William Gonzalez

Hi William!

You have a clear, fighting style that produces sharp positions and rewarding tactical opportunities. Below you’ll find praise for your current strengths, the biggest themes holding you back, and a concrete study plan to accelerate your improvement.

Your Current Snapshot

• Favourite openings: Caro-Kann & French as Black, 1.e4 as White.
• Typical game length: 25–35 moves – very tactical, rarely reaching long endgames.
• Peak rating so far: 383 (2025-02-26).
• Win-rate heat-map:
   

What You Already Do Well

1. Tactical Vision – You frequently spot intermediate moves (e.g. 18…Nd3! in your latest win) and aren’t afraid to sacrifice material for activity.
2. Opening Variety – Mixing the Caro-Kann, French and 1.e4 keeps opponents guessing.
3. Practical Mind-set – You happily accept “messy” positions instead of forcing symmetry or early draws.

Recurring Obstacles

1. Time-management
   • Five of your last six losses ended on time in positions that were still playable.
   • You often spend 20-30 seconds on obvious recaptures and under 5 seconds on critical defensive moves.
   Goal: Finish every opening with ≥70 % of your clock.
2. Loose King Safety
   • Sample: Against steand17 (move 11…bxc3) you opened the b-file before castling and later got mated.
   • In several Caro-Kann games the …g- and …c-pawns advanced too early, leaving dark-square holes.
3. Endgame Technique
   • Your wins are overwhelmingly tactical; when queens come off, your conversion rate drops.
   • Example versus gadji2000 you were a pawn up but flagged in a rook ending.

Priority Fixes & Exercises

1. “Two-Tempo Rule” – In the first 15 moves never spend more than two tempi (≈10 sec in 5-min blitz) on any single decision unless a tactic hangs.
   • Drill this by playing Bullet with Increment (1 + 1) to force snappier instincts without total chaos.
2. Structured Opening Repertoire
   • Black: Add the solid …e6-…c5 set-up versus flank openings so you aren’t improvising on move 2.
   • White: Prepare a calm anti-French system: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 or 3.exd5 to avoid the mainline theory you currently skip.
3. King-in-the-Center Alert
   • Create a “castle by move 10” habit checklist.
   • If your opponent’s king is also stuck, ask “who opens the position first?” and be cautious.
4. Endgame Mini-Plan
   • Every session solve two basic rook-endgame puzzles (Lucena, Philidor) until 90 % accuracy.
   • When up material, trade queens unless you already have a direct attack.

Illustrative Moments

Training Schedule (4-week template)

• Mon/Wed/Fri – 30 min tactics (CT-like puzzle rush).
• Tue/Thu – Play 3 blitz games, annotate one with engine only after self-analysis.
• Weekend – 1 classical (15 + 10) game focusing on time usage + review one theoretical line.
• Endgame Sunday – 20 min rook & pawn drills.

Mind-set Reminders

• “Win the clock, lose the board” – Balance the two.
• When in doubt, activate your worst piece.
• Make your opponent’s life difficult every move – but not your own king’s!

Stick with this plan for a month and you should see a smoother climb and far fewer “losses on time.” Keep the games coming, William – I’m eager to review your next milestone!