Ivan Kalajzic CM

Hi Ivan — short, practical read

Good stretch of blitz: you create active chances, push passed pawns and win sharp games. Your 6‑month trend and recent +73 rating change show clear progress. Below are focused, actionable points to convert more wins and cut down on avoidable losses.

What you're doing well

• Active piece play — you consistently bring rooks and queens to the opponent’s back rank and generate threats.
• Pawn play and breaks — the c‑ and b‑pawn advances in recent wins show good understanding of passed‑pawn play.
• Opening surprise value — your varied repertoire (e.g. Nimzo-Larsen Attack) gets opponents out of book and into unbalanced positions.
• Practical persistence — you keep the clock moving and pressure opponents, which produces wins (including by flag occasionally: Flagging).

Recurring issues to fix

• Time management: several decisive games get decided in the last 30 seconds. Improve how you budget early moves so quality doesn't collapse at the end.
• King safety & back‑rank: your recent loss ended in a mating sequence. Guard against back‑rank mates when queens and rooks are active.
• Piece coordination: a few games show loose pieces and missed defensive resources — tighten how you regroup after exchanges.
• Converting advantages: you often create imbalances but then miss the simplest path to a won endgame; aim to simplify correctly when ahead.

Daily & weekly improvement plan

• Daily (15–20 min): tactics trainer focused on mates, back‑rank motifs, forks and pins. Do sets with increasing difficulty until you hit a target (e.g., 10/12 correct).
• 3×/week (30–45 min): one slow training game (15+10 or 30+0) followed by a 10–15 min post‑mortem. Mark 3 turning points and alternative moves.
• 2×/week (20 min): endgame drills — rook vs rook + pawn, basic king + pawn endings, and forced mate patterns to remove back‑rank weaknesses.
• Weekly blitz block (1 hour): play 20 blitz games but enforce a strict internal rule — no premoving when under 10s left; focus on clean, practical moves.

In‑game checklist (use every game)

• Turns 10 and 20: check opponent threats and your king safety. If anything is loose, neutralize it (trade or cover).
• If you're up material: simplify safely — trade queens/rooks and aim for a known winning endgame instead of hunting complications.
• If under 30 seconds: switch to a “safety protocol” — play checks, captures and forcing moves; avoid long calculations.
• Before any queen trade: verify there is no back‑rank or rook infiltration that gives counterplay.

Small technical fixes (quick wins)

• Adopt a 30s rule: when you drop below 30 seconds, stop premoves and only play simple, forcing moves.
• Memorize 5 defensive patterns against common mating nets (back‑rank, rook lift, mating squares around the king).
• When winning, keep one waiting move in your pocket to avoid tactical surprises — a calm prophylactic move often wins the game.

Study target — the recent loss vs juriko

Replay the finish of that game on your site and ask: where was the king exposed and when could you have reduced the queen/rook activity? The mate came from a coordinated queen invasion after several exchanges — a good lesson in trade timing and king sheltering.

If you like, I can annotate that game move‑by‑move and highlight three concrete turning points you can work on.

Two‑week mini plan

• Week 1: 10 consecutive days of tactics (15m/day) + three slow games with post‑mortems.
• Week 2: endgame focus (rook + pawn basics) + one longer training match to practice converting advantages.
• Goal: reduce time losses and cut tactical misses in the first 20 moves — measure by comparing mistakes in next 50 blitz games.

Want targeted help now?

• Pick one game (for example vs Kevin Davidson or juriko) and I’ll deliver a 3‑point annotated post‑mortem: turning moves, missed tactics, and a clear plan to avoid the same error.
• Your Strength Adjusted Win Rate (~50%) shows small, consistent improvements will yield big rating gains — tighten clock play and the rest follows.

Short encouragement

Your long‑term curve is very promising. Keep the tactical practice and tighten time management — you’ll convert unstable wins into stable, repeatable wins. Ready to pick a game for deeper analysis?