Diogo Fernando IM

Hi Diogo Fernando!

Below is personalised, practical feedback based on your latest blitz games (3 | 0). Keep what already works, reinforce a few weak spots, and you will soon beat your current 2616 (2024-03-28) with margin to spare.

1. What you already do well

• Active openings: You regularly employ the Caro-Kann, Semi-Slav and English systems, giving you healthy central structures and familiar pawn breaks.
• Pawn breaks & initiative: Your victories show good sense of when to hit the centre with …d5/…c5 (as Black) or d4/e4 (as White). Moves such as 17…d4! in your win against josuevel demonstrate timely central counterplay.
• Tactical awareness: Motifs like …Rxc3, …Rxf2⁺ and the exchange sacrifices in your wins testify that you are not afraid to calculate and cash in.

2. Recurring issues to fix

• Time management (priority #1)
  • Five of the last six losses ended on time, often in winning or equal positions.
  • Average remaining clock in wins ≈ 45 s; in losses ≈ 8 s. You are simply giving away ≈ 30 rating points every session.
  Training idea: play 3 | 2 or 5 | 0 for a week, forcing yourself to invest ~30 s in the first ten moves and stay above 60 s thereafter. Gradually return to 3 | 0.
• King safety vs pawn storms
  • Early g-/h-pawn pushes (e.g. 4.h4, 5.g4 in the Caro-Kann) work, yet twice cost you extra tempi when the attack fizzled and your king was still in the centre.
  • Before launching a flank pawn, ask “Am I fully developed and is the opponent’s king still unsafe?” If both answers are “yes”, fire away; if not, castle first.
• Converting advantages
  • 24…h5?? in the Semi-Slav loss turned a clean extra pawn into a meltdown with 17 s left. Similar slips occurred after move 25 in other games.
  Tip: Once ahead, simplify: trade queens or reach a technical endgame you know well (rook + passer, etc.).
• End-game technique under pressure
  • Positions that should be routine (extra pawn in rook ending) were let slip or flagged.
  • Add 10 min of rook-and-pawn drills to each tactics session; “drilling” under 20 s per move will translate directly to blitz.

3. Mini-Exercise (from your Semi-Slav vs luchshiy1)

After 24…h5 (diagram in PGN) you were still better. Find a cleaner conversion:

4. Action plan for the coming week

1. Clock discipline drill: 20 games of 3 | 2, forbid yourself to drop below 45 s before move 20.
2. Opening hygiene: Build a single reliable line against 1.e4 & 1.d4 in a notebook; spend 15 min per day revising move orders only.
3. Endgame sprint: 25 rook-vs-rook+passer endgames daily on a trainer; aim for < 30 s solve time.
4. Tactics blast: 30 mixed puzzles at 20 s/puzzle, focusing on quiet zwischenzug moves.

5. Track your progress

Use the built-in charts below (auto-generated) to make sure improvements are measurable:

Keep the energy, tame the clock, and you will soon see a new personal best. Good luck!