Helgi Olafsson GM

Quick overview

Nice blitz block — several clean finishes (resignations, a mate and a time win) against strong opponents. You convert small advantages into decisive results, play actively with rooks and queens, and show good tactical awareness in chaotic positions. A few practical improvements will make those wins more routine and reduce avoidable losses.

What you did well

• Conversion: you consistently convert advantages instead of letting them evaporate — trading into favourable endgames and forcing resignations.
• Active piece play: rooks to open files / seventh ranks and aggressive queen maneuvers paid off repeatedly.
• Tactical readiness: you spotted tactical shots in messy middlegames and finished with concrete sequences rather than speculative sacrifices.
• Good practical clock sense — you defended well enough to win on time in one game (nice use of Flagging when appropriate).
• Versatile opening handling — you reached playable middlegames from King’s Indian, French and Sicilian structures without getting surprised: King's Indian Defense, French Defense, Sicilian Defense.

Recurring weaknesses to target

• Piece coordination in locked centers: when the position locks, your pieces sometimes need long reroutes. Practice short, concrete plans for those typical locked structures.
• Pawn over-extension on the flank — creating targets: before pushing, ask if the pawn gains space or simply weakens squares and creates permanent targets.
• Time-pressure decisions: under 30 seconds you occasionally pick passive or mechanical moves. Build a short repertoire of “fast plans” to deploy in those moments.
• Endgame technique in dry positions: you convert tactical advantages well, but basic rook and minor-piece endgames can be tightened with a few targeted drills.

4-week training plan

• Daily (15–30 min) tactics: focus on pins, skewers, back-rank motifs and discovered checks — these appeared often in your wins.
• Openings (3×/week, 20–30 min): rotate King’s Indian, French, Sicilian — for each line write 2 concrete middlegame plans you can use in blitz to save time.
• Endgames (2×/week, 15 min): rook endings, queen vs rook, and basic knight vs bishop positions. Drill technique and common defensive setups.
• Targeted blitz sessions: play sets of 10 games with a specific goal — e.g., "convert advantages without complicating" or "no more than 20s spent in first 10 moves".
• Post-game review: annotate one instructive game per day and write the three critical moments: opening choice, tactical turning point, and endgame decision.

Short drills to do right now

• Two-plan drill: take a typical middlegame from your recent games and write two viable plans; play both out vs a low-level engine to see which is easier to execute under time pressure.
• Back-rank / mating motifs — 10 minutes: set up 8 practical mate patterns (rook lifts, back-rank, queen+rook mates) and solve them fast.
• Time-control simulation: three 3+2 games where your rule is “make a plan in 15 seconds on moves 1–10” to train quick selection.

Tactical & strategic reminders for your style

• If you have a small advantage, improve the worst-placed piece first — that often leads to a tactic or a simplification you can execute under blitz time controls.
• Against opposite-side castling, commit to pawn storms and opening files; against symmetrical or closed setups, target outposts and create minority/central breaks.
• When low on time, prefer concrete trades or waiting moves that keep tension manageable rather than speculative sac attempts unless you calculated the sequence.
• Make a short “endgame checklist” (king activity, pawn targets, rook activity) to run through when converting an advantage under pressure.

Games & openings to review

• Revisit finishes vs TBaker38209023 and PrinceJordanTheFirst to extract repeatable mating patterns and rook activation themes: tbaker38209023, PrinceJordanTheFirst.
• Study the structural motifs from your King’s Indian and French games — aim for two go-to plans per line so you don’t spend time searching in blitz: King's Indian Defense, French Defense.

Next-session checklist

• Warm-up: 10 tactical puzzles (pins, forks, back-rank).
• Opening review: pick one line and write two 10–20 move plans.
• Play 5 blitz games with a specific goal (convert advantage / practice time management).
• Annotate the most instructive game and save three lessons to your study log.

Want a deeper review?

Send one PGN from this session and I’ll annotate the three turning points with practical alternatives and a short training micro-plan based on that game. Ready to pick one?