Quick summary for Vishruth Yelisetti
Nice momentum — recent trends show you're improving and converting long endgames. You have good tactical instincts and a nose for winning material, but a few recurring issues (king safety in sharp kingside storms and time management) are costing you games. Below I give focused, practical steps to keep the wins coming.
What you're doing well
- Active king in the endgame — you push passed pawns and use the king decisively to convert wins.
- Good tactical recognition — you win exchanges and punish loose pieces quickly in the middlegame.
- Offbeat openings yield results — your comfort with unorthodox lines gives you practical chances against opponents who haven’t prepared.
- Persistence — you rarely give up on long technical positions, which leads to opponent time pressure mistakes.
Recurring issues to address (highest ROI)
- King safety vs pawn storms: when opponents push g/h pawns or sacrifice on the kingside, avoid unnecessary pawn moves in front of your castled king unless you know the resulting structure.
- Time management: at least one game ended on the clock. In blitz, transition to “practical mode” (safe, simple moves) when under 30s.
- Miscalculations in sharp sacrificial lines: double-check forcing continuations after sacrifices (look for interpositions, checks, and escapes for the king).
- Back-rank awareness and coordination: create a luft or keep a guard on the back rank when the opponent’s heavy pieces are active.
Concrete drills & weekly plan
- Tactics: 15–25 minutes daily, focused on king‑attack motifs (Greek Gift, sacrifices on g7/g6, knight forks, and smothering/back-rank themes).
- Endgames: 2×30 minute sessions weekly — king + pawn technique, basic rook endgames, and opposition exercises to make your conversions routine.
- Opening hygiene: 1×30 minute session weekly reviewing the key defensive ideas against g4/h4 pawn storms and common traps in your offbeat lines.
- Clock practice: play 10 games at 8+3 or 10+2 explicitly to reduce time trouble; practice making safe “practical” moves under 30s.
- Post-game micro-review: after every session, mark the single turning point of each loss (tactical oversight, time error, or strategic slip).
Immediate checklist for your next blitz session
- Pre-game: pick one reliable opening per color for the session so you’re not overburdened with memory.
- Opening phase: finish development and secure king safety before launching side operations.
- If opponent sacrifices on the kingside: stop — ask “what are their threats?” and “what is my simplest defensive resource?” (trade queens, create luft, block key squares).
- At under 30s: simplify when ahead or play forcing threats when behind — don’t calculate long variations unless necessary.
- After each game (2 minutes): note one learnable takeaway to fix next time.
Examples from your recent games (study these positions)
1) A key winning game where you turned a middlegame advantage into a king+pawn endgame — replay the sequence where you traded into the endgame and used the king actively to escort passed pawns.
2) A loss that hinged on a kingside sacrificial break — replay the critical segment to internalize the defensive ideas (trade when needed, hold key squares).
Short opening notes
- Keep playing the offbeat lines that get you results, but learn the typical attacking plans opponents use against your chosen setups — especially pawn storms and quick sac themes.
- Versus kingside storms, prefer prophylactic moves (small pawn or minor‑piece redeployments) rather than committing pawns in front of your king too early.
How to measure progress (30 days)
- Goal: hold or improve the +50 one‑month gain while reducing flag/time losses.
- Metric: after 50 blitz games, track blunders per game and aim for a 25–30% reduction.
- Behavioral: complete the post-game micro-review after every session for consistent improvement.
Next step
Want a compact 15‑minute tactics set tailored to the sacrificial motifs that have been hurting you, or a 10‑game blitz warmup plan focused on time control? Tell me which and I’ll build it.
Opponent reference: Vishruth Yelisetti