Jorge Herrera

Hi Jorge, here’s some tailored feedback to help you climb to the next level!

🔎 Quick Snapshot

• Peak rating so far: 2628 (2025-04-29)
• Favourite defences with Black: Caro-Kann (vs 1.e4), Old Benoni / QGA ideas (vs 1.d4)
• Typical result: many wins on the clock, fewer by checkmate

💪 What you already do well

1. Opening confidence: You reach playable middlegames quickly with …c6 setups. Opponents rarely get an obvious edge out of the gate.
2. Practical speed: Your moves come fast, forcing opponents to flag. Your intuition in tactical positions is clearly above average.
3. Resilience in messy positions: Even when structure is damaged you keep material balanced and look for counter-shots.

🚧 Priority fixes

1. King safety in the Exchange-Slav & Benoni structures
   Two recent losses show the king walking to e6/e5 on move 16-18 and getting mated. This starts with an automatic …Qb6 grabbing b2/b2.
   Guideline: in open centre + queens on board positions, value tempo and safety above pawns. If the d-pawn reaches d6/d5 with tempo, castle instead of pawn-grabbing.
2. Converting won positions
   5/5 recent wins were “won on time” while still objectively equal or even slightly worse (e.g. Benoni move 58).
   • When up on the clock, simplify to a clearly winning endgame so you deserve the point even if increment is added.
   • Practise basic technical endings (Q+K vs K, R+P vs R, opposite-colour bishops). 10-minute drill sessions will bake them in.
3. Handling premature pawn storms
   In several King’s Indian setups you launched …f5/…g5 very early. If White locks the centre with e3-d4 you often over-extend. Remedy: before advancing flanks, complete development & secure the e6/g7 diagonals with a rook lift or …Re8-Nf8 typical of King's Indian themes.

📚 Opening tweaks

🕒 Time-management drill

Your reflexes are great; now balance them with 30-second pause points:

• After the opening phase finishes (≈ move 10) – ask “What does opponent want?”
• Right before any pawn break or piece sacrifice.
• Entering endgames with ≤ 4 pieces per side.

🎯 Tactical motif of the week

The whole mating net arose because Black’s king never castled. Load this mini-game into your engine and let it remind you: “Grab pawns only when the king is safe.”

📈 When do you win most?

🗓️ 4-Week Improvement Plan

1. Week 1: 200 puzzles on “mate in 2-3”, focus on king hunts after …Qb6 grabs.
2. Week 2: Review 10 own games where you were winning but needed the clock. Identify a cleaner conversion line for each.
3. Week 3: Choose one safer Slav/Caro sideline and play it exclusively; aim for 30 games.
4. Week 4: Endgame boot-camp: play only rook-and-pawn endgames vs engine on difficulty 3 until you convert 10 in a row.

👍 Final encouragement

You already compete at a high bullet level; smoothing these few structural wrinkles will translate into earned wins, not just flagged ones. Keep the energy, add the discipline, and a 2500 bullet badge is realistic.