Larisa Kuhar WFM

Overall Performance Analysis

Larisa, congratulations on an outstanding run with 25 wins, only 1 loss, and 1 draw! Your rating progress shows impressive improvement over recent months, with a significant gain of 428 points in the last 3 to 6 months. Your strength adjusted win rate near 68% demonstrates your ability to compete strongly against players of your level and higher.

Opening Play

Your opening repertoire is varied and effective. Your performance in the Sicilian Defense is particularly notable, winning 100% of your games in general and a strong 66.67% in the challenging Najdorf Variation. This is a complex opening, and your success here shows good preparation and tactical understanding.

• Continue deepening your knowledge in the Sicilian Defense and Najdorf variations, focusing on common middlegame plans and typical pawn breaks.
• Maintain variety by exploring the other openings where you have good results, such as the Scotch Game and Caro-Kann Defense, to keep your opponents guessing.

Specific Game Insights

Analyzing your wins highlights your strong positional sense and tactical sharpness, especially in:

• The win against pemur where you effectively used queenside pawn advances and pressure on black's slightly awkward knight placement.
• The disciplined strategy in your games employing the Ruy Lopez and Scotch openings, where you controlled key central squares and exchanged effectively.

For your recent loss, the opponent's time victory shows the importance of careful time management, especially in daily games where you have more thinking time:

• Try to balance spending time on critical moves and making timely decisions to avoid losing on time.
• Review time usage during different game phases and practice managing clock pressure to stay comfortable in complex positions.

Areas for Improvement

• Time management: Given your one loss due to time, and the long time your opponent spent on some responses, learning to trust your calculations and maintaining a good pace will help you avoid losing on time in close games.
• Endgame technique: Work on converting advantages confidently and efficiently as you approach the late middlegame to endgame. This will increase your chance to close out winning positions.
• Defensive skills: Although you have very few losses, improving your ability to defend under pressure will further solidify your results.

Training Recommendations

• Review your Sicilian Defense games with an engine or coach to identify critical moments and alternative plans.
• Practice tactical puzzles daily to sharpen calculation and pattern recognition skills.
• Play practice games focusing on time management, setting shorter time controls to simulate pressure situations.
• Analyze your losses and the one draw in detail to extract lessons on mistakes or inaccuracies.
• Study classic endgame manuals focusing on fundamental principles and practical conversion techniques.

Keep Up the Great Work!

Your steady upward trend and strong win record show you have the dedication and skill to keep improving. Stay curious about your own games, keep studying your openings, and maintain confident, efficient play. The next rating milestone is within reach with continued focus.