LittleLionMan FM

Quick summary — what I looked at

I reviewed your most recent games vs Brewington Hardaway (multiple results) and the immediate loss you sent. Opponent is very strong, and many losses came from long, technical endgames or decisive pawn races where a passed pawn promoted. You’re playing actively and creating chances, but a few recurring themes are costing you the wins.

What you’re doing well

• Active piece play: you attack and create concrete threats — good instincts in the middlegame for forcing lines and piece activity.
• Opening preparation: your repertoire shows big strengths (Caro-Kann, Amar Gambit, etc.), and you often reach comfortable middlegames.
• Conversion ability: when you get a material or structural advantage you often press and convert — your Win/Loss/Draw record and rating trend show strong practical play.
• Composure in long games: you stay calm and keep making useful moves late in long time-control battles, which is why many games go very deep.

Recurring weaknesses to fix (high impact)

• Pawn-race / passed-pawn technique — In several losses the opponent’s passed pawn promotion was the decisive factor. When a passed pawn appears, prioritize blocking it with a piece or creating immediate counterplay on the other side. Don’t let pawns march freely to the queening square.
• Rook/endgame coordination — You often have rooks active, but they aren’t always coordinated to stop promotion or to create counterplay (rook vs rook + passer scenarios). Work on common rook endings: cutting the king off, using checks to gain tempo, and active vs passive rook placement.
• King safety and back-rank issues — A few mates and mating-net finishes happened because the king became exposed and escape squares were limited. Luft, king activity in the endgame and simple escape-square checks will reduce these finishes.
• Tactical oversights late in long games — When games drift into long sequences you sometimes miss a decisive tactical resource (e.g., sacrificing to force promotion or a decisive trade). A short tactic check before every move in time-critical situations helps.

Concrete, short-term drills (do these this week)

• Rook endgame basics — 20 positions: practice the Lucena and Philidor ideas, plus rook vs rook + outside passer defence. Spend 15–20 minutes per session, 3 sessions this week.
• Pawn race scenarios — Set up 10 pawn-race drills where one side has a passer on the a- or b-file and practise blockades, rook checks, and creating counterpassers. 10–15 minutes each day.
• Tactics: targeted motifs — 30 puzzles per day focused on discovered checks, deflection, and promotion tactics. These are the motifs that decided your recent games.
• Play slower games — at least two 10|0 or 15|10 games this week to practice converting small advantages and to rehearse endgame technique under less time pressure.

Practical bullet tips (1-minute games)

• When a passer appears, don’t gamble — trade into a simpler winning king+rook vs rook ending or immediately attack the passer with your heaviest piece.
• Use pre-moves carefully — only pre-move when you’re sure you won’t be hit by tactic. A single bad pre-move in a race can cost the game.
• Simplify when slightly ahead — in bullet, a material edge + simplified position often wins more reliably than complex complications.
• Two-move routine before flagging — when under 15 seconds, run a mental two-step (1. check for immediate mate/tactic, 2. choose safe active move). This reduces tactical blunders in time trouble.

Game-specific pointer (your latest loss)

Here’s the final phase of the most recent loss where you were Black: the opponent engineered a passed a-pawn and promoted it. The practical lesson: as soon as White’s a-pawn advanced to a6–a7, your rooks needed to coordinate on the a-file (or generate counterplay on the kingside) — instead the opponent’s queen and rooks finished the game. When a passed pawn gets to the 6th/7th rank, switch to a single urgent goal: stop promotion (blockade, perpetual checks, or sacrifice a rook for the pawn if needed).

Open the exact position and replay the sequence to practice the defense once:

Repertoire & study advice

• Keep using the openings that give you consistent results (Caro-Kann and your gambits) — they suit your style and score well.
• For lines with lower winrates (Nimzo-Larsen / KIA), either narrow down to one main plan and study thematic endgames from those structures, or switch to more straightforward systems in bullet to reduce unfamiliar middlegame messes.
• Spend one study session per week on model games that end in pawn races and rook endgames from positions in your recent games.

Two tasks for your next session

• Drill: 30 minutes of rook endgames (Lucena/Philidor/active rook play) + 15 minutes of pawn-race puzzles.
• Play: two 10|0 games trying to convert a small advantage without sacrificing accuracy — focus on simplification and not giving up the a-file or critical squares.

Wrap-up

You’re clearly strong (rating trend and overall win rate confirm it). Fixing a handful of technical endgame and pawn-race habits will turn many of those close losses into wins. Pick one endgame motif and one tactical motif this week and grind them — the improvement will show up quickly in bullet.

If you want, tell me which of the above drill tasks you'd like a custom set of positions for and I’ll generate a short practice pack you can use right away.