Irene Sukandar IM

Hi Irene!

Congratulations on another energetic Titled-Tuesday run. Your recent blitz performance (current peak: 2614 (2025-03-25)) shows that you are maintaining a very competitive level. Below are a few observations based on the latest sample of games.

What you are doing well

• Dynamic counter-play with Black in the Sicilian. Your victories over Yuri Borisov (B23) and Ernesto Barrientos Gómez (B28) show good feel for ...d5 breaks and piece activity. In both games you won the central battle and converted an extra pawn without allowing counter-chances.
• Tactical alertness in messy positions. In the Reti/Larsen win against Yidong Chen you balanced king safety and calculation nicely, finishing with 44.Nd7+! and a clean conversion despite mutual time trouble.
• Clock handling when ahead on the board. Once you reach a clearly better position you rarely let it slip (five clean conversions in a row is evidence enough).

Main improvement areas

1. King safety in your 1.Nf3 / 1.b3 systems.
   In the loss to Eric Rosen you followed a familiar plan with early b3–Bb2, but the f- and h-pawns advanced too quickly, weakening g3/f3 squares. Consider holding back the f-pawn until you have finished development (e.g. Re1, Nd2) or the centre is closed.
2. Square control after pawn storms.
   Against Alan Morris-Suzuki you pushed g4 early and allowed …Bd3–e4 jumps followed by a decisive exchange sacrifice. Insert a move like Re2 or Qe2 to cover e2/e3 before playing g-pawn thrusts.
3. Conversion technique in extra-material endgames.
   Versus Matvey Galchenko (From Gambit) you were up a rook but overlooked a tactical mate. Before grabbing more pawns, spend one tempo to coordinate major pieces (e.g. …Rf7 or …Kh7) and remove back-rank tricks.
4. Time management under pressure.
   Several critical decisions were taken with <5 s left. Aim to keep ≥40 s by move 25—even one incremental second matters. A practical drill: play “hand-hover” blitz where you must move before the clock dips below 20 s, no exceptions.

Opening snapshot

Drills for the coming week

• 15 minutes daily on candidate move listing before calculating—especially in queenless middlegames.
• Endgame flashcards: R+2P vs R, and opposite-colored bishop endings (your loss to Matthew highlighted this).
• Blitz “no pawn moves on the side you castle” challenge for 10 games to reinforce king safety instincts.

Progress tracker

Use the charts below to see when you play your best chess.

Keep the fighting spirit, refine a few details, and a 2600+ blitz peak is well within reach. Good luck in your next events!