Magomed Zulfugarli IM

Magomed, here is your personalised performance review

First, congratulations on maintaining a very high bullet rating of 2737 (2023-02-06) while playing uncompromising, fighting chess. Below you will find a short analysis of what you are already doing well, what is costing you half-points, and a concrete study plan for the next few weeks.

What you already do well

• Tactical awareness & initiative: Your recent win with 18. Ne5! and the follow-up exchange sacrifice (24. Rxe8+) shows excellent calculation speed under time pressure.
• Opening variety: With White you switch between the Scandinavian Gambit set-ups (2.exd5, Be2/Be3 ideas) and the Alapin against the Sicilian, keeping opponents out of book.
• Fast decision-making: You consistently keep a time edge and rarely get flagged when the position is balanced. This is an essential bullet skill.
• Practical endgame choices: In the win vs. LogicBaba you converted a rook+pawn ending by pushing the passed c-pawn, rather than searching for “perfect” moves.

Key areas to tighten up

• King safety when launching pawn storms.
  Three of your last five losses feature an exposed king after early …f7-f5 or f4-f5 pushes. Good attacking players (TaeKwondoKing) punished this with precise checks.
    ➜ Add a quick “king safety” checklist before playing a pawn break: Are my back-rank pieces coordinated? Can the enemy queen give a check on an open file/diagonal?
• Handling blocked French structures.
  As Black in the French-type positions you often fall back on …c6/…c5 but delay …cxd4, leaving the c-file closed and pieces cramped. In the most recent loss (22…Rd5?) your rook became a tactical target.
    ▶ Spend 30 minutes with a model game such as Caruana–Vachier-Lagrave, 2017 to study the classical …f6 break and piece exchanges.
• Time-pressure technique.
  Four consecutive defeats were on time in positions that were still playable. In bullet a +3 pawn endgame is not won until the clock says “0-0-0”.
    ➜ Practise premove chains in won queen-vs-pawn endings on Lichess “computer practice” mode for 5 minutes a day.

30-day improvement plan

1. Opening micro-repertoire refresh (15 min/day).
   • Update your French files vs. 2.Nc3 with the simple Rubinstein set-up …dxe4, …Bd7, …Bc6.
   • Against the Alapin as Black, memorise one safe line (…Nf6, …d5, …g6) to avoid long forcing variations.
2. Endgame snapshots (10 min/day).
   Work through 20 positions from “100 Endgames You Must Know” that involve rook + passed pawn. Bullet conversion becomes automatic once patterns are internalised.
3. Bullet-specific training (5 min/day).
   • Two 1|0 games focusing on never dropping below 12 seconds.
   • After each game, replay only the last 15 moves to see where pre-moves were possible.

Instructive moment to review

The turning point of your last loss came here:

Instead of 24…Rxd4? (activating White’s bishop with tempo) consider 24…Rxe4! 25.Rxe4 Qd5 when the queen infiltrates with checks while keeping the e4-pawn as a shield for your own king.

At-a-glance stats

Keep sharpening your tactics, Magomed, and add a dose of prophylaxis to your attacking style. Small structural improvements will quickly convert several of those “lost-on-time” games into wins.

See you at the board!