Hi GmPrettyboy! 👋
Quick Snapshot
- Current blitz trend:
- Weekly consistency:
- Peak blitz rating: 2797 (2025-04-15)
What’s already working well
- Dynamic opening choices. You comfortably handle both sides of the Sicilian Dragon, the Modern Defence and even the Englund Gambit. This keeps opponents guessing and often lands you in unfamiliar (to them) structures.
- Tactical alertness. Games such as your win vs fish_15 show you spotting resourceful ideas like …Nxe3!! followed by a forcing sequence that ripped the white king open.
- Practical decision-making when ahead. In several wins you simplified into clearly won rook endings rather than searching for brilliancies. Good discipline!
Key areas to refine
1️⃣ Clock management (highest priority)
Four of your last five losses came by flagging in roughly equal or even better positions. Your sharp style is energy-intensive and burns time. Practical tips:
- 30-second audit: At moves 10, 20 and 30 glance at the clock; if you are <60 s behind, consciously simplify or spend the next two moves on easier choices.
- Opening “book notes”: Build a one-page cheat sheet for each of your main lines (e.g. Dragon with 9…d5!?). The first 12 moves should be almost automatic, saving ~30 s/game.
- Drill bullet themes on a side account: play 25–30 bullet games focusing on instant reactions to common structures, not on result.
2️⃣ Sicilian Dragon as White – tightening the screws
The 20-move loss to Yoda1992 followed the typical Nb7/Qxd2 resource. In the Rauzer your move order 12.Bd4 – 13.Bc5 allowed …Be6/…Re8 with tempo, and you never castled. Two concrete tweaks:
- After 11…bxc6 prefer 12.Qd2 or 12.Be2, keeping the queen on d2 to meet …Qa5 ideas and enabling 0-0-0 quickly.
- Re-examine 14.Ne4. Stockfish suggests 14.h4! pressing on the kingside while Black’s pieces are clumsy.
3️⃣ French Fort-Knox / Symmetrical d4 lines – prophylaxis
In both games vs Immatt64 you were structurally fine but missed long-range counterplay. Guideline:
- When your opponent fixes a pawn majority (e.g. white pawn on
b5) immediately ask “What is his lever? What is mine?” In the French game, …e5-e4 broke the centre at the cost of loosening d5 – the follow-up …d4 came one move too late. - Adopt the mantra “Every pawn push must create at least two threats.”
4️⃣ Endgame conversion
You often reach won endings but sometimes let the tablebase win slip to a practical mess (e.g. vs HOANGCANHHUAN you were still mating with 4 seconds left!). To sharpen:
- Spend 10 minutes/day on Lichess Drill → Rook & pawn vs rook.
- Memorise the “second-rank rule” for rook endings and the key Lucena and Philidor setups.
Illustrative Example
Below is the critical middlegame sequence from your Catalan win; notice how black activates every piece before launching the final pawn wave:
Homework: 7-day micro-plan
- Day 1-2: Analyse each timeout loss with an engine; annotate where you burned >20 seconds and write the alternative quick choice.
- Day 3-4: Drill the updated Dragon repertoire vs computer set to 2600 for 10 games, forcing yourself to castle by move 12.
- Day 5-6: 50 endgame drills (rook & pawn). Record the themes you fail.
- Day 7: Play a 15 | 10 rapid session to practise time awareness in a calmer setting.
Final thought
Your tactical creativity already scares titled opponents; pairing it with ruthless clock discipline will easily push you past 2700 blitz.
Good luck, and keep having fun at the board! –Coach