Overview of your recent blitz play
Your blitz results show you are willing to enter sharp, tactical battles and you can finish exciting sequences when the position asks for precise calculation. The most recent win demonstrates a strong ability to convert pressure into a clear tactic that ends in checkmate. The other recent games indicate you can handle a variety of opening setups and middlegame plans, but there are moments where king safety and exchange decisions could be tightened. Your opening experience across several systems is a strength, and you can leverage that versatility to keep opponents guessing.
What you did well
- You pursued tactical opportunities and calculated deeply enough to force decisive outcomes in complex positions.
- Your finish in the latest win shows you can translate initiative into a concrete result when the opponent’s king safety is strained.
- You handle a range of openings with confidence, which helps prevent opponents from easily steering the game into their preferred lines.
- In several games you maintained practical play under blitz time pressure, keeping your decisions focused and avoiding premature simplifications.
Areas to improve
- Strengthen king safety and piece coordination in the middlegame to reduce risky exchanges that can swing the balance away from you in blitz.
- Improve time management in sharp, tactical games to avoid getting into time trouble in critical moments.
- Be mindful of over-ambitious plans in the opening. When the position becomes tactical, consider simplifying to reduce the risk of hidden traps or tactical refutations.
- Work on identifying and counting candidate moves quickly, so you don’t miss forcing lines or intermediate threats in the heat of the clock.
Opening repertoire insights
Your data shows solid results across several openings. Notably, you have a respectable win rate with the Nimzo-Larsen Attack and a very good score with the Philidor Defense. Consider leaning into reliable, solid lines in blitz where you can play accurately without heavy memorization, and then add a couple of sharp, well-prepared lines for surprise value. For practical blitz work, focusing on a compact, well-covered set of responses can help you outplay opponents who rely on surprise value.
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack — strong performance; good for dynamic play while keeping some structure.
- Philidor Defense — high win rate; useful when you want solid, resilient middlegame positions.
- French Defense: Advance and Exchange Variations — learn the typical pawn structures and common middlegame plans to avoid long, unclear fights when you’re ahead or behind.
- Other solid options such as Scandinavian or Barnes/Ban-style defenses can be useful against offbeat choices; practice a few solid responses to each.
For quick reference during study, you can review these openings as needed: Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Philidor Defense, and French Defense: Exchange Variation.
Training plan for the next 2 weeks
- Daily tactics practice: solve 6–12 short puzzles focused on typical blitz motifs (forks, pins, discovered attacks, and king hunts).
- Opening study: pick 2 openings to deepen. Prioritize Nimzo-Larsen Attack and Philidor Defense for the next week, then rotate to another option if you feel comfortable.
- Game review routine: after every blitz game, write down the top 3 decision points (why you chose a move, what you missed, and what you would do differently next time).
- Endgame and conversion: 15 minutes of endgame drills twice a week to improve technique in simplifying when ahead and resisting simplifications when behind.
- Blitz practice with a plan: do a 15–20 minute blitz session focusing on applying the learned tactical patterns and opening ideas, then quickly annotate the key moments you found surprising or difficult.
If you want to bookmark a quick reference, you can view your repertoire notes here: liam%20masse.
Progress and momentum indicators
Your 3-month rating change shows positive momentum, while the 6-month change is slightly negative and the 12-month slope is modestly down. This suggests you have short-term improvement but could benefit from stabilizing longer-term fundamentals. To maintain steady growth, emphasize consistent tactical training, reliable opening play, and solid endgame technique in your routine. Focus on building a repeatable process for game analysis and error reduction.
Next steps
- Adopt a compact blitz repertoire centered on Nimzo-Larsen Attack and Philidor Defense, with a couple of prepared replies to common anti-blitz responses.
- Implement a quick pre-move checklist in your thought process: material balance, king safety, key tactical motifs, and candidate moves to compare at least two options before deciding.
- Schedule two short review sessions per week to go over your 3 most recent blitz games and extract concrete improvements.
- Track your progress with a lightweight habit: number of puzzles solved per day and the accuracy of endgame conversions in blitz.