NM Rodrigo de Mello

Overview and how to improve

You’ve shown strong willingness to fight in blitz and you’re comfortable playing the London System style. Your games demonstrate solid piece development, good pressure when your opponent’s position is slightly loose, and an ability to convert middlegame advantages into decisive results. To keep progressing, focus on tightening decision making in busy positions, improving endgame technique, and managing time more consistently so you can convert more good positions into wins.

Win game: what to learn and how to build on it

• What you did well: You kept pieces active and aimed to create concrete threats against the opponent’s king. You looked for forcing moves when the position opened up and leveraged the initiative to push toward a decisive finish.
• Areas to improve: When you reach a sharp middlegame with many forcing lines, pause occasionally to verify the safety of your own king and the alignment of your heavy pieces. If your attack starts to fizzle or you feel time pressure, consider a practical simplification that preserves your initiative (for example trading to a favorable endgame or reducing material when you have a clear structural edge).
• Practical tip: after you’ve built a space advantage or a kingside attack, try to settle on a concrete plan within the next 3–4 moves (for example: push a pawn lever, target a weak square, or open a file for rooks) and avoid wandering into too many competing ideas at once.

Loss game: how to tighten up and rebound

• What went well defensively: You fought to stay active in a challenging endgame, keeping chances alive through piece activity and counterplay ideas.
• What to work on: In long blitz battles, staying on the right side of the balance is crucial. When you see the opponent gaining activity on open files or when pieces target key squares, prioritize simplifying to a position where your king and pawns stay safe. If you’re behind in the endgame, aim to activate your king and look for practical pawn trades that reduce the opponent’s winning chances rather than chasing complex tactics that risk a slip.
• Practical tip: in complex rook/knight endings or middlegame tensions, set a short time budget for evaluating two clear plans (e.g., “activate king + contest the open file” vs. “trade down to a rook ending”) and commit to one within a couple of moves.

Draw game: turning resilience into conversions

• What went well: You maintained defensive discipline in a messy position and found opportunities to seek counterplay, which is essential in blitz draws.
• What to work on: In drawn middlegames, look for small but concrete improvements that push toward a practical goal, such as a positional plan to improve a knight’s outpost, or a controlled sequence of trades that leaves you with a clear endgame plan. If the position is balanced, creating a single decisive idea (a pawn break, a rook lift to an open file, or a minor piece maneuver to a stronger square) can be the difference between a draw and a win.
• Practical tip: after key exchanges, quickly assess whether you can force a simplification to a favorable rook endgame, or whether you can seize the initiative with a stable pawn break or a targeted piece maneuver. If not, prioritize solidifying your king’s safety and reducing tactical chances for your opponent.

Opening choices and study plan

• You’ve been successful with the London System family of structures, which indicates comfort with solid, flexible setups. Strengthen this by building a concrete middlegame plan that you can rely on after your standard first moves, so you don’t have to improvise in the heat of blitz.
• To diversify your toolkit, consider a controlled secondary line that you can switch to when opponents anticipate your usual plans. This helps you avoid being out-prepared in the opening phase and keeps your opponents guessing.
• Actionable plan: pick one solid system (London System or a French/other compact system you’re comfortable with) and two common middlegame plans that arise from it. Study 10 model middlegame positions per week from those lines and practice the plan-cycles in quick training games or puzzles.

Endgames, tactics, and overall training plan

• Endgames: Blitz endgames benefit from clear king activity and simple, rule-based technique. Regularly drill rook endings (two rooks with pawns vs two rooks with pawns) and king-and-pawn endings to gain confidence in converting advantages or saving difficult positions.
• Tactics: Maintain a daily short tactic workout (10–15 minutes) focused on common blitz motifs you’ve encountered (back-rank patterns, typical forks, and tactical shots against exposed kings).
• Time management: In blitz, a reliable approach is to allocate a steady portion of the clock to the opening phase (the first 8–10 moves) and reserve a comfortable buffer for the critical middle game. Aim to keep at least a few seconds per move in the late middlegame to avoid rushed decisions.

Practice plan and next steps

• Weekly plan: 3 focused practice sessions (20–30 minutes each) including 1) tactical drills, 2) 1 endgame drill set, and 3) 1 opening-middlegame study using your main system and one secondary line.
• Pattern focus: reinforce concepts like king safety in aggressive setups, effective rook activity on open files, and identifying when to simplify to a favorable endgame.
• Progress check: after two weeks, review a few blitz games to confirm improvements in conversion, endgame technique, and time usage. If you notice persistent trouble in certain positions (e.g., rook endings or open-file battles), tailor the drills to address those specifically.

Profile and future notes

Keep an eye on how your openings are performing across different opponents, and consider keeping a small note log of typical middlegame plans you encounter in your main lines. This will help you keep a consistent plan in blitz and reduce indecision under time pressure. NM Rodrigo de Mello