Pierre Laurent-Paoli GM

What you did well

You showed good tactical awareness in your recent win, finishing with a clean combination that exploited coordination between your queen and pieces. This shows you can spot forcing ideas and convert pressure to a concrete result when the position becomes sharp.

Your opening flexibility is a strength. You’ve demonstrated comfort in several solid, yet active setups, and you’re able to adapt based on Black’s responses. This helps you avoid predictable paths and keeps your opponents guessing early in the game.

You stay resilient in complex middlegame and endgame situations. Even in tougher lines, you manage to keep the fight alive and look for practical chances, which is especially valuable in blitz where time pressure makes precise play harder.

Areas to improve

• Time management in blitz: practice making quick, solid decisions in the first 15–20 moves and reserve some clock for the critical moments. A restless clock often leads to small blunders in the middlegame or endgame.
• Pattern recognition in the middlegame: strengthen quick assessment of typical pawn structures and piece trades that arise from your chosen openings. This helps you avoid unnecessary exchanges and keeps your pieces active.
• Endgame conversion: in longer sequences, focus on converting benefits (such as a better pawn structure or active king) into a clear plan to win or hold. Work on simple rook and minor-piece endings to finish cleanly.
• Blunder prevention in tactical scenes: after a forcing line, pause briefly to check for missed tactical resources from your opponent. A two-step check (what if they have this? what if they have that?) can prevent surprises.

Opening and middlegame plan

Your openings show you’re comfortable with aggressive, dynamic structures as well as solid, flexible setups. Given the data on performance in several main lines, consider adopting a focused, small repertoire to deepen your understanding and reduce decision fatigue in blitz. A practical approach could be:

• Keep two primary openings you’re confident with in the white side, one sharp and one solid, to handle different Black responses.
• Choose one dynamic defense as Black (for example, a line in the Benko family or another aggressive system) and one solid, steady defense (such as a controlled Queen's Pawn or Caro-Kann-leaning setup).
• Study common middlegame plans and typical piece maneuvers that arise from those two openings, so you recognize patterns quickly during a game.

Review a couple of recent games to extract specific middlegame plans and common tactical motifs you faced, and note which ideas worked best for you and which didn’t.

Endgame awareness and conversion

Several games show extended fights where the endgame technique matters. Add short, focused endgame drills into your routine, such as:

• King activity in rook endings and simple queen vs rook endings.
• Practical rook endgames with pawns on one side, practicing how to create passed pawns and convert advantage.
• Minor piece endings basics, including when to trade to simplify and how to keep pressure with your remaining pieces.

Two-week practical training plan

• Daily tactical focus (15–20 minutes): solve puzzles that emphasize pattern recognition, forcing lines, and calculation accuracy. Include 3–5 mating/netting puzzles per week.
• Opening study (3 sessions/week, 25–30 minutes): deepen your two primary White openings with 5-6 representative Black replies each, focusing on the main middlegame ideas and typical plans.
• Endgame practice (2 sessions/week, 20–25 minutes): rook endings, simple king-and-pawn endings, and basic queen vs rook scenarios to improve conversion.
• Game review habit: after each blitz session, spend 10–15 minutes annotating one win and one loss, noting where you spent time, where you found strong ideas, and where you could have improved calculation or stability.

Next steps

If you want, I can review a specific recent game to point out exact moments where you could have chosen a stronger plan, and tailor the opening and endgame drills to match the positions you encounter most often. Would you like me to focus on a couple of your upcoming targets (for example, reinforcing a particular White opening or a defensive Black setup) and outline a targeted practice plan?