leaowl1

Hi leaowl1! Here is some personalised feedback based on your recent games.

Your current profile at a glance

• Peak Blitz rating:
• Typical playing window: see
• Weekly performance trend:

What you are already doing very well

1. Converting material advantages.
   In your Daily win against Duo-bot (B80 Sicilian) you entered a queen + rook vs minor-pieces ending and converted methodically, centralising the king and creating outside passed pawns. Your end-game technique is clearly above average for your rating bracket.
2. Sharp tactical awareness when you are the aggressor.
   The win against Hotelschach (King’s Gambit Accepted) shows good memory of thematic ideas: …g5, …g4, …Bg4, and an excellent …Qxh4! shot that punished White’s loose king. Your calculation depth is sound when the initiative is yours.
3. Flexible piece play in complex middlegames.
   The maneuver 22…Rd6→…Rf6→…Rg6 in the win over A-Tini demonstrated nimble handling of rooks in an open position, turning defence into counter-attack.

Main improvement themes

1. King safety before flank pawn pushes.
   Your loss versus SteakWithSearedOnions arose after 20.g3?! which weakened f3–g2 and let Black uncork 21…Nf4+ 22.gxf4 Qg4+. Before advancing wing pawns, stop for a “king-safety check”:
   • Are any pieces left to defend the king?
   • Does the pawn move create new dark/light-square holes?
   • Could the opponent exploit the fresh lines within two moves? (quick tactics search)
   A single prophylactic move such as 20.h3 would have kept Qg4 out and preserved equality.
2. Handling early central tension in the Italian/Bird’s Attack.
   The sequence 11.Nc4 d5! 12.Nxb6 Qxb6 gave Black central freedom and the initiative. Consider:
   • Delaying Nc4 until after you have castled and played Re1.
   • Switching to d3 systems (e.g. 6.d3 7.Nbd2 8.0-0) when Black adopts a …d6/…a5 setup; this keeps the centre fluid and preserves your bishop pair.
   • Studying model games by Carlsen-Caruana 2018 (Game 1 & 4) for modern Italian structures.
3. Defending against unexpected piece sacrifices.
   In the loss to GrandMasterUndiscovered you accepted 2…Nxe4 in the Reti/English, walked into e4-e5 with tempo and never recovered. Build a mental checklist:
   1. When the opponent offers a pawn, quickly estimate material vs development.
   2. If accepting puts your king in the centre for >3 moves, decline or prepare.
   3. Use the “three-defender rule”: make sure the captured pawn is covered at least three times if the recapture opens files.
4. Maintain time margins in quiet positions.
   Several games show you dipping under 3 minutes by move 20 while the opponent still has >5 minutes. In positions without forcing tactics, adopt a ‘30-second ceiling’—if you have spent 30 sec and still cannot decide, choose the soundest of your top two candidate moves and move on.

Opening snapshots

Switching from Bird’s Attack to a solid d3-Italian

Key ideas: play h3 to control g4, Re1 followed by Be3 or Bb3, c3–d4 break only after completing development.

Sicilian Scheveningen model you already played well

Continue studying modern plans with  f2-f4-f5 and exchange sacrifice on f6 (see Nepomniachtchi–MVL, Zagreb 2019).

Suggested training plan (4-week micro-cycle)

1. Week 1 – King safety drills: 50 positions/day from a tactics set filtered for “mate-in-3 or defend-the-king”.
2. Week 2 – Italian middlegame: Play 10 rapid games using only the quiet d3 system; annotate each with focus on pawn structure.
3. Week 3 – Defensive technique: Solve 25 ‘save-the-game’ studies (e.g. end-game fortresses, perpetual motifs).
4. Week 4 – Practical time management: Play 15 blitz (3 + 2) games with a strict 15-second move limit for the first 15 moves; afterwards review blunders caused by haste.

Final encouragement

Your strengths in sharp tactical play and end-game conversion already place you in the upper tier of your rating range. Shoring up king safety habits and adopting slightly more solid Italian structures will remove many of the positions where you currently get into trouble. Keep the fighting spirit, and good luck in your next encounters!