Zurab Tqebuchava IM

Quick summary

Nice work — your tactical alertness and endgame technique are clear in recent wins (you converted passed pawns and executed a mating net). The biggest recurring issue is time management: several losses were decided on the clock. Below are focused, practical steps to keep your strengths and fix the weak spots.

Highlights — what you're doing well

• Endgame technique: you turn advanced passed pawns into promotions and use the king actively. Those technical wins are a real asset.
• Tactical awareness: you spot back-rank/king-side weaknesses quickly (example: your quick Qxf7 mate in a short game).
• Opening variety: you score well in several sharp Sicilian lines and Caro‑Kann; your Strength Adjusted Win Rate (~0.504) shows you generally perform at or slightly above expectation versus similar opponents.

Main areas to improve

• Time management — many games end on time. Practice keeping a safe reserve and make faster practical decisions when needed.
• Decision-making in endgame/time-trouble: you sometimes keep complications when a simpler route would win cleanly under the clock.
• Opening consistency — high-volume lines like Modern and Czech have lower win rates; either tighten your knowledge there or replace one with a simpler line.
• Avoid trades that free opponent counterplay when you're low on time; maintain piece activity or simplify to an easy technical plan.

Concrete drills (30–60 minutes each)

• Tactics (15–25 min daily): mix puzzle‑rush style speed with 8–12 slow puzzles where you fully calculate before checking. Focus on forks, skewers, and promotion tactics.
• Endgame practice (2–3× week, 20–30 min): king+pawn vs king, basic rook endgames, queen vs pawn promotion races. Drill promotion timing and stalemate awareness.
• Blitz with clock-focus (daily, 20–30 min): play 5|0 or 3|2 and force yourself to maintain a 20–30s reserve. Practice choosing good practical moves under pressure.
• Post‑mortem routine (10–15 min per game): annotate the single turning point and extract one fixable habit (e.g., "simplify at move X", "avoid pre-move").)

Opening: quick adjustments

• Double down on lines that score well for you (Sicilian Moscow/Haag, some Anti‑Sveshnikov lines). Learn 2–3 typical plans and common tactical motifs so you get comfortable fast in blitz.
• For heavy-volume but lower-win lines (Modern, Czech): either prepare short, clear plans for the common replies or swap one line for a simpler-to-play option that reduces calculation needs during blitz.
• Create a 1‑page cheat sheet per opening: key move-order, one typical pawn break, best square(s) for knights, and one trap to avoid.

Practical clock tips (immediately actionable)

• Set a personal rule: if under 15 seconds, prioritize a safe, practical move over trying to find the objectively best continuation.
• Train with increment (3+2 or 5+3) to build habit of keeping a 20–30s buffer. If you play 5|0 or 3|0, stop deep calculation at ~10 seconds and move.
• Use pre-moves sparingly: only when captures/recaptures are safe; avoid pre-moves in pawn races and promotion situations.
• Adopt a "two-minute reserve" heuristic: in a 5-minute game, aim to keep ~1 minute total available for the endgame; in 3-minute games, keep ~30 seconds.

30‑day study plan

• Week 1: Daily tactics (25 min), 3 rapid 10+1 games with postgame notes, 3 short endgame drills (k+p, rook basics).
• Week 2: Build opening cheat sheets for two preferred lines; play 10 blitz focusing on those lines. Continue tactics 15 min/day.
• Week 3: Play 20 blitz games with strict clock rule (never drop below 10s deliberately). Annotate 8 decisive games (win/loss/time loss).
• Week 4: Simulate tournament conditions: two 15+10 games and a 3+2 session; analyze critical moments and reinforce time management habits.

Two immediate homework tasks

• Recreate the promotion race from your long win and play both sides vs an engine at a low depth in 5|0; practice avoiding stalemate and correctly timing promotions.
• Pick three moments from recent time-loss games and decide the single simplest plan you could have followed under time pressure (e.g., trade into a winning pawn ending, centralize king, keep rook on 7th).

Notes from recent games (quick pointers)

• Win vs Eric Cooke: excellent patience and promotion play — reinforce queen vs pawn endgame technique.
• Win vs chapion_gold: tactical finish with Qxf7 mate — continue hunting early back-rank weaknesses in similar opponents.
• Loss vs rajendrastha: lost on time. Positionally you had resources; the key fix is the clock rule and simpler decision-making under 20s.
• Losses vs daivari94 and torgeirgillebo: both ended on time; these underline that your technical play is solid but the clock is turning wins/draws into losses.

Metrics & trends — short interpretation

• Your long-term history shows high peak strength and a lot of volume — that experience is an advantage.
• Recent small declines (-18 over 1 and 3 months, -28 over 6 months) plus a negative 6‑month slope suggest some inconsistency or reduced focused practice; targeted drills should reverse that quickly.
• Large game volume is valuable: small, consistent habit changes (clock + endgame drills) will produce a noticeable rating effect.

Quick checklist before your next session

• Pick 2 openings for the session and stick to them for 10 games.
• Warm up: 10 minutes tactics + 10 minutes endgame practice.
• During the session: if clock < 15s, play a practical safe move in under 8s.
• End session: annotate 3 decisive games and list one actionable fix for the next session.

I can help with

• Create a 1‑page cheat sheet for two openings you pick (move orders + typical plans).
• Build a 2‑week tactical set tailored to motifs from your games and a clock-management drill routine.
• Analyze one specific loss move‑by‑move (paste link or tell me which game, e.g., the loss vs rajendrastha), and I’ll show where to simplify vs calculate.