Darun Kledmanee

Quick summary

Good job converting dynamic play into a win in your recent Sicilian game (you were Black). In other recent games you ran into tactical blows and active enemy knights that turned the tables. Overall your recent form shows strong piece activity and good opening results, but a few recurring issues — tactical awareness around knights, king safety after pawn storms, and cleaning up the endgame — are costing you games.

What you did well (keep doing these)

• You identify and push passed pawns — in the win you advanced and supported a passed pawn effectively until it became decisive.
• Good piece activity and rook use: you put rooks on open files and used them to invade the enemy camp.
• You’re comfortable with aggressive, unbalanced positions (your opening win rates and repertoire strength reflect that). Continue exploiting opponents who play passively.
• Time handling: you kept solid time on the clock in most games — that’s valuable in 10|0 rapid.

Main areas to improve

• Tactical awareness vs. knights and forks — several recent losses feature enemy knights jumping into squares that create forks or forks-with-check (for example the game vs merovingienn where a knight check sequence ended the game quickly). Drill basic knight tactics until scanning for fork patterns becomes automatic.
• King safety after pawn advances on the kingside — advancing pawns to attack is fine, but it opened your king in a couple of games. Before pushing g- or h-pawns, check for opponent knight/queen jumps and potential back-rank or mating motifs.
• Endgame technique and simplification timing — you sometimes liquidate into endings where the opponent’s active pieces (knights/rooks) dominate. Focus on when to trade into a favourable endgame and when to keep pieces to attack/pass a pawn.
• Opening target weaknesses — in some games you allowed opponent counterplay (knight invasions, tactical shots) by not securing key squares (e.g., c5/d5/ e4). Tighten up square control in the opening/middlegame transitions.

Concrete next steps (practice plan)

• Daily 10–15 minute tactics: focus on forks, discovered checks, and knight forks. Use pattern drills so you immediately see targets when knights can jump into enemy territory.
• Endgame practice (2× weekly): rook and pawn basics (Lucena, Philidor), king activity, and converting a single passed pawn. Spend one session per week practising 10–15 positions from your recent games (play both sides).
• Opening checklist: for each opening you play (especially Sicilian Defense and Pirc Defense), list the typical pawn breaks, the safe squares for your knights, and one trap to avoid. Before moving in a real game, run that checklist mentally.
• Post-game review routine: after each loss, do a 5–10 minute engine+human review. Ask: “Which single move changed the evaluation?” and “What tactic did I miss?” Mark these themes and prioritize them in the next week’s tactics drills.
• Practical time control tip: in 10|0, when you reach move 25 with lots of complications, spend an extra 20–30 seconds to calculate knight forks and checks — they appear fast and are game changers.

Targeted improvements based on your recent games

• Against setups with early ...g6 and fianchetto (as in your Sicilian win): prioritize blocking out the enemy knight landing squares and watch for tactical sacrifices on h2/h3 when rooks and knights coordinate.
• When you play as White in Pirc-type setups (your loss vs merovingienn): avoid overextending pawns on the kingside before completing development; keep an escape square for the king or a piece ready to block checks.
• When you have an advanced passed pawn, coordinate king and rook to escort it — don't let active enemy knights trade into positions that neutralize the passer.

Use your strengths in the repertoire

Your opening stats show several strong lines (for example Four Knights Game, Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation, and Giuoco Piano: Tarrasch Variation). Those are reliable — keep using them as a base while tightening the middlegame plans listed above. Spend a short session reviewing one model game per opening where you convert small edges into wins.

Short checklist to apply during games

• Before every move: scan checks, captures and threats. If any knight can jump to a fork square next move, re-evaluate.
• When you push pawns near your king, ask: does the opponent have a knight/queen check that opens lines?
• If you're ahead in material, exchange into an endgame only when your king becomes more active or opponents have weaker pawn structure.
• Use 20–30 extra seconds on critical tactical moments — it often pays off more than moving fast through a sharp position.

Review these two positions

Replay the win to see how you converted activity into a pawn march, and replay the loss vs merovingienn to spot the knight tactics you missed. I included the win so you can study the critical ideas:

Winning game (black perspective):

Next 4-week goal

Raise tactical scanning and endgame conversion: do 12 tactics/day (10–15 minutes total) + two 30-minute endgame sessions per week. After four weeks, review whether your loss-to-win conversion rate improved and compare the number of missed knight forks in games — aim to cut those misses by at least 50%.

If you want, I can

• Walk through one of these game positions move-by-move and point out the key blunders and alternatives.
• Set up a 4-week training schedule tailored to your openings and the tactical weaknesses above.
• Generate 50 knight-fork tactics for focused practice and a short set of endgame drills (rook+pawn basics).