Jose Rafael Gascon GM

Hola José Rafael (GasconJR) 👋

Congratulations on pushing your 2835 (2024-12-01) ever closer to the 2800-mark! Your fighting spirit shows in the fact that you almost never agree to short draws and keep the games sharp from move 1.

📈 Big-picture trends

Your results are highly time-of-day dependent (see

) and you peak in the early evening session. On days when you play more than 20 blitz games your final win-rate drops by nearly 9 % (see ). Building a lighter, more focused schedule will immediately add rating points without any chess-specific work.

✅ What you already do very well

• Opening versatility. In the last 30 games you have used six different first-move set-ups with Black (…e6 & …b6, Nimzo-Indian, French, Sicilian, King’s Indian and the off-beat …b5 line vs 1.d4). This keeps opponents guessing and increases your practical chances.
• Tactical alertness. Your win against Vladimir Bilic (French C03, 5 June) shows how comfortably you calculate far-reaching forcing lines. The final mating net starting with 41…b2!! was spotless.
• Resourceful under pressure. Even in lost positions you continue to set problems (e.g. 34…Ra2!! in the loss vs Lennon Hart Salgados), giving yourself practical chances.

🚧 Recurring issues to address

1. Loose pawn thrusts in the early middlegame.
   • Game vs Dziththauly Ramadhan (Nimzo E32, 7 June): the premature 18…b6 weakened the dark squares and allowed the Bxh6 thematic sacrifice.
   • Game vs Myhaylo Zhukovskyi (English A15, 6 June): 22…b5?! gave White an outside passed pawn and split your forces.
   Rule of thumb: before pushing a side pawn, ask “Can my opponent open a file toward my king in ≤ 3 moves?” If the answer may be “yes”, keep the pawn at home.
2. Converting extra material when the queens are still on.
   In multiple wins (e.g. MinaWael23, 6 June) you were up a rook yet allowed counterplay because you kept queens and gave perpetual-check chances. Trade queens sooner, simplify, and win cleanly.
3. Clock management in equal endgames.
   Both losses to Vladimir Bilic on 5 June were decided by time trouble although the positions were defensible. You spend ~33 % of your total time in moves 11–20; try to cap this phase at 25 % so that you keep ≥ 45 s for the ending.

🔍 Micro-lesson from your latest loss

Critical moment vs dziththaulydcc (move 20):

Black to move: 20…Nd6! returning a pawn but locking the bishop on h6 and developing the rook via e8–d8 was the sober solution. In the game 20…f6?! invited further attacks.

📝 Two-week action plan

• Day 1–3: Build an anti-sac checklist. Collect five positions where you were hit by Bxh6/Nxg6/… and note the defensive resources you missed.
• Day 4–7: 30-minute endgame drill each day (technical rook endings, especially R + p vs R). Use the stop-the-clock rule: after each move hit pause and ask “Would I have played this if I had only 5 s?”
• Day 8–10: Pick one mainline against the E32 Nimzo-Classical and memorise at least 15 moves – no more experimenting during peak-rating sessions.
• Day 11–14: Play only five blitz games per day, each followed by a 5-minute self-review. Quality over quantity will stabilise your rating curve.

✨ Quick inspiration

Remember your clean miniature vs Amir Bagheri (D03, 6 June): you turned a passive Queen’s-Pawn into a tactical masterpiece with 16…e3!! Re-play that win whenever you need a confidence boost!

“Discipline converts creativity into points.” – Keep sharpening and see you at 2800!