Vivian Smith WFM

Hi Vivian!

Below is a constructive snapshot of your current chess profile together with an actionable improvement plan. Keep this as your personal training roadmap for the next few weeks.

Quick stats

• Current peak: 1466 (2020-04-17)
• Favourite defence as Black: Sicilian ( B20-B33, B27 )
• Typical session length: 3-5 games (180 + 2).

Strengths to build on

• Dynamic openings. Your choice of the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon and Sveshnikov consistently yields unbalanced middlegames where you out-calculate many opponents.
• Tactical alertness. In the win vs. ashkanhadi you spotted …Rfd8 and …Rc6-c3, converting a rook ending smoothly.
• Practical fighting spirit. Several wins come from putting pressure on the clock even in equal positions.

Key areas to improve

1. Time management. Eight of the last fifteen decisive games ended on the clock (four losses, four wins). Aim to keep >25 seconds entering any rook or pawn ending.
     • Drill “move-and-trust” habits in quiet positions.
     • Play one 10 + 5 game after every blitz session to rehearse deeper calculation without flag-fear.
2. End-game technique. When you lost the McDonnell Attack game on time you already reached a drawn knight vs. rook ending. Study basic setups:
     • Lucena & Philidor (rook + pawn).
     • Key squares in pawn endings.
   Work through chapters 1-4 of Silman’s “Complete Endgame Course” and test with 20 puzzles/week.
3. Handling opposite-wing pawn storms as White. In the Ruy Lopez loss you advanced g- and h-pawns before securing the king and the e4 point, allowing …Qf6-h4 ideas.
     • During review, ask “What is my opponent’s pawn lever?” before any flank push.
     • Annotate three of your own Lopez games, marking every irreversible pawn move. Patterns will surface quickly.
4. Broadening the White repertoire. You rely heavily on 1.e4 Sicilians and occasionally Ruy Lopez. Introduce one anti-Sicilian line to reduce prep time (e.g. 3.Bb5⁺ or the Alapin). Build a mini-file with five critical positions and train them with spaced repetition.

Illustrative mini-lesson

The move 20…Bxg3? grabs material but misplaces the bishop and burns 20 seconds. Instead, 20…d4! keeps the initiative. Use this as a reminder: If you are up in development, open lines before collecting pawns.

Suggested weekly routine (4-week cycle)

Progress tracking

Use the built-in insights to monitor form peaks:

Little steps daily beat a marathon once-a-month. You’ve already proven you can operate at an 1800+ level; tightening the three areas above could take you past 2000 in the next quarter.

Enjoy the journey and message me after each cycle—let’s celebrate the breakthroughs together!

—Your Chess Coach