Muhammed Batuhan Dastan GM

What you’re doing well

You show the ability to handle a variety of openings with posture and piece activity. Your willingness to press in middlegames and your comfort in dynamic positions help you generate chances even when the position is tense. You also demonstrate resilience in blitz by staying focused through quick turns and keeping your plan clear in many games.

• You consistently choose solid, practical openings that lead to playable middlegames, giving you chances to outmaneuver your opponents in the right moments.
• Your piece activity, especially coordinating rooks on open files, helps you pressure the opponent’s position and create tactical chances.
• You manage risk well in many lines, choosing sane plans rather than getting lost in overly sharp lines where a single mistake can cost material or the game.
• You show steady growth over the longer term, with positive trends on several time horizons, which indicates good learning and adaptation from mistakes.

Areas to focus on for faster progress

• Time management in tight blitz moments. Create a simple, reliable plan for the first 15–20 moves and aim to keep at least a small time cushion for the critical middlegame tactics.
• Endgame technique. Practice common rook endings and king activity endings so you can convert advantages more reliably when your opponent’s pieces become passive.
• Opening depth and consistency. Pick a small, practical repertoire for Black and White and study the typical middlegame plans and pawn structures you are likely to encounter. This helps you avoid getting into uncomfortable positions in blitz.
• Tactical pattern recognition. Solve a focused set of puzzles each day (forks, pins, discovered attacks, and common mating nets) to improve quick calculation under pressure.
• Post-game review habit. After each blitz game, write down one or two concrete improvements and one thing you did well. This reinforces learning from every game.

Opening focus and repertoire suggestions

Your opening performance shows you do well in several solid lines. To streamline blitz games, pick a small core repertoire (2–3 lines for Black and 2–3 for White) and study the typical middlegame plans and pawn structures that arise. This helps you reach comfortable, playable positions quickly. For example:

• Strengthen your Black games with a reliable, solid setup in the Caro-Kann Defense or a controlled Slav-style structure. This reduces surprise lines and keeps tensions manageable.
• If you prefer White, having a flexible plan such as a London System or a Queen’s Pawn setup can lead to easy-to-understand middlegames with clear development paths.
• Keep a sharper option in reserve for surprise moments, but avoid relying on high-risk lines in time trouble. Consider keeping the Blackburne Shilling Gambit as a rare surprise weapon rather than a primary tool in blitz.
• For deeper study, focus on the common plans and typical piece setups that arise in your chosen openings, so you can identify good targets and plan faster in the moment.

Helpful references you can explore conceptually include: Caro-Kann Defense, Slav Defense, and London System to support your study notes.

Structured training plan for the next two weeks

• Week 1: Lock in your 2–3 White openings and 2–3 Black responses. Spend 20 minutes daily reviewing main lines and typical middlegame ideas. Solve 15 short tactical puzzles each day.
• Week 2: Add 1–2 endgame drills (rook endings and king activity) to your routine. Play 2 short blitz practice games focusing on applying the opening plans, then review them to highlight where your plans diverged from the ideal path.
• Daily routine: 10–15 minutes of focused opening study, 10–15 minutes of tactical puzzles, and 1 short blitz game (to test plans) followed by a quick review.
• Post-game habit: After every game, write one thing you did well and one concrete improvement to work on next time.

How your rating trends can guide your practice

Your longer-term trends show healthy progress, which means your study is translating into better results over time. A small short-term dip is normal in blitz, especially when you experiment with new ideas. Use the dip as a signal to tighten your chosen repertoire and time management rather than chasing sharp lines in every game.

Next steps

• Choose a compact White and Black repertoire (2–3 lines each) and stay with them for at least the next two weeks.
• Implement a fixed opening plan in your first 15 moves and practice it in all blitz games to reach a comfortable middlegame faster.
• In every game, focus on 2–3 tactical patterns and reinforce them with puzzles daily.
• Review your games with a calm, objective approach and note 2 actionable improvements per session.

Want to review a sample line in your preferred opening? You can try exploring: