Ezra Kirk IM

Hi Ezra, here’s a focused review of your recent blitz sessions

What you’re already doing well

• Fighting spirit & initiative – In several wins (e.g. vs Fernando Junior Freire Dos Santos Dutra and KhannnnnN) you willingly sacrificed material to keep pieces active. Your calculation is sharp and you rarely shy away from complications.
• Piece activity in the middlegame – You consistently win the battle for open files and key diagonals, especially with ...Rb8/…b5 ideas in Benoni-type structures and exchange sacrifices on c3/c6/f3.
• End-game conversion skills – The technical win with 63.Kc5 vs KhannnnnN shows good end-game fundamentals and patience.

Main growth areas

1. Time management – your #1 rating leak
   Six of your last eight losses were on the clock with playable or even better positions. Get out of the opening with ≥ 50 s and aim to reach move 20 with ≥ 20 s. Practical tips:
   • Pick one main line per opening and memorise the first 8-10 moves so you can blitz them out.
   • Use the opponent’s think time for your calculation instead of relaxing.
   • Train with 3 + 2 or 5 + 0 to force faster decision-making, then return to 1 | 60.
2. Premature wing pawn storms
   Games vs Nightwing2003 and letsgoband feature h-pawn pushes that created weak squares behind your own lines. Before playing h4/h5 (or …h5/…h4) ask yourself:

   “Will my rook or queen be able to occupy the newly opened file before the opponent does?”

   Add the mental checkpoint king safety after pawn break to your move selection routine.
3. Critical moment awareness
   In the loss to Musashi you missed 28...Rxb2! (winning instantly) because you were following a “trade rooks, then push” script instead of pausing at transition moments. Try the 3-step scan after every exchange:
   1. Pieces left on board
   2. Pawn islands
   3. King position
   This habit converts tactical advantages into scoreboard points.

Opening map (keep / tweak / drop)

Suggested weekly routine (2-hour block)

1. 15 min: Speed-run puzzles at 3-minute timer (simulate zeitnot).
2. 25 min: Review three master games in your main openings.
3. 60 min: Play a mini-match (six 1 | 60 games) focusing on staying above 20 s after move 20.
     → Track results in
   .
4. 20 min: Annotate one of the games and store critical positions.

Your current personal best

Blitz peak: 2692 (2025-06-15) – let’s aim to surpass this by end of next month.

Motivational clip

Your sharpest recent sequence (vs F-Freire):

Keep the energy, streamline the openings, and guard that clock. You’ve got 2600+ potential written all over your games – let’s unlock it!