Mikhail Lazarev

Quick summary

Nice, Mikhail — your games show aggressive intent and the ability to convert advantages. Your recent win where you pushed on the kingside and then used active rooks to finish the opponent is a good example of that. Your most recent loss came when your opponent infiltrated with the queen and exploited weaknesses on the queenside; that’s a clear pattern to fix. Review the games here:

• Good conversion example: Review this win
• Recent loss to learn from: Review this loss

What you're doing well

• Active piece play — you get your rooks and queens into the action quickly, which creates concrete winning chances in rapid games.
• Aggressive plan selection — pushing the h-pawn and opening lines around the enemy king is often paying off for you when it’s supported by pieces.
• Conversion — when you win material or open a file, you tend to keep pressing until the opponent cracks (example: see how you converted).
• Tactical awareness — your win rate and strength-adjusted rate show you find opportunities and finish them under time pressure.

Key areas to improve

• Watch queen infiltration and back-rank issues. The loss against thrasher-1 shows how a quiet queen invasion can decide the game — study typical Back Rank escapes and give your king luft when possible.
• Pawn-structure weaknesses on the queenside. In the loss you allowed pawns/knight activity there to become dangerous — try not to create target pawns or holes when launching a kingside plan.
• Opening selection & follow-up: some openings in your repertoire (example: London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation) have lower win rates — either refine the lines you play or avoid the most double-edged theoretical traps until you’ve studied the key ideas.
• Endgame technique in simplified positions. When you have the initiative and trade into a rook/queen endgame, focus on precise plans to convert rather than relying on the attack to carry you. A few typical rook-endgame motifs will pay off.
• Calculation before simplifications: avoid automatic exchanges that give your opponent squares or an exposed king — ask “what changes after the trade?” before accepting.

Concrete next steps (weekly plan)

• Daily (15–30 min): 20–30 tactical puzzles focused on pins, forks and discovered attacks — these motifs appear in your openings and middlegames.
• 3× week (30–45 min): Endgame drills — Lucena/Rozin ideas and basic rook vs rook+pawn endings. Use fast, focused exercises and then one longer study session per week.
• 2× week (20–30 min): Opening review — pick one troublesome line (for example study the key ideas against the Modern Defense h4 attack and the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation). Don’t memorize moves only — learn typical plans and pawn breaks.
• After each loss: do a short post-mortem before using an engine. Write down 2–3 alternative moves for the critical position, then check with the engine to confirm the real mistake.
• Time management drill: play 10 rapid games where you deliberately spend 30–60 seconds extra on moves 8–15 to improve opening/transition judgment.

Practical habits to apply during games

• Before committing to a pawn storm, check the safety of your own king and potential counterplay on the opposite wing.
• If you win material, simplify toward an endgame only after confirming you can keep the advantage — otherwise keep pieces on to create mating chances.
• When you sense queen activity from your opponent, proactively create luft or coordinate a minor piece to guard key squares — don’t wait for the invasion.
• Use move checks: after your move, ask “what does my opponent want?” — this helps avoid tactical oversights.

Opening suggestions

You have big strengths in sharp openings. Keep these, but tidy the ones with poor results:

• Keep playing sharp lines where you thrive (you’ve had strong results in many attacking lines), but study defensive ideas against the common replies.
• Work a short anti-London plan or sideline if the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation is causing trouble — sometimes a small sidestep removes traps.
• Review pawn-structure plans vs ...g6 and ...c5 setups so your kingside pawn pushes don’t create long-term weaknesses.

Short drill for your next 50 rapid games

• First 10 moves: treat the opening as a planning phase — spend a few extra seconds to identify opponent’s target squares.
• If you attack on the kingside, before pushing a second pawn, check: can your opponent open the opposite wing or invade with a queen?
• Every game: mark one tactical motif you missed or created and save it as a “lesson” to review later.

Final encouragement

Your instincts and aggression are serving you well. With a bit more structure — targeted endgame practice, some opening cleanup, and a consistent tactics habit — you’ll convert more advantages and avoid the kind of queen-infiltration loss you recently had. Keep reviewing the two games above and apply one concrete change per week. You’re on a good trajectory — keep it up!