Mon Brj

Quick summary

Nice work — your recent results show clear improvement and you are trending up. You do well with the English setups and you create active play. Main opportunities right now are time management in blitz, avoiding loose pieces and tactical oversights, and converting advantages more cleanly.

Games to review

Look over these two games first. They highlight both a clean win and a common loss pattern I see in your play:

• Winning game: Review winning game vs greatexcalibur — you converted a clear initiative and the opponent flagged in a difficult defensive position.
• Loss to study: Review loss vs zecedro — the game ends after tactical exchanges that favor White; useful for spotting calculation and hanging piece issues.
• Also useful: Review loss vs vickitidrum — shows how back-rank and queen tactics can decide a game quickly.

What you are doing well

• You build pressure well from the opening. Your performance with the English Opening family is strong — keep those structures and plans you know.
• You play actively. You bring pieces into the attack and create concrete threats instead of passive maneuvers.
• Your recent month-to-month improvement is real. A +74 rating change in the last month shows your practice is working.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Time trouble: several games ended with time or fast resignations. During blitz, give yourself a 1–2 second habit check before each move: scan for opponent checks, captures, and threats. If you are below 30 seconds, prioritize safe, simple moves that keep material and king safety intact.
• Loose pieces and tactical oversights: you occasionally leave pieces undefended or miss simple queen or back-rank tactics. Before moving, ask: "Is any piece hanging?" and "Does my opponent have a forcing tactic?" Work through a short tactical checklist for each move.
• Back-rank and queen tricks: in a couple of losses the opponent used queen invasions or back-rank ideas to win material. When your rooks are on the first rank or the back rank is weak, create luft for your king or trade a rook if you cannot create luft safely.
• Converting advantages: when you have an edge you sometimes allow simplifications that trade into drawing or losing endgames. If you have space or an active piece advantage, keep pieces on the board and look for forcing lines that increase the opponent’s difficulties.

Concrete training plan (weekly blitz-focused)

Short daily routines you can do before a blitz session:

• 10–15 minutes tactics puzzles (focus on pins, forks, and queen tactics). Aim for accuracy, not speed; repeat any missed puzzles.
• 15 minutes opening review: stick to the lines you play most (especially English Opening and the main lines you encounter in the Sicilian family). Learn one typical plan and one trap to avoid.
• 5–10 minutes endgame practice: basic king and pawn plus rook endings and simple piece endgames — these high-frequency positions decide many blitz games.
• Play 6–10 blitz games and then review the key mistakes from the ones you lost. For each loss, annotate one tactical miss and one positional error.

Move-by-move checklist (use in blitz)

• Before you move: look for checks, captures, and threats (in that order).
• Ask: "Am I hanging any piece or square?" and "Can my opponent create a tactic next move?"
• If low on time: choose the safest reasonable move that maintains material and king safety.
• When ahead: avoid unnecessary trades that reduce winning chances unless they lead to a clear winning endgame.

Short-term goals (next 2 weeks)

• Finish 30 tactical puzzles every other day with a 75%+ accuracy target.
• Play 50 blitz games with post-game review for every lost game (mark the one biggest mistake).
• Reduce losses by flagging or time trouble: set a goal of no more than 1 time loss per 10 games.

Long-term focus (1–3 months)

• Build a compact, reliable opening repertoire around the English Opening and one Sicilian setup you feel comfortable with.
• Increase calculation depth: weekly slow games or rapid games where you force yourself to think one extra move for complex positions.
• Practice converting small advantages in endgames — rook endgames, connected passed pawns and king activity.

Next steps

• Review the three linked games above move-by-move and tag the turning point in each.
• Start the daily routine for one week and report back the top two recurring mistakes you still see. We will then make a targeted plan.
• If you want, share one annotated loss and I will give a short tactical and strategic post-mortem.

Placeholders & extra links

• Opponent profiles you might want to check: greatexcalibur, zecedro, vickitidrum.
• Study terms: English Opening, Sicilian Defense.