Olga Sikorova WGM

Hi Olga!

You have played a healthy mix of 120 + 1 and 180 sec rapid games during the last week, mostly against 2200–2350 opposition. Your overall trend is positive (see the small peak marker below), but the score sheet shows a few recurring patterns that we can polish.

Current personal best:

Your main strengths

• Kingside initiative & rook lifts. In several wins you manoeuvred a rook to f3/h3/f6 with devastating effect.
• Flexibility in the English. You comfortably switch between positional setups (d3–e4) and aggressive f- and g-pawn storms.
• Tactical alertness. Exchanges such as 22 Rxf6⁺ (diagram below) or 13 Nc6–e4 → Nd2-f4 ideas with Black show good pattern recognition.

Key areas to improve

1 Time management

Five of your last eight losses were flagged positions, often in won or holdable endgames. The quality of your moves is usually good enough—so the low-hanging fruit is to distribute your thinking time better:

• Use the increment right from move 1: aim to stay above the starting clock for the first 10–12 moves.
• Set two “soft” checkpoints: ~40 sec left on move 20 and ~20 sec on move 30. Abort any deep calculation when you reach them.
• Practise forcing-move scans (CCT) against the 15-sec shot clock until they become automatic.

2 Over-extension in the English structure

Your signature plan with c4 g3 Bg2 Nc3 e4 f4 g4 is powerful if the centre is firmly closed. In two losses against queenkaliya Black hit back with …c5 or …e5 before you completed development, leaving weak squares on d4/f4. Try one of these tweaks:

• Insert d3 on move 4/5 to keep e4 guarded.
• Delay f4–f5 until your queen’s rook is connected.
• Add an “anti-…e5” line to your notes (diagrammatic memory works best—copy critical positions into your notebook).

3 End-game technique

The marathon versus kingrossi reached a knight-and-pawn ending that was still drawable on move 65. Two study themes will pay off:

• King activity vs passed pawns. Play out K+N vs K+2 pawns drills against an engine.
• Lucena & Philidor. Revise these rook-endgame cornerstones; three of your flagged losses simplified into exactly those positions.

Opening corner

With White

The English/Anglo-Indian setup scored 4/5. Keep it—but prepare a non-fianchetto back-up (e.g. 1 c4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 d4!) for opponents who mirror you.

With Black

You mixed the East-Indian and French Tarrasch. Results are fine, but two problems emerged:

1. A loose queen trip (…Qd8–b6/c7) allowed Nc6-b5 forks in two games.
2. Long-term light-square holes after …g6, …d6 without …c6.

Quick repair: add the prophylactic moves …h6 (against Bg5 pins) and …a5 (vs Qa4 & Nb5 motifs) to your Indian move-order notes.

Illustrative moments

Training plan (next 14 days)

1. 10 min tactics every day (theme: “zwischenzug & overload”).
2. 3 rook endings from Nunn’s manual, play vs engine until you hold the draw with 15 sec/move.
3. Opening micro-prep: build a 20-move file vs 1 c4 c5 mirroring lines; cement with two sparring games.
4. Clock discipline drill: play three 3 min + 2 blitz games where you must move inside 10 sec for the first 15 moves.

When to schedule rated games

Your best conversion rate is clustered around late evening—see

and . Stick to those slots for important challenges and use off-peak hours for experimentation.

Final thought

Your attacking flair is a real asset—sharpen the practical skills around it (time, defence, endgames) and you will comfortably break the next rating barrier. Happy hunting, Olga!