El Taher Fouad IM

Quick summary

Nice effort entering the daily event — you got into lots of games and gained practical experience. The clear patterns from your recent games are: many early-game losses that ended on time and a mix of unusual/rare openings. That gives us two straightforward targets: time management and simple, reliable opening choices.

What you're doing well

• You're playing a lot of games, which is the fastest way to gain experience and spot recurring mistakes.
• You aren't afraid to take the initiative (several opponents show early captures and sharp lines) — that's a good mindset.
• You're exposing yourself to different openings and positions, which helps build pattern recognition over time.

Key areas to improve

• Time management: several games ended with you losing on time. In daily chess that means you either forgot to move, misjudged how long you had, or left decisions for the last minute. Set a routine to make at least a simple safe move each day if a game is active.
• Opening selection and move orders: many games show unusual or unsound openings. Stick to simple, reliable setups you know well so you can play the early phase quickly and confidently (control center, develop minor pieces, castle).
• Blunders & hanging pieces: play slower when the position is tactical. Before each move, ask “Is any piece hanging? Am I blundering a tactic?” — this catches most cheap losses.
• Post-game review habit: review losses the same day. Even 5–10 minutes per loss to find the single tactical or time mistake will boost improvement quickly.

Concrete drills (daily & weekly)

• Daily tactics: 12–20 puzzles per day (focus on easy/medium forks, pins, skewers). Build pattern recognition — 20 minutes.
• Opening routine: pick 2 reliable responses as Black (for example a simple open defense and one solid closed setup). Spend 10 minutes a day reviewing the typical plans and one typical trap. Use Book moves only until you feel comfortable.
• Endgame basics: 10 minutes twice a week — king and pawn vs king, basic rook endgames and basic mate patterns (helpful when games go long).
• One post-mortem per day: pick your worst loss, play through slowly and note whether it was a tactical miss, bad opening choice, or time fault. 10–15 minutes.

Quick fixes for daily games (immediate wins)

• Enable mobile/desktop notifications so you don’t forget to move in an active daily game.
• If you can’t check games daily, resign or offer a draw earlier — don’t let the clock run out. (Losing on time gives no learning benefit.)
• When short on time: simplify — exchange pieces and play sensible developing moves, not long tactics you haven’t calculated.
• Make a small opening checklist: “Is my king safe? Are my minor pieces developed? Any loose pieces?” — run it through before every move in the opening until it becomes automatic. Use Loose Piece as a mental flag.

Example — a typical early loss (one-page review)

Here is a short reconstruction of a recent opening sequence that ended as a time loss. Replay it and imagine the clock running down: make a small developing move instead of pausing for a complicated calculation.

Human explanation: in many games you face normal first moves by White. If you respond slowly or try an offbeat idea and then don't follow up quickly, the game can slip away on time. If you face the capture of the e-pawn (Nxe5) — remember to recapture or trade quickly if you confirm safety, and if you aren’t sure calculate only one move deeper before making a safe recapture or retreat.

Opponent reference: veidofarolete

Short study plan for the next 4 weeks

• Week 1: Tactics (daily), pick 2 dependable openings and learn 3 move orders for each. Practice making at least one move per day in every active game.
• Week 2: Continue tactics, add 15 minutes post-mortem review for every loss, implement the “opening checklist” before every early move.
• Week 3: Start basic endgames (king+pawn, rook+king), reduce experimentation in rated games — play simpler lines to avoid time sinks.
• Week 4: Evaluate progress: are you flagging less? Are you winning more early exchanges? Adjust training load accordingly.

Next steps & encouragement

Small, consistent changes will show fast results: notifications + one daily tactics session + simple opening repertoire. If you want, send me one loss you want analyzed move-by-move (paste the PGN for that single game) and I’ll walk through practical improvements and concrete alternative moves.

Keep going — practice smart, not just many games. You’re building the foundations; tighten up time management and openings and the results will follow.