David Findlay

Recent rapid games — high level takeaways

You’ve shown clear growth over your recent rapid events. Your games feature sharp tactical moments, solid handling of complex middlegames, and a willingness to press when the opportunity arises. A few patterns stood out that you can convert into stronger results with tiny adjustments.

What went well in the latest games

• You created and exploited forcing lines in the early middlegame, especially when you could coordinate pieces toward the enemy king. The sequence that began with active piece play and a forcing attack netted material and a winning result in at least one recent game.
• You demonstrated good momentum in several middlegame transitions, keeping your pieces active and your opponent on the defensive rather than letting the position simplify into a worse endgame for you.
• Your willingness to test aggressive lines (including sacrifices when they lead to concrete gains) shows good fighter’s instinct and readiness to complicate when your position demands it.

Key areas to tighten for stronger results

• Back-rank and king safety: in a couple of games, the opponent was able to generate a direct attack or mating ideas against your king. Build in a prophylactic check near move 10–12 to ensure the back rank remains solid and your king has escape options.
• When ahead in material, avoid over-ambitious lines that can give back the initiative. Look for solid exchanges that preserve your material edge and simplify into winning endgames rather than chasing extra threats that may backfire.
• Endgame conversion: practice a few rook and minor piece endings to improve your ability to press a winning edge beyond the middlegame. In rapid time controls, clean endgame technique often wins games that were still in flux at the end of the middlegame.
• Opening prophylaxis: in some games, early tactical ideas by the opponent crept in after you castled or developed. Don’t skip routine checks for typical attacking ideas in the openings you’re using, and consider keeping a simple “safety plan” in the first 12–15 moves.

Opening choices and how to leverage them

Your openings show a mix of aggressive, tactical lines and solid setups. A few concrete paths to focus on this period:

• For dynamic play, continue refining the sharp lines you’ve tried (for example, those that lead to quick piece activity against the king). Pair them with concrete middlegame plans so you don’t rely solely on tactics.
• Identify 2–3 Black replies you’re comfortable facing (and 2–3 White replies you’re most likely to see) and build a compact plan for each. This helps you avoid being surprised by offbeat ideas and improves your decision quality in the critical early middlegame.
• Review a couple of your most successful openings (like the line you used in the Barnes Defense family) to extract the typical middle-game themes and endings you can aim for when those structures arise.

Practical training plan to accelerate progress

• Tactical training: work on 10–15 tactical puzzles per day, focusing on forced sequences, back-rank motifs, and forks. Time-box each session to mimic rapid conditions.
• Endgame practice: dedicate two short sessions per week to rook endings and king-and-pawn endings until you’re confident converting a variety of positions.
• Opening study: choose 2–3 openings as your core repertoire (one for White and one for Black in common defenses) and 1–2 backups. Build a one-page summary for each with typical middlegame plans and common tactical motifs to watch for.
• Post-game review habit: after every rapid game, jot down 2–3 critical decision points and one alternative line you could have chosen. Do this for both wins and losses to reinforce learning.

One-game deep dive idea

Pick the most recent challenging middlegame position and walk through it slowly. Look for: (1) the moment you could have stabilized the position, (2) any prophylaxis you missed against a potential attack, and (3) a concrete endgame plan if the middlegame remains imbalanced. If you’d like, I can generate a focused, step-by-step analysis for that game as a placeholder drill. For a quick study, you could save this placeholder for your next review: