Riya Savant WFM

Hi Riya!

Great work pushing your Rapid rating above 2106 (2024-12-25) this season. Your recent victories—especially the smooth squeeze against sirnathpogi—show that your patient Reti / English-Catalan move-order is serving you well.

What you’re doing well

• Consistent Opening Menu. 1.d4 Nf3 g3 positions give you harmonised development and early king safety. You’re rarely worse out of the opening.
• Central Tactics From Positional Play. You often convert small space advantages into concrete tactics (see the diagrammed sequence below).
• King Safety Awareness. In every win this week you castled by move 6; your opponents didn’t always manage the same.

Key Moment

The following fragment from your latest win shows your ability to combine activity with calculation:

Areas to Strengthen

• Clock Management. Four of your last five losses were on time. You reach perfectly playable positions but slip under 20 s. Work on breaking long thinks into mini-plans and trust your intuition for routine recaptures—use safe premoves when appropriate.
• Defending vs 1.e4. In the loss to Araz7778 you entered a Rossolimo line (…g6) but drifted into a passive setup. Consider adding a second weapon—e.g. the Classical Sicilian with …d6 or even 1…e5—to avoid predictable structures.
• Handling Material Imbalances. Games vs CaissaEchecs & SmallGiftShopInPeru show difficulties when down a pawn: pieces became uncoordinated and you accepted further weaknesses trying to “do something”. Train endings where you are worse but not lost so you recognise drawing resources like an active king, opposite-coloured bishops, or a perpetual.
• Finish the Calculation. In the Flynnc255 game (diagram in your notes) you missed 18…Qxb2 + followed by …Qxf2#. Your tactical vision is good, but double-check forcing lines—especially checks—before resigning or committing to a defensive move.

Training Plan (4-Week Microcycle)

1. Puzzle Rush 3×/day. Aim for 30 s/puzzle average to build quick pattern recognition under time pressure.
2. Saturday Endgames. 30-minute session on rook vs pawn endings; follow with two sparring games starting from theoretical positions.
3. Opening Diversity. Each week add one sideline against 1.e4 or 1.d4 (e.g. the Tarrasch vs 1.d4) and play it in at least five games.
4. Post-Game Voice Notes. Immediately after every game record a 60-second summary: “Why did I spend 70 s on move 14?” This builds self-awareness and shortens future think-times.

Progress Dashboard

Next Milestone

Target: reach 2250 Rapid by July 🏆. If you keep your average move-time under 6 s in non-critical positions and maintain your strategic consistency, that barrier will fall.

Keep enjoying the game and remember: every move should either improve a piece, create a threat, or limit your opponent’s tempo. Good luck, Riya!