the Queen's Gambit / Chigorin lines and many Sicilian structures. At the same time your results show volatility (several games decided by the clock) and a few recurring technical/positional leaks in the Modern and Caro‑Kann. Below are focused, actionable steps to make your blitz stronger and more reliable.

What you're doing well (strengths)

• You convert material and structural advantages reliably — many wins were sealed by correct endgame/effectively advancing passed pawns and active rooks.
• Opening weapons: the QGD: Chigorin (3.cxd5) is a clear success for you (high winrate). Keep using it as a practical weapon. See: QGD: Chigorin, 3.cxd5.
• Good tactical vision in sharp positions — your strength‑adjusted win rate (~52%) shows you score well versus comparable opposition.
• You punish opponent inaccuracies quickly (swindles and time pressure wins are part of your toolkit).

Areas to improve (highest impact)

• Time management: you have wins and losses decided by the clock. Treat the clock like another opponent — avoid long think times on obvious tactical captures and practice quicker decision trees.
• Modern & Caro‑Kann handling: your openings performance shows lower win rates in these systems. Study the typical pawn breaks and piece plans so you stop falling into passive setups early.
• Endgame technique under time pressure: some games show correct ideas but suboptimal technique when the clock gets low (need cleaner conversion in rook+pawn and queenless endgames).
• Consistency / volatility: big rating swings indicate some risky choices or tilt. Aim for fewer speculative sacrifices in pure blitz unless you are certain of compensation.

Concrete 2‑week training plan (blitz-focused)

• Daily 15–20 minute tactics: do motif‑based sets (forks, pins, back‑rank, skewers). Focus on speed and pattern recognition rather than long calculation.
• Endgame drills — 3× per week, 20 minutes: rook endgames, basic king+pawn races, and queen vs. pawn. Drill converting a single pawn advantage with under 3 minutes on the clock.
• Opening work — 4 sessions of 20 minutes:
  • Sharpen the lines you play in the Modern and Caro‑Kann (record a short “if they play X, I play Y” cheat sheet).
  • Keep and polish your QGD: Chigorin lines — review typical middlegame plans rather than memorizing moves only.
• Play with an increment: do 10+5 blitz sessions (20 games) focusing on position play and no premoves except safe recaptures. Practice converting simple advantages under increment.
• Annotate two recent games this week: one comfortable win and the loss on time. Extract one repeatable mistake from each and write a 1-sentence rule to avoid it.

Game‑specific takeaways (recent matches)

• Win vs Armen Proudian — good job simplifying into a winning endgame and pushing passed pawns. Keep trading into endgames when you have the pawn majority and active rooks.
• Win vs Nicholas Bruha — you punished loose pieces and used centralization well. Reward: keep looking for centralizing king routes in queenless middlegames.
• Loss (recent) — flagged on time vs Armen Proudian in another game. The loss was on the clock more than the board. Make a small clock plan: first 10 moves < 30 seconds total; reserve time for critical decisions after move 15.
• Draw / mixed games — many games swing after the opening. If you meet the same line repeatedly, create a 1‑page repertoire summary (typical pawn breaks, a plan when minor pieces trade, and a trap to avoid).

Opening priorities (what to study first)

• Modern — spend 3 focused sessions on the lines you face most: typical pawn breaks, the counterstrike squares, and a safe line that avoids early crushing tactics. Use Modern as your search tag in your notes.
• Caro‑Kann — identify one reliable variation to play both as Black and against it as White; memorize typical piece setups and a short plan for the endgame.
• Keep playing the Chigorin QGD — it’s a high‑value weapon for you. Revisit the 2–3 most common responses opponents use and the typical middlegame plans (not only moves).

Practical blitz checklist (before and during sessions)

• Before start: warm up 5 tactics; review your 1‑page cheat sheet for the opening you’ll play.
• Opening phase rule: if you are worse after 10 moves, simplify and trade down to remove tactical complexity (unless you have a concrete refutation).
• Clock rule: keep 1:30–2:00 as buffer for the final phase. If you drop below 1 minute, switch to hyper‑practical mode: fast forcing moves, no long calculations.
• Mouse/pace: avoid premoves that lose material; premove only safe captures or recaptures.

Targets for the next month

• Reduce losses on time by 50% — track each game lost on time and review the critical moments.
• Improve opening win rates: aim to raise Modern and Caro‑Kann win rates by studying two lines each and playing 10 practice games where you only play those lines.
• Turn tactical improvements into results: go from a 52% strength‑adjusted win rate to 55% by eliminating 1 repeat mistake per week.

Quick resources & study props

• Game review suggestion: pick one recent win and the time‑loss game. Annotate both and keep a one‑sentence rule from each.
• Use short motif puzzles for warmups (10 minutes). Focus: back‑rank, forks, and passed pawn races.
• Reference openings in your repertoire: Caro-Kann Defense, Modern, Sicilian Defense.

Final note

You’re doing a lot right — strong opening choices in the Chigorin and solid tactical instincts. The biggest gains will come from stabilizing the clock and tightening your endgame conversion under time pressure. Put the 2‑week plan into practice, do the two annotated games, and we’ll review progress and adjust the plan next cycle. Good work — keep grinding smart, not just hard.