Андрей Кириллов IM

Positive Aspects in Your Recent Blitz Games

Andrey, your recent games demonstrated several key strengths that you should continue to build upon:

• Opening Preparation: Your familiarity and success in openings like the Nimzo-Larsen Attack and Caro-Kann Defense, with win rates near or above 70%, shows that you have a solid understanding of these lines.
• Calculations and Tactical Awareness: Your recent win with White included critical tactical strikes to win material and capitalize on your opponent’s inaccurate moves. This highlights good pattern recognition during attack phases.
• Endgame Technique: You managed to convert winning positions efficiently, particularly noticeable in your latest victory where you exploited a winning queen capture decisively.
• Resourcefulness Under Time Pressure: Despite some losses, you have continued to engage actively in complex positions even with limited time on the clock, which is critical in blitz formats.

Key Areas for Improvement

While your performance has many highlights, focusing on these areas could help you improve faster and raise your overall blitz rating:

• Consistency in Middle Game Defense: Some recent losses stemmed from difficulty in defending complex positions, especially against strong opponents playing sharp Sicilian lines. Improving defensive skills and learning to simplify when necessary can help.
• Time Management: Your trends show some decline in rating over shorter time frames, possibly due to rushed moves. Prioritize spending a few extra seconds on critical decisions early on.
• Expand Your Opening Repertoire: Your performance in openings like the French Defense and Modern is weaker than in others. Integrating additional opening ideas or refining these lines will give opponents less room for exploitation.
• Study of Typical Tactical Motifs: Although your tactical play is good, increasing tactical study will help to avoid occasional missed chances and improve your attacking precision under fast play conditions.
• Handling Strong Opponents: Your strength adjusted win rate is slightly below 50%. Work on strategic planning for higher-rated players to convert more games into wins or at minimum draws.

Suggested Training Focus

• Review key moments from your recent losses, especially the ones involving complex Sicilian Defense positions - try to identify recurring tactical oversights or positional misunderstandings.
• Practice rapid calculation exercises and puzzles daily to sharpen pattern recognition and reaction speed.
• Analyze games with a coach or stronger player focusing on transitions from the opening to the middle game to ensure smooth positional understanding.
• In tournaments and online play, experiment with time management techniques, such as setting benchmarks for average time per move in different phases of the game.
• Incorporate endgame practice focused on common themes arising from your preferred openings, aiding precise and confident conversions.

Summary

Your recent rating gains over the last 6 months (+80) show you have solid potential and progress. Focusing on consistent middle game play and diversifying your opening knowledge, alongside sharpening your time management, will boost your results even further.

Keep building on your strengths and learning from each game, and your blitz performance will continue to improve!