Coach Chesswick
Feedback Report for Mikhail Lifanov
1. Quick Snapshot
• Peak Rating (Blitz): 2318 (2022-03-30)
• Typical Openings: d4 → King’s Indian setups, Queen’s Gambit, English Defence as Black.
• Recent trend: strong winning streaks against 2200–2450, but a few rapid collapses against similar strength in Titled Tuesday.
2. What You’re Doing Well
- Dynamic pawn play: Your wins regularly feature early pawn breaks (e5, d5, f4) that seize the initiative. In the win vs. GrundeK you used 6.exf5 & 7.fxe6 to rip open files while still in development.
- Tactical alertness: You spot forcing continuations quickly—e.g. 24.Nc7! and 25.dxc7 in the game vs. aleks80, turning material pressure into a time-forfeiture win.
- Active king in endings: Your conversion versus SKBorac (0-1) showed good end-game technique: centralised king, domination of the only open file, and accurate liquidation into a won bishop ending.
3. Main Pain-Points
- Clock Management: Seven of the last ten decisive results (both wins & losses) ended on time. Often you enter critical positions with <10 seconds and miss clean wins or defensive resources. See the loss to Flaccidmoves where a completely equal rook ending was lost on time.
- Over-extension in the centre: In the loss vs. average_trans you played 10.Ne5/12.e4/15.Ne4, allowing …Bg4 & …Qe5 ideas—classic punishment for neglecting development. Introduce more prophylaxis between pawn storms.
- King safety in sharp KID positions: Your 8.g4 lines are powerful, but twice you were mated after neglecting f- and h-file dark-square coverage (see the mate by riospm). Study thematic defensive resources like …g5 breaks and timely h6 for Black, and for White the typical exchange sacrifice Rxf5 to neutralise the bishop on g4.
4. Action Plan
- 30-minute “Timer Drills” Play 3-minute games starting with 30 seconds on your own clock and 3 minutes for the bot. Focus on moving immediately after the opponent’s reply—train your reflexes to save 10–15 seconds per critical moment.
- Tighten the centre before launching flanks: In your d4 repertoire, add the quiet 8.h3 (vs. KID) line to practise consolidating before g4. Analyse model games by Radjabov & Svidler.
- Tactics—but with defence: Solve 10 puzzles daily that require finding the only move to equalise. This balances your natural attacking flair with necessary resistance.
- Review blind spots: After each session, tag any missed intermediate move (Zwischenzug) and create a flash-card with the motif. You will accumulate a highly personal quiz deck within two weeks.
5. When You Win & When You Struggle
Explore your performance graphs:
and . Many players unknowingly perform 5-8 % worse in the first hour of their day—if you see a dip, schedule your rated sessions accordingly.6. Next Milestone
Target Blitz 2350. At your current growth rate (~15 rating points/month) that’s 6–8 weeks if you implement the clock-management drills.
Keep pushing, Mikhail! Your creativity is your signature—polish the defensive edges and time handling, and the results will follow.