Hibban_Ayoub

Rapid games — quick summary

Nice fighting spirit across the recent rapid pack. You win by active piece play and by pushing concrete plans (kingside storms, passed pawns and piece infiltration). Losses tend to come from tactical shots against your king and a handful of avoidable exchanges that leave you down material. Below I highlight concrete strengths, recurring leaks, and a compact plan to improve over the next 4 weeks.

What you do well

• Aggressive plans that create threats — you generate mating nets and forcing sequences (examples: Q+R infiltration leading to Qh7# and strong promotion play).
• Endgame conversion when you get a passed pawn — in the promotion game you calmly pushed the passer and converted, showing good technique.
• Tactical awareness in sharp positions — you find decisive checks and combinations (you converted sacrifices into full points in a few games).
• Willingness to trade into favourable endgames — you don’t shy away from simplifications when they benefit your king/pawn structure.

Recurring mistakes to fix

• King exposure and repeated queen checks — several losses came after a sequence of checks that chased your king and cost material. Work on reducing targets around your king (weak back rank, light-square holes).
• Allowing Nxf2-style sacrifices / pieces jumping into your camp — be extra careful when the opponent has a knight + queen battery aiming at f2/f7; calculate the tactical reply before capturing.
• Loose piece moments — you sometimes leave pieces en prise after aggressive pawn pushes. Before every pawn push ask: what squares open, what checks appear, which pieces become undefended?
• Opening clarity — variety in openings can be fun, but inconsistent plans mean you run into unfamiliar middlegames. Pick a smaller repertoire and learn the typical ideas, not just the move order.

Key moments — look at these positions

Study these two short sequences from your recent games. Replay them and ask: what candidate moves did you miss? What checks or captures were available for both sides?

• Loss vs romanpanas — the Nxf2 sacrifice and follow-up queen checks created decisive weaknesses. Replay the full sequence to see where a safer king route or an alternative capture was available:
• Win — classic mating finish after building pressure and piece activity (use this to study coordination between rook and queen):

Practical drills — what to do this week

• Tactics: 25 minutes/day focusing on pins, forks, back-rank mates and calculation of 2–3 moves ahead. Do mixed tactics; emphasize motifs that cost you material (knight forks, queen checks).
• Openings: pick 2 reliable systems (one as White, one as Black). Learn the top 5 middlegame plans and one typical endgame per system. Example: if you like Philidor, study the pawn breaks and piece placements rather than memorizing long lines. See Philidor Defense for the main ideas.
• Endgames: 15–20 minutes, twice a week — basic rook + pawn vs rook, and king + pawn vs king technique (promotion and opposition). These pay off in long games like your promotion win.
• Game review: after every rated game, mark the one move you regret and one move you are proud of. Spend 10 minutes investigating each (why it worked/didn't) before looking at engine lines.

4-week micro plan

• Week 1: Tactics focus (daily 25 min). Review the loss vs romanpanas move-by-move. Find the defensive resource you missed.
• Week 2: Openings & structure — pick your main replies and practice 10 model games in correspondence/analysis mode. Limit novelty hunting in live games.
• Week 3: Endgame sharpening — 30 minutes, three times a week on rook endgames and passed-pawn technique.
• Week 4: Integration & slow rapid games — play 10 longer rapid (15+5) games and apply the routines above; review every lost and drawn game briefly.

Small checklist for every game

• Before you move: Are any of my pieces hanging? Any checks for the opponent next move?
• When you consider a pawn push: what squares open for enemy pieces? Who gets outposts?
• Trading down: does the trade improve your king safety or the opponent’s?
• In time trouble: simplify only if the simplification is clearly safe and wins or holds equality.

Final note — keep building confidence

Your recent wins show you can execute tactical plans and convert endgames. The gap is mostly in avoiding a few tactical oversights and in having steadier opening plans. Small, consistent practice on tactics + one clean opening repertoire will raise your consistency fast — the rating trends you shared already show big swings; stabilise the base and the gains will follow.

Want a quick follow-up? I can produce a 2-week tactics set tailored to the exact motifs that hurt you in these games (knight forks and repeated queen checks) and a 1‑page plan for a compact opening repertoire.