Liliam Barbara Blanco Garcia WFM

Hi Liliam Barbara!

Great job competing in high-level blitz events—you’ve already beaten several 2400+ players! Below is a personalized review of the most common themes I noticed in your recent games, followed by an action plan.

What you’re doing well

• Quick development out of the opening. In both French-Advance wins you followed the main ideas (space on e5, c3–d4 break) and reached pleasant middlegames.
• Direct tactical vision. Motifs such as Qg4/ Qh5 and the sacrifice on Bxh6 show you spot king-side targets fast.
• Practical endgame persistence. The 81-move win vs 2476 shows you can convert small advantages in time pressure.

Recurring issues to fix

1. Premature pawn thrusts when you’re Black.
   • In the Scandinavian loss you played …g6 and …f5 without finishing development, letting White’s pieces invade.
   • In the Modern Defence loss, …d5 and …c6 left dark-square holes.
   👉 Tip: Before pushing a wing pawn, ask “How many of my pieces defend the squares I’m weakening?”
2. Missing zwischenzug opportunities.
   • Italian Game: 13…dxe4 was fine, but 16…gxh6 walked into 17.Qg3+!
   👉 Add a daily 5-minute drill: after every capture in tactics puzzles, look for a forcing intermediate move Zwischenzug.
3. Rook-endgame technique.
   • You converted vs YasinEmrah, but allowed unnecessary counter-play because the rook became passive on f5.
   👉 Practice Philidor & Lucena positions once per week; play them vs. an engine starting at depth 10.
4. Clock management.
   • Two recent losses were on time; in the 3 + 1 pool you sometimes reach move 20 with <60 s.
   👉 During opening phase adopt a 5-second move budget unless the position is critical.

Opening map

Consider narrowing your Black repertoire: mastering either the French (you already like the pawn structure) or a pure 1…e5 system will reduce prep time.

Action plan for the next 4 weeks

• Week 1: Review 10 model French-Advance games by Giri/So; annotate your own PGN with one improvement each move.
• Week 2: 100 intermediate-move puzzles (theme filter “zwischenzug”).
• Week 3: Rook-endgame boot-camp: finish all “Rook vs Pawns” lessons in Chess.com Drill or Lichess Studies.
• Week 4: Play 20 rapid games (10 + 5). Focus on spending >30 seconds on three critical positions each game, then review with engine blunder-check.

Progress dashboard

Peak blitz rating: 2274 (2024-12-10)
Activity charts:

Visualization corner

Replay your nicest combo once a day to build confidence:

Final thought

Your attacking instincts are your super-power; balance them with a bit more patience in defense and you’ll break 2300 blitz soon. Keep up the great work!