Roman Kozlov FM

Overall impression from recent rapid games

Roman, your rapid results show clear and steady improvement over the last several months. The six‑month rating trend indicates meaningful progress, and the recent month shows you’re continuing to gain momentum. You’ve demonstrated versatility by winning across a range of openings, which points to solid general chess understanding and good practical sense under time pressure.

What you’re doing well

• Opening adaptability: You’ve earned wins with a diverse set of openings, which shows you’re comfortable adjusting to different plans and opponent choices.
• Sharp, tactical mindset: In the games that reached tactical moments, you were able to seize opportunities and apply pressure effectively.
• Positive conversion when ahead: You’ve converted favorable middlegame positions into wins, indicating strong practical decision‑making in critical moments.
• Steady progress: The rating trends suggest consistent improvement over time, with especially strong gains over longer horizons.

Areas to improve

• Endgame technique and material awareness: In longer lines, double‑check material balance and look for safe simplifications when you’re ahead to minimize risk.
• Time management: In rapid, keep a simple plan for each phase and reserve a few minutes for the endgame and calculation checks late in the game.
• Judicious use of sharp lines: While aggressive play can work, ensure you have a clear plan and don’t chase complications without a concrete gain, especially if your king safety is compromised.
• Reinforce a compact repertoire: Focus on two to three openings you enjoy and study the typical middlegame plans and pawn structures that come from those choices, so you can play faster and more confidently against a wider pool of opponents.

Opening performance snapshot and repertoire focus

Your openings performance looks very strong across a variety of lines, including Modern Defense, Sicilian variants, and other dynamic choices. This suggests you have good practical feel for sharp, tactic‑rich positions. To turn this into consistent results, consider consolidating a small, coherent repertoire for both sides:

• As White: choose two reliable setups that lead to clear middlegame plans (one more aggressive, one more positional) and learn the typical responses you’ll face.
• As Black: select one or two mainstream replies to 1.e4 and one solid response to 1.d4, with a focus on understanding the common middlegame themes that arise from those lines.
• Create simple reference notes for each chosen line, highlighting the key ideas, typical pawn structures, and the main tactical motifs to look for in the middlegame.

Placeholder for quick reference: Opening repertoire

Training plan to implement over the next 4 weeks

• Week 1: Pick two White openings and two Black defenses to specialize in. Build one‑page cheat sheets with the core ideas and typical middlegame plans.
• Week 2: Solve 15–20 tactical puzzles daily that emphasize motifs common in your chosen openings (forks, pins, discovered attacks, piece coordination).
• Week 3: Play two 15‑move practice games per day focusing on applying your plan from the openings. After each game, note where your plan succeeded or broke down and why.
• Week 4: Do five rapid games with a pre‑game checklist (opening choice, development, king safety, plan alignment). Review and update your repertoire notes based on what worked.

Progress tracking and next steps

You’ve shown a healthy trajectory with notable gains in rating over several months. To maintain this momentum, commit to post‑game reflections within 24 hours and adjust your plan if you notice recurring mistakes or missed tactical opportunities. If you’d like, I can tailor the four‑week plan to your preferred openings and the kinds of opponents you most frequently face.

Optional quick reference

Want to share a quick sample game or style notes with a colleague or coach? Use a profile placeholder here: Roman Kozlov