Richard Duijn FM

Hi Richard, here is your personalised training feedback

1. What you are already doing well

• Tactical Awareness: Your wins often come from spotting combinations quickly. The miniature against hiparu_napamura shows crisp calculation leading to mate on move 44.
• Courage in the Centre: You are happy to play open Sicilians and Exchange French structures, taking space with pawn breaks (…d5 / d4-e4).
• Converting Advantages: When materially ahead you usually simplify smoothly; see the clean ending in your win vs magicked1.

2. Key recurring problems

• King safety after pawn storms. In several losses (e.g. vs magstduschachspielen05 and Water_cold) pawns advanced to f5-g5-h5 without your king having a safe haven. Ask yourself before pushing a flank pawn: “Will my king still be safe five moves later?”
• Overloaded queen defence. In multiple Caro–Kann Exchange games your queen went to h5/h6 too early and became a target. Consider delaying queen forays until development is complete.
• Time management. Two recent defeats were on the clock despite equal or winning positions. You use ~50 % of your time in the first 12 moves; aim for 30 %. Try a few sessions of 3 + 2 to practise playing good moves quickly.

3. Opening focus (next two weeks)

1. Caro-Kann Exchange as White
   • Replace 10.Qb3/11.Qa4 manoeuvre with the principled 10.h3 & 11.Re1 ideas.
   • Memorise one line against …Qc7 instead of …Qa5.
2. Sicilian as Black
   • Your Sveshnikov is sharp but gives you the very pawn storms that hurt you later. Test the Classical setup (…e6 & …Nc6) in a few blitz games and compare results.

4. Middlegame/Endgame tasks

• Play out the following position vs. engine from both sides until you hold a draw with Black and win with White:
  
  .
• Review chapter on prophylaxis in Dvoretsky’s Manual; pay special attention to knight manoeuvres that stop pawn breaks (see your loss vs dschess5).
• Daily puzzle rush target: 30+ score focussing on pins and deflections.

5. Metrics to watch

• Peak blitz rating: 2509 (2021-08-08)
• Win rate by time of day:

6. Training schedule

7. Stretch goal

Hit a stable 2400 blitz by the end of next month, with a positive score in adverse positions (i.e., practice saving worse games). Remember: solid structure first, fireworks later!

Good luck, and enjoy the journey!