halfnatty GM

Hi halfnatty – here is a personalised feedback report based on your recent blitz games.

1. What you are doing very well

• Dynamic pawn play. In several wins (e.g. against Alejandro Uzcategui Rodriguez and FGHSMN) you used early ...g5/…g4 breaks to seize the initiative. You clearly enjoy unbalancing the position and are good at calculating the resulting tactics.
• Piece activity & centralisation. After the opening you rarely leave pieces passive. Notice how in the Ruy Lopez win you reached 26.dxc7!! followed by 41.d7! – constantly pushing active passed pawns.
• Fighting spirit in time trouble. Even with seconds on the clock you keep looking for practical chances (e.g. the mating net 54.Rd8# vs InitiatingASC). This is a valuable blitz skill.

2. Recurring issues to address

• Premature pawn thrusts weaken your own king.
  Loss vs slorovel: 4…g5 5.d3 …h6 7…g4 created huge dark-square holes you never managed to cover.
  Try the rule of thumb “launch the pawn storm only after castling opposite sides or when the centre is closed”.
• Conversion in technical endings.
  You were a pawn up against Pawngobblerx2000 but drifted into a lost king-and-pawn endgame. Spend a few minutes daily on basic K+P & R+P drills; they pay off quickly in blitz.
• Handling the Catalan structures as White.
  TheRigos punished 12.Nbd2?! – you allowed …e3/…Qxe3+ tactics. Aim for the main line set-up with 12.Qc2, 13.Nc3, keeping the e4-square firmly under control.
• Time management.
  Two of your five recent losses were mainly the clock (slorovel, Krakozia). Try the “30-20-10 rule”: keep ≥30 s for move 20 and ≥10 s for the final 5 moves before increment takes over.

3. Opening snapshot

Colour	Main choices	Quick suggestion
White	English Four Knights, 1.e4 Ruy, occasional Catalan	Add one crisp anti-…e5 line after 1.c4 (e.g. 2.g3 & 3.Bg2 systems) to cut your prep time.
Black	D02 set-ups vs 1.d4, early …g5 Sicilians, English Symmetrical	Have a calmer back-up versus 1.e4 (e.g. Classical Sicilian or French) for days when the pawn storm feels risky.

4. Concrete tactical fix

In the Catalan loss you missed a simple safety move:

Instead of 17.Ne4? the engine recommends 17.Qc1! keeping the queen on the long diagonal and the king safe. Add this to your notebook.

5. Off-board training plan (2-week micro-cycle)

1. Day-to-day warm-up: 10 puzzles on “quiet defence” themes – look for moves that neutralise threats rather than create them.
2. Two longer sessions: analyse one of your blitz wins without an engine first, then with it. Force yourself to write one strategic note every five moves.
3. Endgame sprint: 15 minutes on rook vs pawns drills. Use tablebase positions to feel the winning zones.

6. Progress tracker

Keep an eye on these live stats:

• Your current 2803 (2019-11-28) shows that you are not far from the 2800 blitz milestone – but consistency will be key.
• Blitz performance by hour:
• Volume vs success through the week:

7. Final takeaway

You already possess the tactical sharpness needed at titled-player level. The next rating jump will come from selective aggression (choose the right moments for pawn storms) and endgame calm under the clock. Good luck – and enjoy the climb!