Lothar Arnold IM

Executive feedback

You have shown the ability to create sharp, tactical battles in blitz and to strike quickly when you sense a chance. The recent short-term surge demonstrates you can seize initiative and press advantages, but there is also a longer-term drift that suggests you can benefit from tightening a few recurring decision points and time management habits. The goal is to convert those initial advantages more consistently into concrete, stable results in the midgame and endgame, while keeping your sharp play for the moments when it clearly pays off.

Strengths to build on

• You are comfortable entering sharp, tactical lines and know how to generate active play. This helps you press opponents who are slightly on the back foot.
• Your willingness to employ aggressive openings (for example, lines that lead to quick piece activity and attacking chances) often yields favorable chances in blitz.
• You show good practical resourcefulness in the middlegame, spotting forcing moves and trying to destabilize the opponent’s plan when they overextend.
• You recover quickly from early imbalances and keep the pressure on when the position remains dynamic.

Key improvement areas

• Time management in the late middlegame and endgame. When the clock gets tight, you tend to drift into longer calculations that may not be the best use of time. Focus on clear, forcing ideas and pruning branches that don’t immediately improve your position.
• Convert opportunities more cleanly. After obtaining an initiative, translate it into tangible gains (material, space, or a direct attack) rather than letting the opponent stabilize and neutralize counterplay.
• Endgame technique. Blitz often turns on the ability to navigate simplified positions. Strengthen rook-and-pawn versus rook endings, and practice converting small advantages in bishop/knight endgames with correct technique.
• Consistency in opening choice. You perform well with several aggressive lines, but balancing sharpness with solid, time-tested plans can reduce unforced errors in uncharted middlegame waters.

Two-week action plan

• Daily: solve 15 short tactical puzzles focusing on common blitz motifs ( forks, back-rank ideas, decoying moves, and quiet defences to threats).
• Two sessions per week: study one opening setup you enjoy (for example, a nimzowitsch/Sicilian approach) and prepare a simple, clear plan for the middle game after the first six moves. Practice identifying a primary plan within the first 8 moves of the game.
• Endgames: dedicate two sessions to rook-and-pawn endings and basic knight endgames. Learn a few practical conversion ideas and standard opposition concepts.
• Review two recent blitz losses and one draw. Identify the moment when a safer, simpler plan would have yielded a better result and write down a one-sentence takeaway for future games.
• During blitz play: aim for crisp, forcing moves whenever you have a concrete threat; if no clear forcing idea exists within two moves, switch to solid development and king safety to avoid getting tangled in complications.

Opening and transition notes

You have shown comfort in aggressive, imbalanced openings and you tend to get dynamic middlegames quickly. To sustain improvement, keep refining a compact, practical repertoire for blitz. Pair your sharp lines with clear middle-game plans and avoid over-optimizing tactical sequences that require precise calculation under time pressure. For the transitions, practice recognizing when to simplify to a favorable endgame vs when to push for a direct attack. A small, consistent improvement in the transition from opening to middle game can yield steady gains in blitz.

Reflection prompts for your next games

• At the end of each game, identify the first moment where the evaluation became uncertain. What simpler line could you have chosen to maintain clarity?
• When you gain a tempo or initiative, list the exact plan you intend to execute in the next 3-4 moves. If you cannot articulate a plan, shift to a safer, more solid route.
• During time pressure, prioritize forcing moves or clear structural plans over deep, speculative tactics. Ask yourself: is there a forcing line that wins material or creates a decisive threat in the next two moves?
• Record one endgame conversion from your last few games and analyze what made the conversion successful or where you lost it. Use that pattern in future endings.

Optional deeper dive (available on request)

If you’d like, I can lineage-match critical moments from your recent games into a focused practice plan with annotated moves and a short Pgn snippet highlighting turning points. This can help you drill specific patterns and reinforce the improvements in a repeatable way.