Ananda Saha CM

Quick summary — from the coach

Nice work, Ananda Saha. Your recent blitz shows the strengths of an active, tactical player: you create threats, punish passive replies, and you convert complex advantages well. The recurring issue is time management and the occasional slip into passive endgames where the clock — not the position — decides the result. Below I break down concrete things to keep doing and specific fixes you can work on this week.

Highlight: a model game to study

Replay the clean, decisive win where you built a kingside attack from the Trompowsky setup and forced resignation. Look how you traded into a favorable structure, opened lines and used piece activity to finish the game.

• Game viewer:
• Opponent: %3Cfm-davidsonr%3E — note how you converted initiative into material and then control of the back rank.

What you’re doing well

• Initiative and tactics: you repeatedly generate concrete threats (sacrifices, exchanges) that create lasting targets — keep sharpening tactical vision with mixed-depth puzzles.
• Piece activity > materialism: you prefer active pieces and open files, which often forces opponents into mistakes or passive defense.
• Opening selection gives you practical chances: lines like the Trompowsky Attack and the French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Chistyakov Defense suit your aggressive style and produce imbalanced positions.
• Conversion under pressure: when you win space or a pawn you are good at converting the advantage rather than immediately simplifying to a dull draw.

Main areas to improve (high impact)

• Time management: several recent games ended with your clock very low (and one lost on time). In blitz the clock is one of the strongest “pieces” — keep a 10–15 second buffer for the last 10 moves of the game.
• Practical endgames: you sometimes drift into rook-and-pawn endgames where precise technique or a little more activity would secure a conversion. Study basic rook endgames and common fortresses.
• Simplification decisions: in some games you exchanged into positions where your pieces became passive or the opponent’s counterplay increased (passed pawns, rook activity). Before simplifying, ask: “Does the resulting endgame keep my king safe and my pieces active?”
• Premoves and pre-judgment: against tricky opponents you occasionally pre-move into tactical shots. Use premoves sparingly and only when the position is forcing or trivial.

Practical, short-term drills (this week)

• Clock drills (3 sessions): play 10 games of 3+2. Consciously practice stopping at 10 seconds and making safe, reasonable moves rather than panicking.
• Tactics + pattern recognition (daily 10 min): focus on mating nets, back-rank patterns, and knight forks — these are where you already score, but higher speed will help in blitz.
• Rook endgame micro-session (30 minutes): Lucena, Philidor and simple king+rook vs king+pawn setups. Drill the Lucena position until you can win quickly and confidently.
• One opening patch (2–3 games): pick a recurring line (Trompowsky or the French Tarrasch) and review 3 typical plans — pawn breaks, key squares, and where to place minor pieces.

Opening-specific notes (practical)

• Against the Trompowsky: your K-side pressure is effective — prioritize keeping options to trade the dark-square bishop when it weakens Black's pawn cover. Trompowsky Attack
• French/Tarrasch lines: you reach dynamic center play. Watch for backward c-pawn targets and plan to play for e4–e5 breaks or restrain Black’s passed pawns. French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Chistyakov Defense
• Sicilian/Kan: in pawn-structure games aim for timely b4 or a4 to clamp the queenside; when rolling a pawn majority, calculate the race vs counterplay (rook activity often decides).

Behavior in time trouble — concrete rules

• When below 20 seconds: switch to “practical move mode” — pick a safe, natural developing or improving move rather than calculate long forcing lines.
• Save time by storing simple plan templates for your openings (one-line reminders like “play h4/g4, trade dark-sq bishops, lift rook to the g-file”).
• If ahead on the clock, simplify when the resulting position is easy to convert; if behind, avoid risky simplifications that give opponent an easy draw/flagging chance.

Positive checklist before your next blitz session

• Warm up 3–5 tactics (10 minutes).
• Play 1 game at your regular time control and review only one key mistake afterward.
• Do a 15–20 minute rook endgame drill once a week.
• Keep a mental “10 second cushion” rule for the last phase of the game.

Notes & links (for follow-up)

• Study the example win again and try to identify the critical move where you gained the initiative — coach's hint: look at move 11–16 transition for the king hunt pattern.
• Review the loss on time vs %3Cfikus-13%3E and note the moment where you could have traded into a simpler king + pawn ending or banked time by making less forcing choices.
• If you want, send me 2 games (one win, one loss) and I’ll mark 3 concrete moments in each with short arrows and text — we can add a PGN with arrows next time.

Final encouragement

Your overall results and opening win-rates show you belong at a high level: keep your tactical sharpness and add disciplined time habits. Small changes to how you use the clock and a focused endgame practice block will give you immediate rating gains in blitz.

Want a 7-day plan I can tailor (daily tasks + exact puzzles/opening lines)? Reply “7-day plan” and I’ll make it.