melissa_guez WIM

Hi melissa_guez! 👋 – Personalised Post-Game Feedback

Great work climbing to and maintaining a strong win-rate during your favourite playing hours (see

). Your recent streak of four wins – including the instructive Sicilian victory against iamjerry – shows excellent form.

What’s already working well

• Dynamic Sicilian handling. You steer the French / Taimanov-style structures confidently, using …d5 breaks and piece activity (e.g. 17…Nd5! vs Maresias) to seize the initiative.
• Tactical alertness in time trouble. The win vs timtheenchanter97 featured multiple accurate resource-finding sequences while both clocks were under 10 s.
• Endgame conversion. Several recent games ended with clean technical play (e.g. rook & pawn endgame vs iamjerry). Your technique is a real asset once material is simplified.

Growth opportunities

• Avoid early pawn loosening as White. In the loss to repeated_blunder (Alekhine Exchange) the pawn chain e4-d4-c4 advanced before you had enough development. After 12.d5 you locked the centre but allowed …Ne7–c8–b6 ideas. Consider holding the tension and finishing kingside development first.
• King safety in gambit-like positions. Against e4_new_york_style you launched g-pawn pushes without castling long or creating flight squares. A simple …Be6! hit your queen and collapsed the structure. Re-check the concept of pawn storms: push them only when your own king is secure.
• Practical calculation ritual. Several losses contained tactics missed one tempo earlier (e.g. 32…Qxc3 in the Tygra8 game). Before every forcing move, do a 3-step scan:
  1. Checks, Captures, Threats for you
  2. Checks, Captures, Threats for opponent
  3. Re-evaluate king safety & loose pieces
  Training this habit will reduce “one-move blunder” resignations.
• Clock management. Many critical decisions (e.g. 18.Nb5!? vs repeated_blunder) consumed > 15 s in a 120 + 1 game. Try the “10-20-70” split: spend ≈10 % of your total time on the opening, 20 % on middlegame transitions, leaving 70 % for the critical late middlegame/endgame.

Opening lab – one targeted tweak per colour

Colour	Current choice	Suggested micro-goal
White	1.e4 Alekhine Exchange (loss)	Add 7.Nf3 instead of 7.Be3 to keep flexible against …f5 set-ups.
Black	Sicilian Taimanov / Bastrikov	Study the ♗b4+ sideline vs 6.Be3 to avoid early endgame trades.

Mini-exercise

Replay the critical phase of your win against iamjerry and look for improvements for both sides:

Action plan for the next two weeks

1. Play 10 sparring games starting from the position after 10…f6 in the TimTheEnchanter97 game to polish conversion with an extra pawn.
2. Solve 30 mating-net puzzles focusing on decoy themes; this directly addresses missed tactics in the Tygra8 encounter.
3. Analyse every loss for <15 min, tagging mistakes as “opening / calculation / endgame / time”. Track progress in
   .

Keep up the energetic style and refine these small leaks – the 2100+ barrier in Rapid is within reach. Enjoy the grind and good luck at the board!