Antonio Granero Roca IM

Hi Antonio!

Great effort in your recent blitz sessions. Below is a focused review of what you are already doing well and a roadmap for the next rating jump.

What’s working

• Consistent opening framework. You handle the King’s-Indian Attack / Réti setups almost effortlessly, often reaching middlegames you understand better than your opponents.
• Piece activity & pressure. In wins against caraguru and iml78 you quickly doubled rooks on open files and used Nd5/Nf5 outposts to squeeze.
• Resilience in worse endings. The comeback versus crazyrazor shows good defensive technique and practical chances under time pressure.
• Rating trajectory. 2530 (2021-02-27) is trending upward – keep surfing that momentum!

Recurring issues

• Tactical blind spots right after tension is released. In the loss to vincechase you played 24.Qxb5? overlooking …Rb8 and the follow-up discovered attack. Similar “relaxation blunders” appear after you win material.
• King safety during flank play. Your pawn storms (g4–g5 or h4–h5) sometimes leave dark-square holes. Games versus zaza khoperia & crazy_chess_2021 ended with counter-shots along …Qe3/Qxe3+.
• Conversion technique in rook endings. Against adivinaquiensoy you reached a winning rook & pawns position but let the counter-rook infiltrate. You switched from “pushing the passer” to “trying to trap the rook” and lost coordination.
• Clock handling in queen endgames. Several games feature you playing fast early (2:30+ on clock) and then burning 40–50 seconds on one critical move. Opponents survive, flags get swapped.

Action plan for the next 4-6 weeks

1. Daily tactics diet – but themed.
   • 10 minutes on “Removal of the Guard” and “Intermediate Move” motifs (exactly the ones biting you).
   • Finish with two “Quiet move” puzzles to train pausing before snapping material.
2. Micro-opening expansion.
   • Add 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 to your blitz repertoire; same spirit (closed positions) but forces you to meet central counterplay earlier.
   • With Black versus 1.Nf3/1.c4 prepare a clean line in the Reversed Sicilian so you’re not improvising move-by-move.
3. Endgame drill – “rook + 3 vs rook + 2”.
   • Play out 20 sparring positions vs an engine with 15-second increment. Focus on cutting the king and the Lucena/Philidor blueprints.
4. Structured time management.
   • Use a 30-20-10 rule: after reaching 1:30 left, never spend more than 20 s on a single move; after 1:00, cap it at 10 s.
5. Post-mortem ritual.
   • Immediately after each session, tag one critical moment as “Couldn’t calculate” or “Forgot principle”. Review only those; this keeps study time focused.

Visual progress trackers

Use these dashboards to watch your effort translate into results:

Inspiring snippet

Your attack versus Iml78 (32…Rxg2!) is textbook deflection. Replay it once a week to remind yourself how precise you can be when fully alert.

Final thought

You already have a solid positional backbone; sharpen the tactical edges, polish the rook endings, and keep an eye on your clock. Stick to the plan above and a new personal best should arrive soon. Good luck – let’s meet again when you break the next hundred!