Neklan Vyskocil IM

Hi Neklan Vyskočil!

You are playing exciting, ambitious chess around the 2400 level and have scored some impressive wins lately. Below is a blend of praise and practical advice drawn from your most recent streak of games.

What you are already doing well

• Opening preparation – Your grasp of the Advance Caro-Kann (both colours!) is excellent. In your miniature versus richter-rauzer you anticipated …b5/…Qa5 ideas and calmly sidestepped them with 15.b3, later winning by a crisp rook-lift (see move 50).
  
  
  
• Tactical alertness – Your games often feature spot-on combinations (e.g. 24.Nc5! to trap Black’s queen in the same game, or 24.Ne7+ vs sangyon).
• Practical aggression with the initiative – Pushing h- and g-pawns against un-castled kings repeatedly paid dividends.
• Conversion technique when ahead – After reaching winning positions you usually keep it clean (five straight wins by mate or resignation with no slips).

Biggest improvement themes

1. Clock management
   Three of your last five losses were on time or in severe time-scrambles. Most of your spending happens before move 25. Try adding a mental checkpoint (“am I still on 4–5 minutes?”) every 10 moves.
   • Play a few games with increment.
   • Practise 30 min solving sessions with a rigid two-minute limit per tactical puzzle to build decision speed.
2. End-game fundamentals
   In the loss to Juan Pedro Cordón Gutiérrez you swapped into an unfavourable rook ending (move 20–23) and later missed drawing chances (e.g. 41…Rc3+ but without opposition awareness).
   • Revisit Lucena/Philidor rook positions one evening.
   • Play some “pawn-up rook endgame vs engine” drills.
3. Handling cramped positions as Black
   Against 1.e4 you occasionally choose the Pirc  (loss vs Alexxorio). You allowed a kingside bind (g4/h4) and never struck back in the centre.
   • Study the modern …c5 break in the Pirc and typical pawn-sac ideas.
   • Alternatively, consider a second main defence (e.g. French or …e5 systems) to avoid being “type-cast”.
4. Strategic pawn decisions with White
   In the Bishop’s Opening (loss vs THORK) the early dxe5 gave Black easy central breaks. If you want a quieter line, compare plans with c3/d4 or the Giuoco Pianissimo.

Game-specific micro-tips

Training roadmap (next 4 weeks)

• Week 1: 15 min daily rook-endgame drill; annotate two of your own time-trouble losses.
• Week 2: Build a flash-card deck of 20 Caro-Kann structures (both colours) and review until you can verbalise plans in under 30 seconds each.
• Week 3: Play 10 rapid games with a 5-second increment; focus on spending <3 min on the first 10 moves.
• Week 4: Study five annotated Pirc master games, paying attention to pawn breaks; test the ideas in three games.

Progress trackers

Keep enjoying the process, and remember that tightening just one or two of these areas could easily add the next 50+ rating points. Good luck at the board, Neklan!