Spela Orehek WFM

Constructive Feedback for Spela Orehek

Hi Spela, you've demonstrated consistent and solid play in your recent games, showing a good grasp of opening principles and tactical awareness. Here are some specific points to keep working on to continue improving:

Strengths

• Opening Repertoire: You are comfortable with thematic openings such as the Sicilian Defense (especially Rossolimo and Alapin variations) and Giuoco Piano, which give you a strong positional foundation.
• Tactical Awareness: Your recent wins show good tactical vision, especially in spotting opportunities for piece activity and forcing moves like sacrifices (e.g., Bxf7+ in one game) to gain the initiative.
• Endgame Technique: You convert winning positions confidently, demonstrating sound technique and patience to press advantages.
• Time Management: Your clock usage in critical moments is quite balanced, helping maintain pressure on opponents without rushing into mistakes.

Areas for Improvement

• Positional Planning: Sometimes your middlegame plans could become clearer. Focus on proactive piece placement and long-term strategic goals, such as controlling key squares and improving pawn structure.
• Defensive Play: In a few losses, like the match against igotwet, defensive technique let the opponent build pressure. Strengthening your defensive skills and anticipation can reduce vulnerabilities.
• Calculation Depth: Occasionally, sharper calculation during complex positions could further improve, especially avoiding unnecessary exchanges that help the opponent simplify into better endgames.
• Opening Preparation Diversity: Consider expanding your opening knowledge to include more sidelines or alternative setups to keep opponents guessing and better exploit surprise value.

Next Steps & Training Tips

• Practice solving complex tactics puzzles regularly to boost calculation abilities and pattern recognition.
• Analyze your losses in detail, focusing on understanding turning points and alternative moves to improve decision-making under pressure.
• Review key endgame positions to reinforce technique and reduce errors in time scrambles.
• Explore new opening ideas and watch instructional material on strategic planning in your preferred openings.

Keep up the hard work and enjoy your games! Your steady progress is clear, and with focused study on these areas, your level will continue to rise.