tomislav rakić

Overview of your recent blitz play

You’ve shown you can fight hard for initiative in dynamic positions, and you have strong tactical intuition when you reach sharp middlegames. Your recent win demonstrates clean piece activity, precise exchanges, and the ability to press an opponent into a sequence that ends in material gain. Your losses highlight the importance of move ordering and defending against sharp counterplay, and your latest draw suggests you can maintain balance when the position simplifies. Overall, your trends indicate a positive long‑term trajectory with some short‑term fluctuations to tighten up.

What you do well

• Consistent pressure in the middlegame when your pieces coordinate well. You find tactical chances and convert them when your opponent missteps.
• Good handling of piece activity after early exchanges, often turning a developing position into a concrete plan rather than getting stuck in passive setups.
• A solid opening choice that fits your style. You’ve shown strength in lines associated with the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation, where the structure gives you practical winning chances when you navigate the middlegame tactically.

Key improvement areas

• Move ordering and defensive calculations in sharp lines. In the loss game, the attack sequence was strong for the opponent after certain exchanges. Focus on evaluating forcing lines several moves ahead and ask yourself: where could my king become unsafe, and what is the best defensive resource under pressure?
• Avoid overextending in the center when your opponent has counterplay on the flanks or in the back rank. If you’re not careful with timing, aggressive pushes can lead to tactical liabilities against well‑prepared defenses.
• Endgame conversion. In some trades you end up in favorable material or structure but miss chances to convert. Practice simple rook endings and pawn endgames to improve clarity in the final phase of blitz.

Openings and planning guidance

Your results show the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation is a strong toolkit for you, with solid win rate and practical chances in many blitz conversations. Consider continuing to develop this repertoire while gradually expanding a few complementary lines to keep opponents guessing. If you’d like to review a reference line, you can explore material on this opening family, e.g. London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation. London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation

• Keep refining your standard plan in the Poisoned Pawn lines: develop the king’s knight to f3, place the bishop on f4 or e3, support with c3 or c4, and be ready to push central breaks like e4 or c4 under favorable conditions.
• Build a secondary, less‑explored opening option to avoid being too predictable in blitz. Short, practical lines that you know well can reduce decision fatigue in time trouble.

Strategic training plan (next 2 weeks)

• Daily tactical training: 15–20 minutes focusing on knight forks, back-rank motifs, and typical London‑system middlegame ideas.
• Parse 2 recent games in depth: identify the top 3 turning points in each (where you gained or lost initiative) and write down the alternative moves you considered at those moments.
• Endgame practice: study rook endgames and simple king‑and‑pawn endings to improve practical conversion in blitz.
• Opening review: refresh the Poisoned Pawn plans and practice 2–3 representative responses against common Black setups you’ve faced recently.

Time management and mindset in blitz

• In blitz, aim for a clear 1–2 minute per 10 moves to keep pressure off, reserving extra time for the critical/complex junctures.
• Develop a quick check routine before captures or forcing moves: ask yourself how the opponent could respond, what threats exist, and whether there’s a safer, simpler alternative.
• Use a short post‑game review habit: after each blitz game, note the top 2–3 mistakes and one improvement to implement in the next session.

Progress indicators and next steps

Your rating trend shows a positive trajectory over 3 and 6 months, with a slight dip in the last month. The longer horizon trend remains favorable, which is a good sign. To build on this momentum, focus on tightening move orders in sharp lines and steadily converting advantages in the middlegame into full wins. Keep leveraging the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation while gradually adding a flexible second opening repertoire to keep opponents guessing.