Yidong Chen NM

Overview

You’ve shown a willingness to play sharp, tactical lines in blitz, especially with aggressive openings. Recent results indicate you’re capable of creating pressure and complications, but time pressure and inconsistent conversion in the resulting positions are hurting your score. Focusing on cleaner decision-making in the first 15 moves and improving endgame technique should help you turn more chances into wins.

What you do well

• Playful, initiative-oriented openings: you’re comfortable choosing dynamic lines that put your opponent on the defensive and create tactical chances.
• Practical resourcefulness in blitz: you stay in the fight and often keep chances alive even when the position becomes sharp.
• Confidence handling midgame complexity: you’re not afraid to calculate deeper lines when the position opens up.

Areas to improve

• Time management: avoid spending too long on non-critical branches early in the game. Develop a simple, fast filtering process for candidate moves in the first 10–15 moves.
• Decision quality under pressure: aim to pick a clear plan sooner and avoid over-complicating when you’re ahead or behind. When uncertain, choose safer, more forcing moves that lead to straightforward plans.
• Endgame technique: blitz can lead to quick transitions to endgames. Practice rook endings and basic king activity to improve conversion of advantages.
• Post-game review habit: after each blitz session, identify one bright moment and one key mistake. Extract a concrete change to apply in the next game.

Opening performance highlights

Your results are strongest in aggressive Sicilian-related lines and the Amar Gambit family, showing you can seize the initiative when the tactics are sharp. To sustain this, pair your sharp openings with a solid, time-efficient plan for the early middlegame to avoid getting overwhelmed if the position diverges from the main tactical thread.

• Amar Gambit and certain Moscow/Haag setups show solid win potential when you calculate the key tactical moments correctly.
• Caro-Kann and Closed variations tend to be less forgiving under time pressure; combine these with reliable development and king safety to reduce risk in blitz.

Recommended practice plan (next 2 weeks)

• Daily tactical puzzles (10–15 minutes) focusing on forcing lines and 2–3 move calculations.
• 2 blitz opening reviews per week: reinforce your top openings (especially the aggressive lines you use) and memorize 2–3 standard replies to each.
• Endgame fundamentals: practice rook endings and simple pawn endings to improve conversion in shorter games.
• Post-game review routine: write one strong decision and one mistake after each session, and note a concrete adjustment to apply in the next game.

Next steps

If you’d like, I can pick one of your recent blitz games and walk through it step by step, offering concrete improvements for the next attempt. Sharing a short plan for the coming week would also help me tailor the drills to your preferred openings and style.