MY WEAKNESSES

OPENING VULNERABILITIES

My current opening repertoire has several critical vulnerabilities that opponents can exploit:

• Tromposky Opening: UNSTUDIED I have never actually studied the opening lines.
• Nimzo-Indian: POSITIONAL I do poorly because I'm a poor positional player, and I haven't perused the variations and themes in depth.
• Sicilian Accelerated Dragon: EXPLOITED A CM really crushed me in this opening in over 5 games. Apparently, I'm not prepared!
• Bogo-Indian: THEORY GAP I play, but I have no idea what the main ideas and strategic themes are.
• English Opening: IN PROGRESS It's a work in progress.
• 1. Nc3: CONFUSING This move just confuses me.
• 1. Nf3: FLEXIBLE Very flexible with many transpositions.
• Maroczy Bind: STRATEGIC I don't know how to play against it.
• London System: PREP GAP My preparation lacks depth.

PLANNING DEFICIENCIES

I struggle against flexible and positional openings like 1.c4, 1.Nf3, 1.Nc3, and systems-based openings like the London and Colle. As a result, my planning skills and general positional play are naturally poor.

I do very poorly when solving positional puzzles. I have no systematic approach at all! Perhaps I should train Jeremy Silman's thinking technique?

SYSTEM NEEDED Current weaknesses in planning:

• No clear method for evaluating positions
• Difficulty identifying long-term plans
• Poor understanding of pawn structures
• Tendency to play reactively rather than proactively

CALCULATION FLAWS

I can certainly compute obvious short-term tactics. I am simply disorganised when analysing variations.

PRIMARY ISSUES

• Lack of systematic candidate move selection
• Poor visualization beyond 3-4 moves
• Tendency to overlook opponent resources
• Difficulty evaluating resulting positions
• Time management during calculation

TRAINING FOCUS Areas needing improvement:

• Kotov's candidate move system
• Visualization exercises
• Forced move sequences
• Endgame calculation