Manu Prasad

Quick summary for Manu Prasad

Nice volume and fight in your recent blitz — you keep creating chances, especially with tricky opening choices and sharp tactics. The main things costing you points are hanging pieces in chaotic positions, avoidable time trouble, and some overambitious sacrifices that aren’t fully calculated. Below are concrete, mobile-friendly steps to convert more of your chances into wins.

What you're doing well

• Sharp, practical openings — you score particularly well with surprise and gambit lines (these put opponents under pressure early). See examples like Blackburne Shilling Gambit and Amar Gambit.
• Good pattern recognition in tactics — many wins come from forcing combinations rather than long manoeuvres.
• High volume practice — your rapid play keeps you battle-hardened for typical blitz motifs.

Key mistakes to fix (high priority)

• Loose pieces / hanging pieces: you give away material in messy positions. Put a mental tick before each move to ask “Is any piece undefended?” (Loose Piece)
• Time trouble / poor clock management (Zeitnot): many losses come in the final minute. Simplify and avoid complex long lines when low on time.
• Speculative sacrifices without full calculation: don’t sac unless you see a forced continuation or practical compensation.
• Post-tactical tunnel vision: after you win material, you sometimes miss simple defensive replies or allow counterplay. Double-check opponent’s threats before simplifying.

Practical blitz checklist (use during games)

• 3-second safety check before every move: King safety, undefended pieces, immediate tactics.
• If under 1 minute think: avoid long-forcing variations; choose the most practical safe move.
• When you win material, trade down to a simpler winning endgame unless there’s concrete danger.
• Avoid pre-moving in unclear positions — pre-moves are for pure captures or forced recaptures only.
• Flagging is fine, but don’t rely on it. If you’re in a flag race, aim to keep at least one blocking resource for checks and counterchecks (Flagging).

Concrete 4-week training plan (blitz-focused)

• Daily 20–30 min tactics: focus on forks, pins, skewers, and trapping loose pieces. Use short sets (5–10 puzzles) and review missed ones.
• 3 sessions/week — 20 games at 3+2: work on clock management and simplified techniques in time trouble.
• Two 30-minute sessions/week — endgame fundamentals: king + pawn vs king, basic rook endings, and Lucena basics so you confidently convert material edge.
• One weekly opening review: pick your top 2 blitz lines and learn 2-3 key plans/move orders (not huge theory) so you avoid early blunders.
• After each session: 10 minutes of targeted review. Tag 5 recent losses and write one recurring pattern per game (e.g., "left knight en prise").

Practical drills (short & effective)

• “Loose-piece hunt” drill — solve 20 tactical puzzles that reward winning an undefended piece. Mark ones you missed and replay the positions from the moment a piece could have been left en prise.
• Flag-scenario drill — play 5 games where you purposely start with 60 seconds and practice making safe, practical moves only (no long calculations).
• Counting drill — pick 10 positions and force yourself to count checks/captures/promotions to depth 3 before moving.

Opening guidance (keep what works, tighten where needed)

• Keep the surprise/gambit lines you do well with, but memorize the typical defensive resource and one safe decline line for when opponents know the trap (e.g., maintain a reliable fallback).
• Study one solid, low-theory system for when you want to avoid wild complications — this reduces losses from early chaos.
• Openings to reinforce: Scandinavian Defense (high win rate for you) and other aggressive but sound options. Practice 3 main responses from opponents so you don’t get thrown off in move 5–10.

Game review routine (5–10 minutes per game)

• Scan the final position and note the decisive moments. Ask “what changed the evaluation?”
• Identify 1–2 recurring errors (e.g., hanging pawns, missed forks). Add them to a short checklist.
• Save a model game (win or instructive loss) as a reference and revisit it weekly.

Mindset & in-game psychology

• After a loss, play one calming bullet or take a 5-minute break — avoid tilt-queueing.
• When ahead, trade into simpler positions; don’t chase flashy wins at the cost of safety (LPDO is what happens when you leave pieces loose).

Example follow-up (placeholders you can use)

• Replay a recent opponent: someopponentusername — focus on the moment you lost material.
• Study the term for your recurring mistake: Loose Piece.
• If you want, paste one of your recent games and I’ll give a short annotated checklist for that exact game.

Next steps (short checklist)

• Start the 4-week plan and do the “loose-piece hunt” every other day.
• Play 10 controlled 3+2 games this week and apply the 3-second safety check habit.
• Pick one opening to clean up with 15 minutes of study: learn typical pawn structures and one safe response for opponents’ best tries.

Want a custom micro-plan?

Send one game (PGN or link) where you felt you blundered or lost on time and I’ll return a focused 3-point improvement list for that game.