Hannah O'Reilly WFM

Hi Hannah!

Your current landscape

• Peak rapid rating so far: 1793 (2015-10-01)
• Activity trends:

What you are already doing well

• Fighting spirit against higher-rated opponents. In several daily games vs costellito (rated 1300-1400) you scored 4/5, showing you can convert an advantage once you seize the initiative.
• Early piece activity. Moves such as 15.Nxe7+, 23.Nc5 and 29.Nxf5+ (see PGN below) demonstrate good tactical alertness and an eye for forcing moves (a useful form of tactics).
• Comfort in d4 openings. You regularly reach sound structures in the Queen’s Gambit, Slav and King’s Indian setups as both colours, suggesting you already have a dependable opening backbone.

Biggest improvement levers

1. Time management
   • Three of your last five losses were simply time-forfeits (one in Daily, two in Live). • Habit: make a “sit-down and move” routine: always reply the same day in Daily, and in Live keep ≥25 % of your time for the last ten moves.
   • Drill: play 10-minute rapid games with the rule “no move under 5 s before move 15, no move over 45 s after move 15”. This teaches pacing.
2. King safety & pawn pushes
   • Games vs euisverynice and febray_27 show ...g5 / ...h5 ideas cutting your own king-side or allowing opponents to do the same to you.
   • Rule of thumb: before advancing flank pawns, ask “What squares will become weak? Can they be occupied by an enemy minor piece in two moves?”.
   • Exercise: review 20 master games that feature a successful or failed pawn storm and note the triggers.
3. Calculation depth
   • Several exchanges (e.g. accepting 17…dxc4 in a Slav without a concrete follow-up) left you with structural problems.
   • Use the 3-question method at every branch: “Checks, Captures, Threats?” – then spend at least 30 seconds visualising the critical line.
   • Tactics trainer: keep solving until you score 20 correct in a row at a 70 % success rate each week.
4. Endgame conversion
   • In the loss vs aiurea you enjoyed an extra passed a-pawn but allowed counter-play. Basic king-and-pawn technique (opposition, shouldering) would have won.
   • Recommendation: study 100 Endgames You Must Know chapters 1-7, and play out K+P endings vs computer set to 1500 elo.

Highlighted victory (play-through)

This win features the crisp tactical 18.Nxe7+ fork and excellent central control.

Next two weeks – a focused plan

• Day 1-7: 15 minutes of tactics + one rapid game each day, annotate the critical moment you spent the most time on.
• Day 8-14: Switch to 30 min analysis of your own games; pick one win and one loss, write one paragraph on how you could improve move 15-30.

Keep up the great fighting attitude, Hannah. Fix the clock and tighten the king shelter, and a 1500+ rapid rating will arrive sooner than you think!