Filipe Elienai

Quick summary

Nice set of recent results, Filipe — you’re creating practical problems for opponents in the opening and middlegame and you often win on time by keeping pressure. At the same time you have some recurring leaks around king safety and time management that cost you decisive games. Below are focused, actionable suggestions you can use in your next sessions.

What you’re doing well

• You play active, aggressive lines in the Sicilian and related systems (you create counterplay quickly). See your preference for the Sicilian Defense.
• You spot tactical opportunities: knight forks, invasion squares and checks — e.g. successful penetrations with Ng2+ / Qh3 in recent wins.
• You convert practical chances under time pressure — opponents flag or crack psychologically against sustained pressure.
• Your opening repertoire is consistent (Closed Sicilian/Alapin and similar lines). That gives you repeatable positions to study and improve.

Main areas to improve

• Time management: several wins ended on the opponent’s flag and several losses came from tactical oversights when short on time. Use your 2‑second increment more deliberately — avoid rushing critical positions.
• King safety & back-rank awareness: in your recent loss you were checkmated after a sequence where your king became exposed and the opponent exploited back-rank/rook infiltration. Always check for back-rank mate threats before simplifying.
• Finish games proactively: relying on flagging is practical in blitz, but improving technique to convert wins without pressure will raise your baseline strength.
• Opening precision in critical lines: you play many Sicilian sub-variations — a few move-order inaccuracies let opponents get counterplay. A small targeted refresh of the critical lines will pay off.

Concrete drills & 4-week plan

Short, repeatable sessions for blitz improvement.

• Daily (15–20 min): tactics puzzles with emphasis on forks, pins and mating nets. Focus on speed and pattern recognition.
• 3×/week (20 min): 5–10 blitz games with the specific aim to practice increment use — play to keep at least 10 seconds on the clock after move 15. After each game, mark one or two turning points.
• 2×/week (15 min): endgame practise — rook and pawn endings, basic king and pawn races, and common mating patterns. This will reduce losses from conversion mistakes or being mated unexpectedly.
• Weekly (30–45 min): review one loss and one close win with a slow engine check and personal notes. Ask: “What was my plan? What candidate moves did I miss?”
• Opening polish (once a week, 20–30 min): pick your top Sicilian line (Closed/Alapin) and drill 5–8 typical middlegame plans and one tactical trap to be aware of. Use game examples you played.

Short checklist to use during blitz games

• Before pressing the clock: “Is my king safe? Any back-rank mate or forks next move?”
• Count checks, captures, and threats before every move (the classic 3-question test).
• If ahead in material, trade down to simplify with a clear route to an endgame — but ensure the king is safe first.
• Use the increment: take an extra second on critical positions to avoid tactical oversights.

How to review the highlighted games

Start with the most recent win vs chesters01 — look at the moment you gained the initiative and the sequence you used to create mating / infiltration threats. Then review your loss vs black5abbath for the tactical sequence that leads to the mate and the earlier decision that allowed the opponent to penetrate.

• Recent win (closed Sicilian d3 lines) — interactive replay:
• Recent loss (back-rank mate sequence) — study the final position and trace back candidate moves where defense could be improved. You can open the game vs black5abbath in your game viewer for step‑by‑step review.

Concrete first-session checklist (next time you play)

• Warm up with 5 tactics (5 minutes).
• Play two 5+2 games focusing only on not dropping below 10 seconds after move 10.
• After each game, immediately note one tactical oversight and one positional plan you missed.

Final encouragement

Your rating history shows clear improvement and consistency — the pieces are moving in the right direction. Tighten time management and clean up king safety/back-rank awareness and you’ll convert those practical advantages into steady rating gains.

When you want, send one game you lost recently and I’ll annotate the key moments move‑by‑move with what to look for next time.