Kramnik-Ryad

Hi Kramnik-Ryad, here is your personalised post-match review

Quick snapshot

• Current peak (blitz): 2336 (2022-10-07)
• Your favourite weapons: 1.d4 Bg5 (the Trompowsky Attack) and the Caro-Kann as Black.
• Most common result pattern last 30 games: sharp middlegame → heavy-piece ending decided by tactics or the clock.

Strengths to keep nurturing

• Tactical awareness. You spot resourceful ideas such as 26.Nd6+ (win vs Knyaz13) under time pressure.
• Active piece play. In many wins you seize the initiative with timely pawn breaks (e4–e5, b4–b5).
• Confidence in dynamic structures. Sacrificing pawns for open lines often pays off when you follow up quickly.

Recurring pain points

1. King safety after early flank pawn pushes.
   • Loss vs ChessOnTheBeach1: 14.g4/22.h5 weakened the dark squares and your king never found shelter.
   • Rapid mate in the Scandinavian game (…Qf3#) started with 12.g4 while your King was still in the centre.
2. Time management.
   • You flagged in a technically winning rook ending against Knyaz13.
   • On average you spend 55 % of the clock in the first 15 moves. Try to keep at least 1 min for move 25.
3. Converting advantages smoothly.
   • Excessive repetition of moves (31–34th moves vs Knyaz13) let the opponent back into the game.
   • In several wins you needed a second (or third) tactical shot to finish the job – aim for cleaner technique.

Opening corner

• Trompowsky improvements: after 2…g6 you are scoring well, but the mainline 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.c4 is even stronger if you follow up with “castle long + h4”. Study model games by Jobava.
• Caro-Kann Exchange as Black: the structure from your loss on time is fine, yet the manoeuvre …Bd6-g3!? wastes tempi. Consider the Rubinstein plan …e6/…Bd6/…Nge7-g6 instead.
• Against early …c5 Scandinavian setups keep the queen flexible (Qd3/Qf4, not Qa4) and prioritise development over g-pawn thrusts.

Middlegame checklist

• Ask “Who is safer?” before pushing flank pawns.
• If you open the f- or g- file, tuck the king to h1/h8 or castle the other side first.
• When up material, exchange one attacking piece before launching another wave of tactics.

Endgame & clock handling

Spend 5-10 minutes a day on simple rook endings (e.g. “rook behind passed pawn”) and practise 1-minute drills on an end-game trainer. The goal is to standardise winning techniques so they cost fewer seconds.

Concrete examples

Recent win (model game)

[[Pgn|[Event "Live Chess"] [White "Kramnik-Ryad"] [Black "Knyaz13"] [Result "1-0"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.Bxf6 Bg7 4.e3 exf6 5.c4 O-O 6.Nc3 f5 7.h4 h5 8.Nf3 d6 9.Be2 Nd7 10.Qc2 Nf6 11.O-O-O c6 12.Ng5 Qe7 13.Kb1 Bd7 14.Rde1 Ne4 15.Bd3 Nxg5 16.hxg5 Qxg5 17.f3 Rfe8 18.g4 fxg4 19.fxg4 Bxg4 20.e4 Bxd4 21.Ne2 Be5 22.Reg1 Rac8 23.Ng3 b5 24.c5 dxc5 25.Qxc5 Qd2 26.Bc2 Bd4 27.Qd6 Bxg1 28.Qxd2 Bc5 29.Qg5 Be7 30.Qh6 Bf8 31.Qf4 Bg7 32.Nf1 Be5 33.Qg5 Bg7 34.Ne3 Be6 35.Nf5 Rcd8 36.Nxg7 Kxg7 37.Rxh5 Rh8 38.Rxh8 Rxh8 39.Qe5+ Kg8 40.b3 Rh1+ 41.Kb2 a5 42.a3 Rg1 43.Qc5 Rg2 44.Qxc6 a4 45.e5 axb3 46.Qxg2 bxc2 47.Kxc2 Bc4 48.Kc3 Kg7 49.Kb4 Kh6 50.Qg4 Be6 51.Qf4+ g5 52.Qf6+ Kh5 53.Kxb5 g4 54.a4 g3 55.a5 g2 56.Qf3+ 1-0]]

Key takeaway: once your attack stalled on the kingside you correctly switched to the queenside pawn storm (a4-a5-b5). That flexibility is a hallmark of strong practical play.

Recent loss (learning moment)

[[Pgn|[Event "Live Chess"] [White "Kramnik-Ryad"] [Black "ChessOnTheBeach1"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.e3 Bf5 5.Bd3 e6 6.f3 Nd6 7.Bxd6 Bxd6 8.Ne2 Bxd3 9.cxd3 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qh3 11.Kf2 O-O 12.Qf1 Qh6 13.h4 Nd7 14.g4 Qg6 15.Nf4 Bxf4 16.exf4 h5 17.gxh5 Qxh5 18.Qg2 c5 19.Rg1 g6 20.Qg4 Qxg4 21.Rxg4 cxd4 22.h5 Nf6 23.Rg5 Nxh5 24.Nd2 Nxf4 25.Rh1 Nxd3+ 26.Ke2 Nxb2 27.Nb3 Rac8 28.Kd2 Nc4+ 29.Kd3 e5 30.f4 e4+ 31.Kxd4 Rfd8 32.Rxd5 Re8 33.Nc5 Nb6 … 0-1]]

Try pausing after 14.g4: was your king really safe enough for a pawn-storm? A calmer plan such as 14.Nc3 and only then g4 would keep options open.

Training plan for the next two weeks

• Day 1-3: Analyse 5 GM Trompowsky games focusing on move 10-20 plans.
• Day 4-6: 20 puzzles/day filtering for “king safety” motifs.
• Day 7: Play a 15|10 rapid session and annotate before checking the engine.
• Week 2: Alternate endgame drills (rook + pawn) with 3-min blitz, aiming to finish every game with ≥15 s left.

Progress tracker

Keep an eye on your momentum:

 

Good luck with the grind! Small, focused adjustments will turn more of those sharp games into smooth victories.