Juras Mickevicius FM

Personalised feedback for Juras Mickevicius

What you already do well

• Active piece play out of the opening. In several Catalan and Benko-style structures you quickly develop and put pressure on the centre (e.g. your win versus michaelwhipple, moves 8–14).
• Confidence to sacrifice pawns for initiative. The 9.Na5 in the Catalan against purponio and 29.Rb8+! in the Benko show tactical courage and the ability to keep the opponent guessing.
• Conversion of extra material in simplified positions. In the endgame of your recent win you calmly pushed the passed a- and b-pawns without allowing counter-play.
• Good performance during your peak playing hours. Check where you score best on the timeline below and try to schedule important games accordingly:
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Main growth areas

1. King safety in double-edged positions.
   • In the loss to cicang you castled early but later opened your own king with 27.b3 and 29.Qf4, giving Black dark-square targets.
   • Before making pawn moves in front of your king, run a quick “checks-captures-threats” scan for your opponent.
   • Study classic King’s Indian Attack structures to learn typical when and when not to expand with g- and h-pawns.
2. Move-by-move calculation discipline.
   • Tactics decided four of your last seven games. In the Purponio game 32…Fxg3+ was missed because the rook on g2 was overloaded.
   • Add 10-minute daily puzzle rush or three rated tactics to your routine. The goal is accuracy, not speed – verbalise candidate moves and look one ply deeper for hidden zwischenzug ideas.
3. Pawn-structure awareness.
   • After 19…b5 against sussexjames the resulting Caro-Kann structure favoured Black’s queenside majority.
   • Revisit typical structures you frequently reach (Caro-Kann Advance, Catalan, Benko). Build a mental library of plans – minority attack, blockade, break with e4/e5, etc.
4. Time management in critical moments.
   • Several decisive mistakes came after long thinks followed by a rush of quick moves (e.g. 40…Nxg3? vs Cicang). When under 5 minutes, allocate at least 30 seconds to any move that changes the pawn structure or leaves a piece en-prise.

Opening-specific pointers

Targeted exercises for the coming month

• Play five training games starting from the diagram after 15.Qb3 in the Catalan (Purponio game) and practise converting the extra pawn while neutralising counter-play.
• Analyse the puzzle position below until you can explain all tactical motifs (fork, pin, back-rank mate):
  
  
  
• Endgame drill: rook + pawn versus rook defence (Lucena & Philidor). Your resignation versus MichaelWhipple came from a drawable R+P ending.

Your progress at a glance

Peak ratings so far: Blitz 2705 (2023-12-26), Rapid 2298 (2021-02-14). Use the day-by-day trend to track improvement:

Action plan checklist

• ⭘ 30 tactics/week with full calculation notes.
• ⭘ Annotate one of your own games each week without an engine, then compare.
• ⭘ Watch two grandmaster Catalan endgames focusing on minority attack themes.
• ⭘ Play at least one training game in a slower time-control (30 + 10) every weekend.

Stay consistent and enjoy the journey, Juras! I’m looking forward to seeing you break the next rating barrier soon.