Arseny Alavkin GM

Quick summary

Good job on the recent win — you converted a dangerous passed pawn and used the clock pressure to finish the game. The loss shows a recurring theme: strong attacking ideas but sometimes insufficient attention to king safety and piece coordination. Below are focused, practical tips to sharpen your blitz play over the next few weeks.

What you did well (concrete examples)

• You convert material/positional advantages quickly. In your last win you pushed a passed pawn to b2 which became decisive — you recognized the promotion threat and let the opponent resign rather than give you extra moves to convert. (romannovozhenov111)
• Your attacking instincts are strong: you open lines and look for forcing continuations (sacrifices and capture sequences) rather than slow maneuvering. That gives you practical chances in blitz.
• You use active piece play — bringing knights and rooks into the enemy camp rather than passively defending — which often creates tactical chances in short time controls.

Recurring problems to fix

• King safety lapses: you sometimes push pawns or chase material while leaving your king exposed. In fast games that invites tactical replies (checks, forks, discovered attacks). Prioritize a quick safety checklist before committing to an all‑in attack.
• Coordination under pressure: when the opponent creates counterplay (queen + rooks or active minor pieces) you sometimes fail to neutralize it and instead trade into unclear positions that favor them. Look for ways to exchange the opponent’s active piece or create escape squares for your king.
• Opening leaks: your opening database shows specific lines with lower win rates (for example, the Nimzo-Indian and Amar Gambit lines). Those lines produce positions where you end up out of book early — prepare one or two reliable sidelines so you reach middlegames you understand well.

Concrete fixes and how to practice them

• Before committing to a tactical sequence, run a 3-step blitz checklist: (1) Is my king safe? (2) Can the opponent get forcing checks or forks? (3) Which piece will be overloaded if I execute this plan? If any answer is “no”/“unsure”, simplify or improve king safety first.
• Tactical drills: do 8–12 high-quality tactics puzzles daily with a 5–10 second solve target to sharpen pattern recognition (forks, back-rank, promoted pawn tactics). Focus on motifs you miss in game reviews (passed pawn races and promotion tactics in your recent win).
• Play training games from problem openings: pick one weak-performing opening (e.g., Nimzo-Indian Defense) and play 10 training rapid games using a single, well-studied reply. Review only the games where you lost or where the opening went off-book early.
• Blitz time management: aim to keep 20–30 seconds on the clock going into the complicated middlegame. That extra time prevents rushed tactical misses and mouse slips; if you see the position is forcing, spend those extra seconds calculating the forcing line.

Opening advice (practical & minimal)

• Double down on what already works: your King’s Indian Fianchetto and Amazon Attack lines have strong win rates. Keep using those and expand the typical plans you know there — pawn breaks, where to put knights, and simple attacking templates.
• Patch one weak opening: pick either the Nimzo-Indian Defense or the Amar Gambit and create a 5–6 move “safe” repertoire vs common sidelines so you don’t start the game in an uncomfortable early middlegame.
• Use short side-lines rather than novel gambits in blitz: a safe, slightly less ambitious line that you know well is better than a sharp novelty you haven’t practiced under time pressure.

Tactics, calculation and pattern play

• Convert passers reliably: practice pawn-race and promotion endgame patterns — being able to quickly judge whether a passed pawn can be stopped or must be sacrificed is a huge blitz edge.
• Key patterns to drill: back-rank mates, knight forks on king and queen, underpromotion motifs, and destroying defender/backing pieces (overload/deflection).
• When you see a forcing sequence, use the “two-move rule”: calculate the forcing sequence two moves deep (your move + reply) in blitz, and only go deeper if lines remain forcing.

Endgame & practical play

• Simplify when ahead — trades with a clear pawn or material edge translate better in blitz than complex conversion plans. In your win you forced the simplification that left a promoted pawn inevitable; repeat that habit.
• Study a few basic winning endings (rook + pawn vs rook, king + pawn races) until the technique is automatic. In blitz, technique + confidence = fewer time-consuming calculations.

Blitz-specific tips (time & psychology)

• Pre-move smartly: only pre-move in quiet positions or when the capture is forced — otherwise a single trick destroys the advantage.
• Use increment: with +2/+3 controls, use the increment to spend 6–10 seconds on critical positions instead of banking on flagging the opponent.
• Tilting control: after a loss, play one short unrated training game or take a 5–10 minute break. Your win/loss record shows cycles — managing tilt reduces downward streaks.

Next 4-week plan (practical schedule)

• Week 1: Daily 10–12 tactics (5–10s each) + 5 rapid games focusing on one opening reply. Review 20 minutes of losses for tactical oversights.
• Week 2: Continue tactics; add 15 minutes of endgame drills (rook and pawn basics). Play 5 training games and practice the blitz time-checklist before every sharp move.
• Week 3: Play 10 blitz games applying improved opening fixes and time management; review all decisive games (win/loss) and extract 2 repeated mistakes.
• Week 4: Mixed practice — 3 rapid, 10 blitz, and a themed training session on converting passed pawns and promotion races.

Example moment to study

Revisit the final core sequence from your last win — the passed b-pawn that promoted quickly and decided the game. Replay it and ask: could the defender have traded or blocked earlier? How did the move order create the unstoppable passer?

Interactive replay (key sequence from that game):

Final note — small gains compound

Your recent trend is positive when you focus; a few targeted changes (king safety checklist, tactical drills, and one opening to patch) will yield fast rating and performance improvements in blitz. Stick to the 4-week plan and reassess the patterns at the end.