Alexander Gelman IM

What You're Doing Well

Alexander, your recent blitz games showcase your strong opening preparation and solid middle game skills. Here are some highlights:

• You have a high win rate in various openings, notably in the Amazon Attack with a 57% win rate and an even stronger 60% in its Siberian Attack variation.
• Your overall performance in dynamic openings like the Bird Opening and its Dutch variation is excellent, with win rates near 69% and 63% respectively, showing your comfort and understanding in these lines.
• You demonstrated good tactical awareness in your most recent win, capitalizing on piece activity and pressuring the opponent's king effectively.
• Your rating has consistently improved over the last year, with positive slopes in your rating trend: increasing at over 20 points per year and steady gains even in the last month, which shows that your overall play and consistency are improving.

Areas to Improve

Despite your strong showing, there are some points where targeted improvement can help you play more consistently and convert more games into wins:

• Opening Diversity & Accuracy: Your performance in openings such as the Benko Gambit and its variations shows nearly balanced wins and losses, indicating room to deepen understanding and reduce losses early in the game.
• Handling Counterplay: In your losses, opponents gained counterplay especially in the center and queenside strategically. Practice recognizing and neutralizing counter threats early in the middlegame.
• Time Management in Blitz: In some games, you spent considerable time early but rushed critical moves in complex positions. Improving time management to keep steady tempo will avoid blunders under time pressure.
• Endgame Technique: There were opportunities for stronger endgame play in your drawn and lost games, such as converting extra material or holding difficult defensive positions. Focus on key endgame principles to close games with greater confidence.

Practical Suggestions for Improvement

• Review typical plans and key tactical motifs in your most frequent openings to increase your win rate and reduce early surprises.
• Spend some time analyzing your losses in detail, especially where your opponent was able to seize the initiative or exploit inaccuracies in the middle game.
• Work on blitz-specific skills such as fast pattern recognition and quick endgame calculations to make the best moves without time trouble.
• Use puzzles and training tools focused on defensive skills and positional play to strengthen your resilience against active opponents.
• Consider incorporating some longer time control games to deepen your strategic understanding that you can bring into blitz.

Final Notes

Your consistent rating improvement and strong opening repertoire bode well for continued success. Keep focusing on sharpening your middle and endgame, and your win rate in blitz will continue to rise.

Feel free to revisit your recent games at the following links for deeper study:

• Most Recent Win
• Most Recent Loss
• Another recent victory