Yang-Fan Zhou IM

Hi Yang-Fan, here’s a tailored performance review based on your latest blitz games

What you are already doing well

• Sharp opening choice: Your King’s Indian (e.g. final position of your win against guilherme_oli) and Sicilian setups deliver lively middlegames and suit your tactical style.
• Dynamic pawn breaks: Breaks such as …f5 in the KID and …d5/…f5 in the English Attack-type positions come at exactly the right moment, opening diagonals for your bishops.
• Confident calculation under pressure: In the miniature below you spotted that the e-file pins allow a winning sequence; your opponent resigned before move 25:
  

Priority improvement areas

1. Clock management
   • Three of your last five losses were flagged (e.g. vs shantia-s and Stanislav Pivovartsev). You regularly reach < 10 seconds with winning or equal positions.
   • Drills: play a 30-move game where you have to keep ≥ 50 % of your starting time; practice premove + “safe-move” habits.
2. Kingside pawn pushes in the early middlegame
   • Moves like …h6/…g5 vs the Torre and London left dark-square holes and cost a tempo when you couldn’t follow up.
   • Ask “What is my opponent threatening?” before every pawn move; if the answer is “nothing immediate”, consider a developing move instead.
3. Transition to endgames
   • In the rook ending vs PozitiFF_Chess you were still better after 48…fxg3+ but failed to simplify and flagged. Learn the Lucena and Philidor techniques Lucena Position.

Opening tune-ups

• Against 1.d4 sidelines you often answer with …g6, …Bg7, …d6, but delay …c5/…d5. Review the plans in the Averbakh and Panno set-ups so that you don’t get cramped.
• When opponents play an early g3 (Pseudo-Catalan), test the solid 5…Be7 6…dxc4 line; your current 5…Bf5 left you a tempo behind and fragile queenside pawns.
• As White in the London you reached a pleasant structure but pushed 10.c5?! which fixed your own weaknesses. Study recent GM games where White keeps the tension with 10.Rfd1 or 10.0-0.

Focused training plan (next 14 days)

• Day 1-4: 20 mins/day “time-handicap blitz” (start on 1:30 vs 3:00) – goal is to finish the game with ≥15 s.
• Day 5-7: Analyse all lost won positions; write one sentence explaining the turning point.
• Day 8-10: Endgame module – play 25 Lucena and 25 Philidor drills until success rate ≥ 90 %.
• Day 11-14: Review 15 model KID games by Gelfand (focus on manoeuvres after …Nfd7-f6) and add two ideas to your repertoire notebook.

Your performance snapshots

Peak rating so far: 2668 (2021-05-24)
Hour-by-hour and weekday heat maps for quick pattern spotting:

Keep enjoying your chess, stay practical on the clock, and refine those pawn storms. Good luck in your next session!