Yi Lin IM

Hi Yi Lin! 👋

It’s great to see you actively playing and analysing your games. Here is some tailored feedback based on your recent results.

What you’re already doing well

• Consistent Opening Repertoire – You’re very comfortable meeting 1.e4 with the Sicilian …c5 and you handle typical Taimanov / Bastrikov set-ups confidently, often out-preparing opponents in the 10–20 move range.
• Converting Material Advantages – In the majority of your wins you reach technically winning endgames and convert with steady technique (e.g. your finish against ethanshakki).
• Active Piece Play – Whether in the Semi-Slav as White or the Alapin as Black, your pieces land on aggressive squares quickly, creating tactical chances your opponents struggle to meet.

Key areas to focus on next

• Time management in Bullet/Blitz
  Two of your recent losses (vs. joltology) came from flagged positions or panicky play with just seconds left. You frequently spend 15–20 sec on early “book” moves. Try:
  1. Playing the first 8–10 moves almost instantly when still in your main lines.
  2. Practising premove chains in totally forced recaptures.
• King safety vs. flank pawn storms
  In the 60-sec loss to chrisgt15 you allowed h4-h5-hxg6 to rip open your kingside after …g6. Against Modern/King’s Indian set-ups, consider meeting h4 with …h5 or …c6, …Qa5+ to distract White, instead of castling into it.
• Handling the Alapin (c3) Sicilian
  Although you scored 3/3, each game drifted into long manoeuvres. Study modern antidotes such as 2…d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nc6 aiming for rapid development, or the sharper 2…Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d6 followed by …Nc6 & …Bg4.
• Transition to Endgames in Rapid
  In several wins you kept queens on and the position remained double-edged (e.g. the Semi-Slav game) when a timely queen trade would have simplified matters. Create a habit: “am I already clearly better? If yes, can I exchange queens while keeping the bind?”

Concrete study plan for the next two weeks

1. Review the critical moment of your last loss: [[Pgn| 16...Qb4 17.e5 Nc6 18.a3 Rxd3 19.axb4 Rxd1+ 20.Nxd1 Nxe5 |fen|3R4/2P3k1/p5p1/8/8/1P6/2K5/3r4 b - - 0 32]] Find three alternative candidate moves for Black on move 16 and evaluate them with an engine afterwards.
2. Play 20 bullet games where you must have ≥ 20 sec on your clock after move 15. Track the result in a simple spreadsheet.
3. Memorise the main line of the Alapin antidote (2…d5) up to move 10; test it in at least five games.
4. Solve 30 endgame studies (king-and-pawn & rook endgames). I recommend the “build a bridge” and “Lucena” themes first – these arise directly from your Sicilian pawn structures.

Progress trackers

Your current peak rating: 2564 (2024-02-07). Let’s aim to push this 50 points higher by next month!

Final thoughts

Keep leveraging your dynamic style, but add a layer of pragmatic decision-making – especially when the clock is low. Small improvements in those areas will translate into big rating gains for you, Yi Lin. Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!