Anastasia Bodnaruk IM

What You're Doing Well

Anastasia, your recent games demonstrate impressive strengths, especially in opening preparation and endgame technique. Here are some highlights:

• Your handling of the Sicilian Defense: Open Scheveningen shows strong attacking play and good understanding of dynamic pawn breaks and piece activity.
• You consistently create pressure on your opponents with active pawn pushes and smart piece placements, particularly in blitz time controls, leveraging your time well.
• Endgame technique is generally solid, as evidenced by converting your advantage in complex rook and pawn endings, pushing passed pawns effectively.
• Your overall win rate above 53% against strong opposition is commendable, showing that you maintain consistent performance at a high level.

Areas for Improvement

Despite your strengths, here are some key areas to focus on for further advancement:

• Time Management: Some recent games ended due to time losses. Working on efficient, quicker decision making especially in complicated positions will help avoid losing on time and improve overall results.
• Handling Counterattacks: In some losses, you faced strong counterplay by opponents exploiting momentary imprecisions. Improving defensive resilience and recognizing counter threats earlier can help maintain your positional advantages.
• Opening Flexibility: While your main openings like the Sicilian Closed and Najdorf variations are solid, your performances in lines like the Moscow Variation and Amazon Attack show room for improvement. Consider expanding your repertoire or deepening your preparation there to increase your scoring chances.
• Balancing Aggression and Safety: Your attacking style serves you well but sometimes aggressive pawn pushes or piece sacrifices might expose you to tactical liabilities. Evaluating risk vs. reward carefully during the game can reduce avoidable losses.

Practical Suggestions

• Practice rapid tactical exercises to sharpen your calculation speed and accuracy under time pressure.
• Review your lost games focusing on moments where the opponent gained counterplay; try to identify warning signs and better defensive resources.
• Experiment with new ideas and sidelines in your openings during training games to strengthen less comfortable positions, especially in the lines where your win rate is lower.
• In blitz, aim for a consistent opening repertoire to save time early in the game, and work on quick but safe moves in the middlegame.
• Analyze your endgames, particularly rook and pawn structures, to ensure confidence in converting advantages or defending difficult positions.

Final Thoughts

Your recent rating increase of over 800 points in one month indicates remarkable progress, showing that your current approach and training are effective. Keeping a balanced focus on speed, accuracy, and defensive skills will help you climb even higher in blitz performance. Keep up the great work and continue refining your game with these insights!