Yasir Inuwa Maiwada

What you’re doing well

In your recent rapid games you showed several strengths that help you press for advantages and convert opportunities:

• Sharp tactical vision: you pursue forcing lines that test your opponent’s king safety and create multiple threats at once.
• Active piece coordination: your moves bring pieces into aggressive positions, putting pressure on key points in the enemy position.
• Clear initiative when you gain it: you’ve demonstrated the ability to choose decisive exchanges and follow up with precise play to convert advantages.

Areas to improve

• Opening discipline: avoid inviting risk with early queen activity or unconventional first moves unless you have a concrete plan. Focus on solid development, controlling the center, and king safety in the first 10–15 moves.
• Maintaining pressure instead of premature simplifications: when you have the initiative, be cautious about trades that relieve the opponent’s counterplay. Seek continuations that keep pieces on the board and preserve attacking chances.
• Endgame readiness: strengthen rook-and-pawn endgame technique and general king activity. In rapid games, small endgame advantages are easy to convert with a practiced plan.
• Tactical pattern recognition: reinforce common motifs (forks, pins, discovered attacks, and back-rank ideas) so you can spot them quickly during fast time controls.
• Time management: cultivate a quick opening plan and a simple midgame checklist (develop pieces, castle, connect rooks, and evaluate king safety). Aim to allocate a steady amount of time to the opening and avoid getting stuck on a single, uncertain tactic for too long.

Drills to try this week

• Daily tactical puzzles: 5–10 problems focused on forks, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks. After solving, write down the motif and two practical lines you could have used in a real game.
• Opening study: pick two white plans (for example, a solid development-based approach such as the Italian Game or a classic Ruy Lopez) and two black defenses (such as Caro-Kann or the French). Learn the key ideas, typical middlegame plans, and common traps.
• Endgame practice: one rook-endgame drill per week. Practice keeping the rook active, using the king actively, and converting a small pawn edge into a win.
• Post-game review routine: after each rapid game, note two concrete takeaways and one change to try in your next game.

Next steps and focus plan

Over the next two weeks, aim to build a compact opening repertoire, sharpen tactical pattern recognition, and improve conversion in middlegames and endings. If you want, I can tailor a two-week plan with specific puzzle sets and sample lines aligned to your preferred openings.