Hey Toshali, great to see your steady progress!
Your Current Profile
• Peak rapid rating:
• Typical openings: Queen’s-Pawn Zukertort/London as White; Caro-Kann & Slav-set-ups against 1.d4 as Black.
• Recent form: 5 wins, 2 losses (last seven games).
What You’re Doing Well
- Opening understanding. You consistently reach playable structures and often obtain the bishop pair with tempi (e.g. 7…Bxe4 in the last win).
- Piece activity. You aren’t afraid to push pawns (g- and h-pawns) to gain space and attack – this scores you quick wins versus lower-rated opponents.
- Clock handling. In most recent games you kept a 2–4 minute edge, giving you critical thinking time in tense positions.
Growth Opportunities
-
Convert advantages with method, not emotion.
In your most recent loss you were a healthy pawn up after 24…Re4. Instead of consolidating, you launched a series of forcing moves (28…Re4?! 29…dxe4? … 35…e5) that opened counter-play and ultimately flipped the game.
Drill: Play winning end-game positions against an engine set to 1500–1700, forcing yourself to improve the worst piece before pushing pawns. -
End-game technique – king activity & opposition.
Both losses ended in king-and-pawn races where basic opposition ideas would have saved half-points.
Tool: 10-minute daily studies of Lucena/Philidor plus 3 random pawn endings on Lichess “Practice”. Annotate with terms like Opposition and “outside passer”. -
Add variety against the London System.
Opponents score best versus your …c5/…Qb6 plan. Try mixing in 2…g6 or the Jobava-bane counter: 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5!?. Review games by “MVL vs. Naroditsky” for inspiration. -
Tighten calculation habits.
Several tactical shots succeed because you stop at one capture. Example from the loss:
24…Re4 25.Qd2 Re2?!
You missed 25…Rxe1+! which forces queens off and wins cleanly. Train with the “3-move rule”: always imagine three ply deeper than you feel necessary.
Annotated Snapshot – Last Win
• Excellent exploitation of overloaded pieces (8.Bb5+!).
• After 14…Kd8 the king is stuck; you correctly transitioned to a tactic rather than material grabbing.
• Improvement: instead of 11.f3, 11.Nxg6 fxg6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.Qa4 keeps an extra pawn and safer king.
Training Plan (4-Week Micro-cycle)
| Day | Focus | Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| Mon/Wed | Opening lab (30 min) | Build a London-buster file; add 5 model games. |
| Tue/Thu | Tactics (20 min) | “Mate in 3” & intermediate-move puzzles; annotate any missed zwischenzug. |
| Fri | End-game (40 min) | Study rook+pawn vs rook and play 5 engine sparring positions. |
| Sat | Long rapid game | 30|10 vs 1800-2000; self-annotate immediately after. |
| Sun | Review/Rest | Light blitz for fun; pick one instructive ending to share with a friend. |
When Do You Win Most?
Final Thoughts
Your tactical eye and fighting spirit already give you an edge at the 2000 level. By adding structured end-game technique and a second weapon versus the London, 2100+ is within reach this season. Keep the curiosity alive and remember: improve the worst piece first.