jacc1982

Hi jacc1982! Here is some constructive feedback based on your recent games.

Your current profile at a glance

• Peak Blitz Rating: 1415 (2024-11-29)
• Typical session graph:
• Weekly trend:

What you are already doing well

1. Killer instinct once you seize the initiative. In several Bishop’s- and Ruy-Lopez-type wins you spotted tactics such as 5.Bxf7+ or 16.Qa4+ quickly and punished inaccurate king moves. Your ability to keep the attack rolling (e.g. the long king hunt in your 71-move Bishop’s Opening win) is a real strength.
2. Tactical alertness in sharp positions. Exchange sacs (27.Rxb4!, 12.Nxf6+) and clearance ideas (46.a5! in the endgame grind) show creativity and confidence.
3. Fighting spirit. Even when material down you set practical problems, and you often succeed in time scrambles—when you do not run out of time yourself.

The main improvement areas

1. Time management. Your only decisive loss in the sample was simply “lost on time” in an equal position. Try a mental checkpoint: if your clock dips below 45 s with 15 moves left, play simpler moves that keep the game alive rather than hunting for perfection.
2. Early-queen habits. Moves like 3.Qf3, 3.Qh5 and 5.Qf3 invite …Nc6-d4 hits or tempo-gaining pawn shoves. Against stronger defenders you will lose momentum. Replace those lines with classical development:
   • After 1.e4 e5: consider the Italian Two Knights with 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3  or the main-line Ruy Lopez 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O.
   • Against the Sicilian, try 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4 to avoid very early queen sorties.
3. Black repertoire versus 1.d4. In both QGA and English games you reached playable middlegames but missed coherent plans afterwards. If you enjoy active piece play, study the Slav or Chigorin, otherwise build a solid QGD set-up and learn the typical pawn breaks …c5 and …e5.
4. Converting material advantages. In the Sicilian loss you were two pawns up but drifted. Make it a habit to ask “What is my worst piece?” every other move when you are better, and improve it before collecting more pawns.
5. End-game pattern recall. Two losses ended with your king getting mated by rook lifts or passed pawns. A weekly session with basic rook-endgame drills (Lucena & Philidor) will repay itself quickly.

A concrete study moment

The following fragment from your loss in the English Opening shows a typical danger of neglecting king safety when you have the queens still on:

Key take-away: once your queen ventures to b6 or d7, double-check every white rook swing to the back rank (Ra8#, Rc8+)—your king on a7 or b8 often has no escape squares.

Action plan for the next two weeks

• Play 20 practice games without early queen moves (Q out before move 6 = automatic “redo”).
• Spend 30 min/day on a tactics trainer filtered for “mate in 2-4” to keep sharpening calculation while staying within the clock.
• Watch one annotated model game in the Queen’s Gambit Declined each evening to build a strategic backbone against 1.d4.
• End each session with 5 minutes of rook-endgame flash cards.

Next milestone

With the above refinements you should comfortably push past the 1250-1300 blitz range. I will be happy to review your progress—feel free to request another analysis after 50 additional rated games.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!