Anysia Thomas WFM

Hi Anysia, here’s your personalised feedback 👋

What you’re already doing well

• Activity first: In many of your Chess960 wins you rapidly place pieces on active squares (e.g. the Nf5/Bg4 motifs against Aleksandra Tarnowska), forcing your opponent onto the back foot.
• Tactical alertness: You spot one-move shots such as Bxe6 / Nxe6+ or the exchange sacs that opened files against Ansumana Kamara. Your pattern recognition is growing.
• Flexible pawn play: You’re comfortable employing flank pawn levers (b-pawn, g-pawn, h-pawn) to gain space or provoke weaknesses—an excellent skill in 960 where centre files can be blocked.

Top priorities for the next few weeks

1. Time management. Seven of the nine recent losses were “lost on time” in roughly equal or promising positions. Aim to reach move 20 with >40 % of your clock left.
   • Use the “two-candidate-moves” rule: if neither is blundering material, pick one and keep the game moving.
   • Practise 5 + 5 rather than 3 + 0 for a week to train quick evaluations without flagging.
2. King safety first in 960. Several early queen forays (e.g. 2.Qxb7? vs Alexey Reshetnikov) left your own king in the centre. Try a “castle by move 8” challenge in your next ten games.
3. Central footprint. Games such as the loss to boris abrashkin show pawns advancing on the wing while the centre remained undefended. When unsure, choose a central pawn move (d- or e-pawn) before flank play.

Opening habits to refine

• Knights before bishops remains a reliable guideline, even in 960.
• After …c5 against your English structures, consider d4 earlier to avoid the isolated-pawn you often accept.
• Collect a short “response kit” against …f5 setups (common in 960): e4, quick castling and press on the e-file.

Tactical & calculation workout

Allocate 15 min/day to mixed motifs: discovered attacks, overloading, and back-rank tricks. Your games already feature these ideas; deliberate repetition will speed them up.

Endgame corner

You sometimes reach won endings yet still flag. Study the Lucena and Philidor rook-pawn endings. Knowing the drawing borders will reduce calculation time over the board.

Progress tracker

Concrete action plan

• Play 20 games of 5 + 5 with a self-imposed 30-second think limit per move.
• Analyse (with engine off) one win and one loss each session, writing down why you spent >30 s on specific moves.
• Finish “100 Endgames You Must Know” chapters 1-4 this month.
• Review this key tactical mini-game whenever you need inspiration:
  
  
  

Keep enjoying the journey, and let me know whenever you need a deeper dive into a specific topic such as zugzwang or pawn majorities. Good luck in your next session! 🚀