Luka Oboladze IM

Overall Performance

Luka, your recent games show a very promising trend of improvement. Over the last 6 months, your rating has increased significantly by 800 points, and you have maintained a steady upward trajectory in the last 1 to 3 months with a 50-point gain. Your strength adjusted win rate of approximately 66% also indicates that you are performing consistently well against opponents of similar strength.

Highlights from Recent Wins

• You have demonstrated strong strategic understanding in openings like the Ruy Lopez and Sicilian Defense, successfully converting small advantages into wins.
• Your ability to capitalize on tactical opportunities, such as capturing key pieces and creating passed pawns, was evident in key moments like the endgames and middlegame exchanges.
• Good use of piece activity, especially your knights and bishops, helped in putting pressure and controlling important squares.
• In one of your wins, the position showed you converted an advantage by improving your knight positioning and creating threats that eventually led to opponent resignation.

Areas for Improvement – Recent Losses

Your losses mostly show that the defensive phase and endgame technique could benefit from further practice:

• Pay attention to pawn structure weaknesses that opponents exploited to gain small but critical advantages, especially in the Sicilian Defense games against stronger players.
• Endgame technique is an area to focus on; several losses ended in situations where precise play could help secure a draw or complicate the opponent’s winning chances.
• In some games, your opponents capitalized on small mistakes or missed tactical opportunities; improve tactical vision by solving puzzles regularly.
• Consider reviewing some critical moments in your lost games to understand alternative moves that maintain better equilibrium.

Opening Play

You are using a good variety of openings, including strong classical choices:

• The Ruy Lopez and Sicilian Defense have served you well in developing attacking chances and controlling the center.
• Continue to deepen your knowledge of the key ideas behind these openings rather than memorizing moves, which will help you adapt better in unexpected positions.
• For openings that led to losses, reviewing the main lines and common traps will increase your comfort and confidence in the early phase of the game.

Next Steps for Continued Improvement

• Focus on sharpening your endgame skills—studying rook endgames, pawn endgames, and basic mating patterns will give you an edge.
• Practice tactical puzzles daily to reduce missed opportunities and improve your calculation speed and accuracy.
• Review your annotated games or use chess analysis tools to identify recurring weaknesses or missed chances.
• Try to maintain a solid opening repertoire while expanding your understanding of middlegame plans and pawn structures.
• Keep playing consistently, as your positive rating slope over the last year shows great momentum—consistency is key.

Final Encouragement

Luka, your upward rating trend and solid performance show that your hard work is paying off. Keep focusing on your improvement areas while leveraging your strengths in openings and tactics. Stay motivated and enjoy your chess journey!