Varuzhan Akobian GM

Recent Performance Overview

Varuzhan, you have shown solid progress in your recent blitz games, with a strength adjusted win rate just above 51% and a positive rating trend in the last 6 months. Your recent rating gains, especially the increase of over 100 points in 6 months, show promising improvement and dedication.

Positives in Your Recent Games

• Your opening choices, like the Dutch Defense Classical Variation and King's Indian Defense, are leading to strong middlegame positions where you are effectively pressuring your opponents.
• You demonstrated good tactical awareness and time management, notably winning games by checkmate as well as on time, showing confidence and control in critical moments.
• You maintain consistent pressure in the endgame, capitalizing on opponent mistakes and converting material advantages efficiently.
• Maintained strong positional play and understanding especially in complex pawn structures and exchanges.

Areas for Improvement

• Time Pressure: A few losses ended with the opponent winning on time. Sharpening your clock management under time pressure can help prevent these.
• Endgame Technique: While converting advantages well, some games have shown challenges in complex endgames against strong opponents. Reviewing key endgame principles and practicing typical endgame scenarios would be beneficial.
• Opening Consistency: Your repertoire has worked well, but occasionally opponents challenge you early on. Further deepening your understanding of the key ideas and common tactical themes in your openings will better prepare you for surprises.
• Middle Game Planning: Try to enhance your long-term strategic planning to avoid occasional passive moments and to open more attacking chances when opportunities arise.

Specific Game Suggestions

Review the following types of positions from your recent games:

• The battle in the Dutch Defense Classical Variation where you managed an advantageous bishop and pawn structure. Focus on tactics and prophylactic moves to strengthen this line.
• King's Indian Defense games where pawn breaks and piece activity play a key role—study how you leverage these breaks and look for patterns to improve decision-making in critical moments.
• The endgame against Marcul0 where you were outmaneuvered, analyzing move-by-move can help you learn to preserve material and improve king activity under pressure.

Next Steps

• Continue practicing blitz while integrating focused training sessions on endgames and clock management.
• Spend time revising your most played openings and the typical pawn structures and plans arising from them.
• Use annotated games or puzzles from your recent encounters to sharpen your tactical vision and strategic judgment.
• Consider adding a post-game self-analysis routine to identify missed opportunities or inaccuracies you can address in training.

Maintaining your current improvement pace, you are on track for even higher performance in the coming months. Keep up the focused effort!