Ekin Baris Ozenir IM

Quick summary

Ekin — good attacking instincts and solid conversion in many games. Your tactical vision + active rooks win material and mates often. Main weaknesses: time management in fast time controls, a couple of opening lines that give repeated trouble (notably Nimzo‑Larsen style positions), and occasional unnecessary complications when a simple technical route would do.

What you're doing well

• Creating kingside pressure quickly and using pawn storms effectively.
• Spotting tactical wins: forks, knight invasions and back‑rank motifs show up in your wins.
• Rook activity — you exploit open files and the seventh rank to convert advantages.
• Persistence — you keep fighting in messy positions and often get rewarded for it.

Recurring problems to fix

• Clock trouble: several losses are due to low time. In bullet, simplify when low or create one forcing threat to gain moves from the opponent.
• Vulnerable opening lines: the Nimzo‑Larsen structures have cost you — either prepare specific replies or avoid those sidelines. See Nimzo-Larsen Attack.
• Trading mistakes: exchanging into positions that activate the opponent’s pawns or king. Before each trade, ask: "Does this reduce my opponent’s counterplay?"
• Conversion safety: when ahead, eliminate counterplay (hook rooks to cut enemy king, activate your king, or trade into clear endgames).

Concrete, actionable tips

• Pre-moves: disable most of them. Use only in fully forced recaptures — they cost you more than they help.
• Time strategy: if you have the time edge, trade into simpler technical wins; if you're low, prioritize forcing moves or one tactical shot, not long maneuvers.
• Openings: pick one stable system for White and Black and learn the first 8–10 moves and 1 key trap each. Start with a simple defense like a solid 1...d5 or Dutch Defense.
• Tactics training: 10–15 minutes daily of fast puzzles (10–30s per puzzle) to build pattern speed for forks, pins, and back‑rank mates.
• Endgames: practice rook endgames and basic pawn races—these show up often in your games and decide many bullet results.

Tactical checklist (use during games)

• Quick scan before each move: checks, captures, threats (5 seconds).
• If up material: can I trade to a simple win? If yes — trade. If no — remove opponent’s counterplay first.
• Low on time (<10s): avoid quiet long‑term plans; look for immediate forcing moves or safe exchanges.

Mini 1‑week plan

• Days 1–2: 20 min opening review (your two most-played lines). Memorize typical plans and one trap each.
• Days 3–4: 15 min/day fast tactics + 10 bullet games applying the pre-move rule.
• Day 5: 30 min rook endgames (Lucena, Philidor ideas and common defensive techniques).
• Day 6: Play a focused session of 20 bullet games; annotate two losses focusing on where time or a trade decision cost you the game.
• Day 7: Light review and rest.

One concrete pattern to study (from your play)

You often win after opening a file and invading with knights/rooks — practice the sequence "open file → invade with rook → knight fork or back‑rank finish." Here's a short example sequence to replay that demonstrates open‑file pressure and a rook lift:

Immediate changes to make right now

• Turn off risky pre-moves; use them only for forced recaptures.
• When up on the clock, simplify into technical wins instead of hunting fancy mates.
• Pick one opening line to drill deeply this week — familiarity saves seconds and reduces mistakes.

Next steps

Your rating trend and win rate show you're improving. If you want, I can:

• Make a 4‑week personalized schedule (openings + tactics + endgames).
• Do a move-by-move analysis of two of your losses to find concrete recurring errors.

Tell me which option you prefer and I’ll prepare the plan or pick two games to analyze.