Michel Saucey FM

Hi Michel!

Great work keeping your rating roughly around 2300-2350 in 3 | 2 games – that already puts you in the top few percent on Chess-com. Below is a blend of praise and practical advice drawn from your last 10 games (5 wins, 5 losses).

What you are already doing well

• Active pawn play. In several victories (e.g. vs kpm_pl) you steered the game with passed pawns (the c-pawn sprint in the diagram). This shows good judgement of when to push and when to support.
  
  
• Strong Modern/KID feel as Black. You score well with …g6/…Bg7 set-ups. Your piece placement is harmonious and you rarely mis-handle typical breaks like …c5 or …e5.
• Conversion in winning positions. Once you are clearly ahead your technique is reliable; only one of the five wins drifted slightly before you put it away.

Key growth areas

1. Early tactical blunders vs Queens-Indian & Slav structures.
   • Loss to Trainingbg81 (move 14) and moonsunlil5 (move 29) both came from overlooking one-move tactics on central squares.
   • Add 10-minute daily puzzle rush or custom drills on motifs: double-attacks in semi-closed games, knight forks on e4/e5/c4.
2. Time management.
   • Two recent losses (vs mklighter & Trainingbg81) were on time and another because you resigned in an unclear position.
   • Aim for <20 s on move 20 and keep an eye on the increment: quick forced replies gain you “free” seconds.
3. Opening depth with White.
   • Your Queen’s Gambit/Tarrasch repertoire is sound, but you often delay cxd5/dxc5 decisions and allow …c5 & …dxc4 under favourable circumstances for Black.
   • Spend one study session on each of these:
   • Tarrasch Defense  4.e3 Nf6  – test lines after 9…Ne4.
   • Slav …c6 + …c5 transpositions – know when dxc5/cxd5 is critical.

Concrete opening tweaks

Practical checklist for your next session

• Warm-up: 10 rated puzzles + one 5-min visualization drill.
• During the game: if the opponent’s last move hits a pawn/piece → ask “what changed?” before replying.
• Opening study: play two thematic sparring games starting from move 8 of your Slav loss position.
• Post-game: tag each mistake as calculation, time, or strategy – focus next study on the largest tag.

Stats & Tracking

Your current Blitz peak: 2416 (2020-09-22). Keep an eye on streak patterns here:

Final encouragement

You already demonstrate master-level understanding in many middlegames. Iron out the one-move tactics and clock handling, and 2400+ is well within reach. Enjoy the grind – I’m looking forward to your next leap!