Bank time for the endgame
Aim to have 60s left at move 30. Premove recaptures and play known London moves instantly, because 127 timeout losses is the leak that matters most here.
← chesspieler / Openings
Queen's Pawn Opening
Your 2.Bf4 gets you good positions, and then the clock takes most of them away.
Score53%+3% vs your average
Win chance after move 1255%+3% vs your average
Blunders per game1.21same as your average
Clock left at move 102:45+6s vs your average
8
76
5
4
3
2
a1
bc
d
efgh1. d4 d5 2. Bf4
What it says about you
1.d4 with an early Bf4 is your workhorse: 548 games, easily your most-played opening. You want a familiar setup that needs little preparation so you can play on autopilot and save time. That is a sensible blitz temperament. It also means your results depend on middlegame decisions, not on memorised theory.
How you play it
You come out of the opening slightly ahead, with a win chance of 54.8 at move 12 and 56.1 at move 20, against your baselines of 52.1 and 54.1. You have 165s left at move 10, which is quicker than your usual 159s, and games run long at about 38.5 moves. The Accelerated London (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4) makes up 350 of the 548 games and scores 53.3%. You score 52.6% overall, 55.1% over the last 90 days. Only 16 of 244 losses are decided in the opening, against 124 in the middlegame and 48 in the endgame.
Last 90 days: 49 games, 55% score.
What you're missing
- 01
Timeouts: 127 of your 244 losses ended on the clock, and 48 of them were in playable positions. That is the biggest single cause of losses in this opening, even though you start the game with more time than usual.
- 02
Conversion: you won only 256 of the 425 games where you were 85%+ to win (60%). Recently you played 44.Qg4+ instead of 44.g4+ from a completely winning position (100 down to 50) with 33s left.
- 03
Loose pieces and forks: 41 losses came from hanging a piece and 24 from walking into a fork. At move 32 you played Ra5 instead of Qa5+ and walked into a fork, going from 50 to 8.
- 04
The Chigorin setup (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6) scores 41.7% over 42 games and the Horwitz (1...e6) 47.1% over 52. Setups where Black leaves the d5/c5 script are where your autopilot breaks.
How to improve it
- 01
Against the Chigorin (...Nc6 before ...c5), go for the direct 3.c4 or play e3, c4, Nc3 and hit d5. Black's knight on c6 blocks the c-pawn, so the centre is yours if you fight for it early. Watch for ...Nb4 hitting c2 in the Bf4 lines.
- 02
In the Accelerated London, when Black plays ...c5 and ...Qb6, answer with Qb3 or Nc3 rather than defending b2 passively. Once you know the reply, it costs no time.
- 03
Standard London plan: e3, c3, Bd3, Nd2, Ngf3, then Ne5 and a kingside push (Qf3, h4 or g4) if Black castles short. Keep one plan and play it quickly.
- 04
When you are winning, look for checks that also attack something before you look for pretty moves. The 44.g4+ miss is a classic forcing-move blind spot.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Accelerated London System | 350 | 53% |
| Horwitz Defense | 52 | 47% |
| Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 42 | 42% |
| Main line | 27 | 63% |
| Zukertort Variation | 15 | 53% |
| Accelerated London Steinitz Countergambit | 15 | 67% |
Winning positions converted here: 60% (256 of 425).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
8
76
5
43
2
a1b
c
def
gh
vs LooksAffiliate (1524) · 20-09-26 →
8
76
5
4
3
2
a1b
c
d
e
f
g
h
vs LooksAffiliate (1524) · 20-09-26 →
87
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
vs LooksAffiliate (1524) · 20-09-26 →
87
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
vs LooksAffiliate (1524) · 20-09-26 →
Next steps
Drill conversion technique
Replay 10 games you were winning but did not convert. Find the move where you stopped trading down and started calculating unnecessarily.
Prepare one anti-Chigorin line
Pick 3.c4 or the e3/c4 setup against 2...Nc6 and learn it to move 8. It is your worst sub-line at 41.7%.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Queen's Pawn Opening, and every game you've played in it.