Stany Ga GM

Hi Stany, here’s a personalised review of your recent performances

What you’re doing well

• Initiative-driven repertoire: With White you almost always begin 1.e4 and gravitate toward open, tactical systems such as the Smith-Morra and Two-Knights versus the Caro-Kann. Your skill at seizing the initiative is reflected in several quick wins (see the PGN viewer below).
• Tactical alertness: Motifs such as forks (e.g. 14.Nd5 vs TPlovetiramisu) and zwischenzugs (30.Bb7!! vs komikaoxid) show that you spot tactics quickly.
• Confidence under pressure: Even when material is equal you are happy to complicate (20.b4!? in the “Benoni” win) and very often out-calculate opponents rated 2700+.
• Peak results: 2854 (2025-03-30)   2637 (2020-10-08)

Recurring pain-points

• Time management: Four of the five recent losses were due to the clock or desperate moves in severe time trouble. The pattern is usually a comfortable opening, a complex middlegame, then a <15 s crisis.
• Technical endgames: Your loss to Maksim Ermakov ended in a basic K+P ending you could theoretically hold. Strengthening your end-game fundamentals will both save half-points and give you confidence to simplify earlier.
• Over-extension against solid structures: In the Benoni and Alapin losses you advanced centre pawns (17.e5 / 20.d5) without sufficient piece support, allowing your opponent to counter-punch on the dark squares.
• Black vs. closed pawn centres: When opponents choose quiet anti-Sicilians or Reti systems you sometimes drift into passive setups (…Bd7/…Rc8 structures) and are out-manoeuvred.

Action plan

1. Adopt a time routine: Make a “soft cap” of ≥15 s after move 20 in 3-min games. If you are below the cap, move instantly in low-impact positions (recaptures, forced queen trades).
2. Endgame drill (15 min / day):
   • Week 1: Key pawn endings – opposition, outside passed pawn, Vancura.
   • Week 2: Lucena & Philidor rook endings.
   • Week 3+: Minor-piece vs pawns (your Benoni game theme).
   Use the “Practice with computer” feature or Lichess studies and record results in a spreadsheet.
3. Benoni / Alapin lab:
   • Build a three-line Benoni defence repertoire (…Na6–c7, …Re8, …a6) so you’re never caught inventing moves on the board.
   • Versus Alapin: prepare 2…d5 and 2…Nf6 side-lines to avoid the same pawn structures you’ve been suffering.
4. Review threshold positions: After every session, mark one critical decision you weren’t sure about, and analyse for 10 min with no engine. Only then compare to Stockfish. This builds intuition far faster than mass engine review.
5. Weekly progress check: Track performance with the built-in charts:
    
   . Look for green zones (when you’re fresh) and schedule ranked games there.

Game of the week – your Caro-Kann miniature

Replay the game and ask yourself at moves 20, 28 and 36: “How would I convert this without the flashy tactics?” This will bridge the gap between your attacking flair and end-game conversion.

Final thought

Your attacking instincts already place you among the very strongest blitz players on the site. By adding stricter clock discipline and a solid defensive backbone you’ll convert even more positions and break through the next rating ceiling. Good luck, and enjoy the climb!