Ekaterina Kornilova WFM

Hi Ekaterina!

Congratulations on your recent string of victories – you are clearly playing energetic, enterprising chess. Below is some personalised feedback based on the sample of your recent 180 + 2 games (≈ 20 games, 13 wins / 7 losses).

What you are already doing well

• Practical fighting spirit. Even in worse positions you keep pieces on the board and often win on the clock. Your most recent victory against b3kind is a perfect example.
• Structured opening repertoire. • As White you specialise in the Alapin Sicilian (2.c3) and score well when you reach familiar setups.
  • As Black you rely on the Slav-Triangle (…c6/…e6/…f5) and the French-Advance with …Nh6 early. Sticking to a narrow repertoire is good for fast time-controls.
• End-game awareness. In several wins you converted small advantages into clean endgames (e.g. vs cibarijus, move 33 Qh7+).

Key improvement areas

1. Time-management.
   Five of your last seven defeats were on time in roughly equal positions. The pattern is always the same: a solid opening, a double-edged middlegame, clock drops below 15 s and the tactics become too hard.
   Action plan:
   • Switch the move-confirmation setting off (if you still use it).
   • Adopt a “bronze-time” rule – never sink below 1 min while pieces are still on the board.
   • Play three 10 + 5 games per day and force yourself to note the time after every 10 moves.
2. Defending against passed pawns.
   In the loss to Ariel Hadari (Game #1) a single d-pawn marched from d4 all the way to d8=Q because you underestimated its power after 13…Nxe4?.
   Action plan: Whenever your opponent gets a protected passed pawn, hit the emergency brakes and ask “Can I blockade, liquidate or race my own pawn?” – a classic piece of prophylaxis.
3. Finishing won positions.
   Against ashutech004 you were a pawn up in a favourable Alapin structure, but drifted and eventually lost on time in a dead-drawn rook endgame. Practise converting technical endgames:
   • Use Chess.com “Drills → Rook vs Pawn” for 15 minutes daily.
   • Analyse your own wins that ended 1-0 on time and ask, “What is the cleanest winning plan if the clock was not an issue?”
4. Keep an eye on back-rank & king safety in the French-Advance.
   The spectacular win vs vinnythegreat78 shows your attacking flair, yet the same opening choice produced a loss to BraittMilton after 15 Ng6+! broke through your dark squares.
   Action plan: Add one solid alternative line (e.g. 3…c5 4.exd5 exd5) so opponents cannot prepare only for …Nh6 set-ups.

Suggested short-term training routine (10 days)

• 30′ Tactics (Puzzle Rush & unrated puzzles, difficulty 2000-2600).
• 15′ Endgame drill (Rook & pawn vs rook; Queen vs pawn; opposite-coloured bishops).
• Play two 10 + 5 games; spend 10′ post-mortem on each – identify one critical decision and check with an engine.

Your progress so far

Current blitz peak: 2342 (2025-03-27)

Final encouragement

Your tactical eye and willingness to fight are clear strengths. Combine them with better clock control and a bit of endgame polish and you will comfortably cross 2300 blitz. Keep the energy high and good luck at the board!