Nicholas Paltrinieri FM

Overall Progress

Nicholas, your recent games show excellent progress with a strong undefeated streak, recording 11 wins and just 3 draws. Your rating has grown impressively from the low 400s to over 1500 within the last year, demonstrating consistent improvement and solid understanding of the game.

Your strength-adjusted win rate of 100% indicates you are effectively converting advantages into wins without letting matches slip away. Keep up this focused mindset as it will continue to fuel your climb.

Opening Repertoire

You have a diverse and effective opening repertoire. Here are some key highlights:

• English Opening — with both Symmetrical and Drill Variations, you have a 100% win rate, showing good preparation and understanding of these lines.
• Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation — undefeated in all games played here with a perfect record.
• Caro-Kann Defense, King’s Indian Defense, and Three Knights Opening — strong performances indicate comfort playing both Black and White in flexible positions.
• Amazon Attack — solid results with a 66.67% win rate; focusing on sharper plans here could increase this further.
• Avoid gloom on opening lines like the Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit where you’ve drawn; reviewing alternatives might help turn draws into wins.

Overall, it’s clear that your preparation pays off, especially when sticking to your favorite variations.

Areas to Improve

• Mid-Game Tactics & Planning: While your openings set strong foundations, continuing to sharpen tactical awareness and strategic planning will help convert slight advantages into wins more consistently.
• Endgame Technique: Since many games reach simplified positions, improving fundamental endgame knowledge will keep your conversion rate high and reduce risk of draws.
• Time Management: Some of your games had prolonged thinking on early moves—try balancing deep calculation with practical speed to maintain mental clarity throughout longer sessions.
• Expand Opening Adaptability: Experimenting slightly outside your comfort zone in casual games can prepare you for opponents targeting your usual lines.

Next Steps for Improvement

• Review and analyze your recent wins to identify key moments where you gained advantage, then study similar positions in chess databases or videos.
• Work on tactical puzzles daily to build sharper pattern recognition and faster calculations.
• Study classic endgames to gain better technical skills for pressing small advantages.
• Practice playing some rapid or blitz games to train faster decision making without losing accuracy.
• Consider focusing on your top-performing openings first, then gradually explore alternatives for deeper flexibility.

Keep the Momentum!

Your rating trends positively with a strong slope showing rapid improvement, so maintaining your practice routine and learning from each game will bring even more success. Confidence is growing, and with focused study on tactics and endgames, your rating climb will continue steadily upward.