Sandro Mareco GM

Quick summary

Solid results in recent blitz: clean conversion of a pawn-run into a queen and a textbook mating net, plus a technical win creating and queening a passed pawn. The loss was a time-forfeit in a complicated middlegame. Overall strength-adjusted win rate (~0.52) and long-term rating history show you’re performing at a very high level — focus areas are mainly time management in blitz and some concrete middlegame cleanups.

Games to review (quick links)

• Win vs basi1isk6 — clever queen/rook infiltration, promotion and mating net.
• Win vs Jan Vykouk — excellent king/knight activity, created a passed pawn and queened it (see replay below).
• Loss vs Lion-993 — flagged on the clock after getting into a messy middlegame with active enemy queen + rook. Time trouble was decisive.

Replay the promotion win (fast review):

What you did well

• Creating and converting passed pawns: your game vs Jan Vykouk shows excellent technique — you traded into a favorable endgame and pushed the passed pawn convincingly until promotion.
• Active piece play: you put rooks and queen on aggressive files and used infiltration (back-rank and seventh-rank ideas) to force decisive tactics.
• Tactical alertness under pressure: in the checkmate win vs basi1isk6 you spotted decisive tactics (queen/rook checks and mating patterns) and finished cleanly.
• Broad opening repertoire and practical results — your openings performance shows many lines with good win rates (e.g., Sicilian Closed, Modern, Nimzo-Larsen).

Where to improve (priority list)

• Time management in blitz: the loss vs Lion-993 ended on time. You repeatedly went to single-digit seconds in complex positions — that cost you the game despite a playable position. Practice decisions that simplify when the clock is low.
• Middlegame simplification plan: in Catalan/closed positions you sometimes get tangled in tactical complications. When equal-ish material and little time remains, aim to exchange into an endgame you know how to win or to simplify to reduce calculation load.
• Pre-move and move-selection discipline: when low on time avoid speculative long tactical lines unless you see them clearly. Favor safe, improving moves that reduce opponent counterplay.
• Specific tactical cleaning around queens/major pieces: a couple of games show near-misses where a deeper one- or two-move tactic would have improved evaluation earlier. Quick tactics training will sharpen this.

Concrete next steps (this week)

• Do 20 minutes/day of tactics puzzles with a 3–5 second recognition target — focus on motifs you miss in blitz (pins, back‑rank, queen forks).
• Play 10 games at 3+2 increment (not pure 3|0). The extra 2 seconds dramatically reduces flag losses and trains practical decision-making with increment.
• Pick one opening you want to tighten for blitz (example: Sicilian Defense: Closed or Catalan Opening) and make a one‑page cheat sheet of typical middlegame plans and one tactical motif to watch for in each line.
• Endgame drill: run 10 practice positions each day of king+pawn vs king and rook endgames where tempo and queening races matter — you convert passed pawns well, make it bulletproof.

Blitz-specific habits to adopt

• If clock <10s: switch to "practical moves" — improving a piece, simplifying, or creating a single threat — rather than searching for the perfect tactic.
• Use increment: when possible, play 3+2 or 5+3 in practice; you’ll learn to use the increment to “buy” one accurate move at critical moments.
• One-second rule for candidate moves: if you can’t calculate a forcing sequence in 3–4 seconds, play the safe, improving move.
• Pre‑game warmup: 5 tactical puzzles and one 5-minute game to get into rhythm before blitz sessions.

Opening notes from the recent games

• Against the Sicilian structures (B46 Taimanov lines in the first PGN) you handled central breaks and used a queenside pawn advance to generate counterplay — keep the plan of ...d5 / ...d4 ideas in your notes for these lines.
• In the Catalan/closed game that ended on time, you had dynamic chances after Bxf6 gxf6 and central pressure — prepare typical tactical responses to queen + rook activity so you don't need to spend huge amounts of time calculating them over the board. See your one‑page cheat sheet.

30‑day practice plan (compact)

• Days 1–10: Tactics 20 min/day + 3× 3+2 games. Focus: pattern recognition (forks, pins, back‑rank).
• Days 11–20: Endgames 15 min/day + opening review (one page) for one opening you play often. Play 5× 5+3 games.
• Days 21–30: Mixed — 10 tactical puzzles, 10 endgame drills, 5× 3+2 games. Track flag losses: aim to cut them by 75%.

Final notes & encouragement

You already have the technique and tactical sense to beat strong opponents — your conversion and queen/rook coordination are excellent. The fastest rating gains in blitz will come from shaving off flag losses and making quicker, practical decisions under time pressure. Small disciplined changes (increment practice, a one‑page opening plan, targeted tactics) will pay immediate dividends.

If you want, I can:

• Generate a 1-page cheat sheet for the Sicilian Closed and your Catalan lines.
• Create a targeted 14-day tactics set based on the motifs that cost you time in these games.
• Annotate one of these recent games move-by-move focusing on clock and decision moments (ideal for practice with increment).

Which of those would you like first?