Evgeny Melikhov FM

Hi Evgeny!

Great job maintaining a high Blitz rating around 2496 (2024-01-23). Your recent games show lively, dynamic play and an appetite for complicated positions. Here’s some tailored feedback to help you keep climbing:

What you’re already doing well

• Opening variety & ambition. You’re willing to enter sharp Najdorf lines as Black (e.g. vs IranianCheetah) and use active systems such as the Nimzo-Indian.
• Tactical alertness. Several wins arise from tactical resourcefulness (…Qg1#, …Rc8+, intermezzi in the centre, etc.). Your pieces find activity quickly when the position opens.
• Practical mindset. In Blitz you often choose forcing continuations that put the onus on the opponent to find only moves.

Key areas to sharpen

1. Conversion & clock management.
   • Four recent losses were on time despite reasonable positions.
   • Aim to reach the late middlegame with ≥40 s; consider a “speed-up” trigger when under 1:00.
   • Practise increment endgames online: play won king-and-pawn endings vs engine at 10 s + 1 s to habituate quick, accurate moves.
2. Defence against flank pressure.
   • Games vs AlfilesCruzados and LeninGuerra show difficulties after opponents expand with f4/f5 or g4/g5.
   • Review pawn-storm scenarios in the Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange and Ruy Lopez Worrall; rehearse setups where …h6…g5 is met by h4/h5.
   • Drill typical structures with the thematically similar Carlsbad & KID Mar del Plata pawn races.
3. Endgame technique.
   • In the loss to DiogenesSinopeus the rook endgame collapsed after 32…h6?; in wins you sometimes miss cleaner finishes.
   • Weekly routine: 10–15 composed rook-and-pawn studies; annotate your solution, then compare with engine. Focus on active rook, passed-pawn creation, king activity.
4. Opening tightening.
   • Najdorf 6.h3 e6 7.g4: after 12…b4 the knight manoeuvre …Nd7–c5 was good, but 17…Bc5!? left d6 loose. Add the mainline plan …Be7 / …g5 / …Kf8.
   • Nimzo Indian Kmoch: re-examine the move order after …Rc8 & …Rc4; the queen sortie …Qb5!? vs 17.e4 was interesting but time-consuming.
   • Consider adding a solid fallback line (e.g. Chekhover Sicilian as White, Bogo-Indian as Black) for when you need low-theory positions.

Suggested training blend (per week)

Progress trackers

The following dashboards can help you visualise improvement trends:

• – discover your best/worst playing hours.
• – identify fatigue patterns across the week.

Quick reference links

• Brush up on zugzwang: zugzwang
• Review prophylaxis concepts: prophylaxis
• Tactical motif library: back-rank mate

Final thoughts

Your aggressive style is a real asset—refine the defensive and technical sides to become a more complete player. Keep having fun at the board, and may your next peak eclipse 2496 (2024-01-23) very soon!