FL0RIAN0P0LIS GM

Hi FL0RIAN0P0LIS, here’s some targeted feedback based on your latest blitz session!

What you’re already doing well

• Flexible opening repertoire. With White you steer the game into a quiet Réti/English setup and are comfortable shifting into Catalan-style structures. As Black you alternate between the King’s Indian/Grünfeld complex and the French, giving you practical variety.
• Dynamic piece play. Several wins featured the pawn‐storm & exchange-sac motif (20.Rxd5!! against mind1mover, game three) showing good tactical alertness under time pressure.
• Endgame grit. Your time-scramble technique is strong: even slightly worse endings (e.g. vs DarkwingDuck98) were defended until the flag fell.

Three areas to focus on next

1. Time-management discipline
   In the last 10 games you flagged twice and won three times on your opponent’s flag. Relying on the clock is risky at 3|0. Try the “40 | 20 | 10” rule: spend ≤40 s to leave the opening, ≤20 s navigating the early middlegame, and keep ≥10 s for every endgame you enter.  Tip: play a few 3|2 games to practise thinking during the increment.
2. Smoother middlegame planning in the Grünfeld / King’s Indian
   Your loss to mind1mover (Grünfeld, D90) shows tempo drift: …Nc6–a5–c6–a5–c6 consumed five moves while White improved pieces and expanded on the queenside.
   • After 12…Rab8 consider the thematic …e5 break or early …c5 to hit the centre.
   • Review typical plans in the Flohr-Mikenas system (…c5, …Nc6, …Bg4) to avoid ‘‘shuffling’’.
   A mini-exercise: set up the position after 15.Bf3 (game D90) and let an engine play Black vs. itself for 20 moves. Observe how it generates counterplay without wasting tempi.
3. Dark-square resilience when you fianchetto
   In both the Catalan loss (vs rezamahdavi2008) and the O’Kelly Sicilian loss (vs mbojan) the opponent’s queen infiltrated via q-b-5/b-4 onto dark squares you could no longer guard.
   • Adopt the habit ‘‘If I push the f- or g-pawn, what keeps d4/e5/h4 dark squares safe?’’
   • Re-watch any King’s Indian lesson on …Bg4 / …Bf5 to appreciate how exchanging dark-square bishops too early magnifies this weakness.

Illustrative tactic you missed

After 19…Bxe5? in the French Two-Knights (vs mind1mover) you walked into 20.Nxd5! winning a pawn and the exchange. Replay it here:

Action plan for the coming week

• Drill 15 puzzles/day focused on fork-themes and overloaded pieces (the motifs that cost you material in the losses).
• Analyse two of your own wins without an engine first; write down why your plan worked, then turn the engine on and compare. This trains self-diagnosis, not just computer-checking.
• Play five 3|2 games, aiming to finish each one with ≥15 s on the clock; review moves where you spent >10 s and ask “Did the position really need it?”
• Watch one GM game in the Grünfeld Flohr line and one in the Réti g3 line; summarise the main pawn breaks in a notebook.

Your dashboard snapshot

Peak blitz rating: 2960 (2023-12-26)
Hour-to-hour performance:

Day-of-week boost:

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Keep up the creative play, sharpen your time use, and those 2900-plus peaks will become your new normal. Good luck at the board!