Fickar Oktafian

Quick summary

Nice run — your rating trend is clearly upward (strong recent gains: +116 in one month, +194 over six months). Your play shows tactical sharpness and an ability to convert advantages into mate. At the same time, a few recurring weaknesses (king safety and occasional tactical oversights) are costing you decisive games. Below are practical, focused steps to keep the upward trend going.

What you're doing well

• Sharp tactics and combinations: you look comfortable creating and executing combinations (example: the game vs awew29 where you sacrificed on e6 and finished with a queen checkmate). Try replaying the decisive sequence:
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• Opening repertoire with clear winners — your Petrov, Amar Gambit and Barnes Defense lines score well; keep using these to get comfortable middlegame positions you know how to play.
• Conversion: when you get material or positional advantage you usually convert — that’s a huge strength at rapid time controls.

Recurring weaknesses to fix

• King safety and risky king moves: in your loss to muhammadyusufqadri the kingside became vulnerable after central/kingside shuffling (king activity is fine, but moving the king without assured safety invites mating ideas such as Qh7). Keep the rule: only bring the king out when the position is simplified and safe.
• Tactical oversights while defending — you score tactics aggressively, but sometimes miss opponent threats (back-rank and mating motifs). Before each move, ask: does my opponent have a forcing idea (check, capture, threat)?
• Specific openings with below-average results: Scandinavian and Center Game have lower win rates for you. These lines often produce tactical skirmishes — if you play them, refresh concrete lines and known traps, or switch to a steadier alternative until you feel confident.
• Occasional piece hanging / loose pieces: continue to scan for "Loose pieces drop off" (LPDO). A quick board scan after every opponent move fixes many of these losses.

Concrete weekly plan (what to do this week)

• Daily tactics: 20–30 puzzles focused on mating patterns and mates-in-2/3 (back-rank, Greek gift, discovered check themes).
• Two game reviews (30–45 minutes each): annotate one win and one loss. Start with the losses vs muhammadyusufqadri and easywinbrotherhaha — write down the turning point and one alternative move you should have played.
• Opening drill: 2 short sessions (20–30 min) on Scandinavian Defense basics — key lines and one anti-trap line so you stop losing the opening battle.
• Endgame basics: 2 short lessons on rook endgames and basic king + pawn technique (15–20 minutes each). Rook endings decide many rapid games.

One-month plan (higher impact)

• Play 50 rapid games but annotate the 8 most instructive ones (4 wins, 4 losses). Focus on recurring mistakes.
• Openings: keep Petrov & Caro-Kann as core repertoire (they’re already good for you). Spend 3 hours total on Scandinavian and Center Game to bring them to usable level — memorize 2 reliable lines and common tactical traps.
• Calculation training: weekly blind-spot sessions — pick 5 tactical puzzles and calculate 3 lines each to 3–4 ply before checking solution.

Practical techniques to apply in games (checklist)

• After every opponent move: quick threats check — “Is my king in danger? Any checks, captures or threats?”
• Before committing a king move, ensure you have flight squares or simplification planned.
• When you see a tactic you like (sacrifice), count opponent replies — always find the refutation candidate first.
• If you have a winning plan, simplify (exchange queens) when ahead in material and the opponent has attacking chances.

Opening advice (based on your stats)

• Strengths to double-down on: Petrov's Defense and Amar Gambit — both show high win rates. Use them to steer games toward familiar middlegames.
• Weaknesses to shore up: Scandinavian Defense (WinRate ~45%) and Center Game. Either study the main replies and typical tactics or avoid them until you’ve practiced the key lines in training.
• Practical tip: prepare one “safe” line and one “tricky” line per opening — the safe line keeps you solid; the tricky line is for surprise value when you want a decisive game.

Training micro-tasks (10–30 minutes each)

• 10 minutes: 10 fast tactics (motif: forks, pins, back-rank).
• 20 minutes: replay one recent win and mark the exact move where your opponent went wrong (helps you recognize winning patterns).
• 30 minutes once a week: annotated self-analysis — write why you chose each move for the critical 8–10 moves.

Motivation — what the numbers say

• Your Strength Adjusted Win Rate is ~50% — you are competitive vs similarly rated opponents.
• Consistent upward trend: 1 month +116, 3 month +59, 6 month +194. That’s real progress — keep the training habits that produced this.
• Win/Loss balance is nearly even overall (1390 wins vs 1391 losses) — converting a few of those close losses (via tactics & safety checks) will push your rating higher.

Next steps — short checklist

• This week: do the daily tactics + annotate 2 games.
• Pick one opening weakness (Scandinavian or Center Game) and learn 2 key lines.
• Before every game: 30-second pre-check list (king safety, hanging pieces, opponent tactical shot).
• If you want, share 1 loss and 1 win and I’ll annotate them move-by-move for you.

Examples from your recent games

• Win vs awew29 — excellent combination (Rxe6 → Rxd6 → Qxc7 mate). Replaying that sequence will help you spot the motifs to repeat.
• Win vs kolero2 — you exploited central breaks and queen activity (Qa4+ and central pawn push) to simplify into a winning endgame.
• Loss vs muhammadyusufqadri — a classic mating net on the kingside (Qh7#). The takeaway: tighten kingside cover and don’t allow the opponent to keep mating threats alive while you chase material.

Want me to dig deeper?

Tell me one game (link or opponent name) you want fully annotated and I’ll produce a short, mobile-friendly breakdown with the turning points, concrete alternative moves, and a short training plan tailored to that game.