Kanak Vaghela

Quick summary

Nice energetic play in the last win — you punished a loose king and converted cleanly. Your long‑term trend is up, but there are recurring tactical and endgame patterns to tidy up so those rating gains stick.

Replay — most recent win

Study this one: you used aggressive piece play and found forcing captures to expose the enemy king. Click the mini‑viewer, step through the moves and pause at key moments.

Opponent: mikst8

What you did well (repeatable strengths)

• Active queen/hunting — you used your queen early to gain material and open the opponent’s king position (good instinct for forcing play).
• King safety after castling long — you understood when an opposite‑side castle favored a pawn storm and you followed through tactically.
• Converting material — when you won material you simplified and avoided unnecessary complications until the win was clear.
• Opening choices that fit your style — your best results come from the Center Game family where you get sharp, tactical middlegames.

Recurring issues to fix

• Short calculation errors around tactics. In the recent loss you allowed a sequence that let the opponent trade into a favorable queen infiltration — work on checking opponent checks and captures before you move (two‑second habit).
• Back‑rank and weak‑square awareness. A few games show the king getting exposed to checks or invasion (watch for Back rank mate threats and weak squares like c2/c3 in your Scandinavian games).
• Endgame technique and pawn races. You lost a pawn promotion race in one game — study basic rook/pawn and king+pawn races so you convert or defend the last mile confidently.
• Time management. You sometimes enter tactical middlegames with little clock; small extra seconds per move (or playing faster earlier) will reduce blunders in crunches.

Concrete drills (next 2 weeks)

• Tactics: 15–30 puzzles daily. Focus on forks, pins, and discovered attacks — the patterns that appear in your games.
• Endgames: 15 minutes, 4× per week — king and pawn vs king, basic rook endings, and pawn‑race practice. Learn the "opposition" and key squares.
• Opening review: pick the two most played lines (your Scandinavian Defense and Center Game: Berger Variation). Review model games and 5 typical move orders so you stop getting surprised early.
• Blunder check routine: before you click confirm — do a quick two‑second checklist: "Does any piece hang? Any checks? Any captures for opponent?"

Practical changes to your over the board (rapid) play

• If you castle opposite sides, commit to a pawn‑storm plan — either go all in or simplify. Half‑measures invite counterplay.
• When material is equal and queens are on board, prioritize king safety and avoid trading into positions where an enemy queen can invade c2/c3 or the 7th rank easily.
• In time trouble: if ahead in material simplify; if behind look for active checks/switches to practical chances (swindles).

Short monthly plan (30 days)

• Week 1: Tactics + one opening line review (Scandinavian). Play 15 rapid games and post‑mortem one loss immediately.
• Week 2: Endgame basics + tactics maintenance. Practice 10 pawn‑race scenarios and 10 rook endgames on the board/app.
• Week 3: Play training matches with a fixed opening repertoire (use the Centre Game when you want tactical games). Analyze 3 games deeply.
• Week 4: Consolidate — run a mini‑tournament of 10 games and track blunder rate. Repeat the blunder‑check routine until automatic.

Notes and next steps

• Your long‑term slope is positive — keep the training consistent and you’ll turn those spikes into stable rating gains.
• Do 5 careful post‑mortems per week: write down the one turning point and the one pattern you missed (tactics, weak square, pawn break).
• When you want, I can build a targeted study pack: 30 tactics, 5 model games in your openings, and 6 endgame drills tailored to the patterns in these PGNs.

Want that targeted study pack? Reply "Yes — pack" and I’ll create it with daily tasks and example positions (including a small interactive PGN set from your recent games).