Bartlomiej Macieja GM

Feedback for GM Bartłomiej Macieja

What’s working well

• Flexible English structures as White. In several recent wins you steered the game into double-fianchetto positions where your strategic understanding shines (e.g. vs Awonder Liang).
• Pawn-play & passed-pawn conversion. The h-pawn marathons in your wins show excellent board vision and confidence in advanced passed pawns.
• Piece coordination in queen-less middlegames. Exchanges that leave you with minor-piece pressure (Rd2–Rd6 vs firewoods) are executed smoothly.

Opportunities to gain rating points

1. Early middlegame accuracy against h4-systems in the Caro-Kann.
   In the loss to Praveen Balakrishnan the critical moment came after 12.Nxf7 Qa5+?! (diagram below). Consider 12…Kxf7 13.Qxe6+ Kf8 where Black keeps material balance and castling rights are irrelevant.
   
2. Breyer & Closed Ruy-Lopez timing.
   Against …Nb8–d7–b6–c4 you allowed Black to reposition comfortably (vs Yoon-Young Kim). Test 18.Rb1 Bg7 19.b4 (gaining space) instead of 19.d5?!.
3. Time management.
   Four of your last five losses were on time or in sub-5-second blunders. Try the “30-20-10” rule: spend roughly 30 % of the clock on the first 15 moves, 20 % on moves 16-25, leaving 10 % for the finish.
4. Slav move-order traps.
   In the loss to kaznelra (D10) 10…b5?! invited a quick queenside opening. Rehearse the line 10…a6! 11.Rc1 e6 where Black holds the c4-square.

Practical study plan (next 30 days)

Numbers & trends

Peak rating: 2571 (2021-09-17)

Activity snapshots:

Endgame finesse to keep polishing

Your knight-vs-bishop endings are solid, but rook endgames under time pressure can still improve. Set up studies that reach basic Lucena/Philidor positions and finish them within 20 seconds – this will reduce last-minute slips caused by the clock rather than by knowledge.

Glossary reminder

Zugzwang – A position where any move worsens the situation; useful to remember in rook endings when …Kf6 is impossible without dropping a pawn.

Closing thought

Your strategic grasp remains GM-level; most rating leakage comes from sharp side-lines and clock handling. Tighten those areas and a climb back above 2600 blitz should follow naturally.