britttas FM

Hi britttas!

Great streak of wins lately – you are pushing toward 2250 (2024-02-14) form. Below is a condensed post-mortem of your recent games, highlighting strengths to keep, habits to trim, and concrete exercises for the next training cycle.

What’s already working

• Active piece play as Black. In the Italian ( winer1 ) and Four-Knights ( KingSloth08 ) you seized the centre with …d5/…e4 and followed with well-timed pawn breaks (…b5 in the Slav, …g5 in the Dutch). The initiative you gain here is your trademark.
• Tactical alertness. You spotted shots like 14…Nxd4!! in the Italian and the Bxf7⁺ queen-trap versus Manu019. Your calculation is sharp once the position is on fire.
• Conversion technique. In several wins you reached rook endgames with an extra pawn and steered them confidently. Good job not relaxing too early.

Recurring pain points

• Clock management. Four of the last six losses (e.g. vs glji11962, CatSurfer) were on time while still playable on the board. Conversely, three of your wins came because the opponent flagged. This suggests your OTB strength is higher than the rating shown by the results – but only if the clock stops harming you.
• Handling flank counter-play as White. In the Dutch loss you followed the main-line set-up (d4-c4-g3-Bg2) but allowed …g5/…Rh6 with no direct punishment. Against 1…Nc6 (goranter) the queenside storm …a5a4 …g6g5 arrived faster than your own plans. A refresher on prophylaxis and colour-complexes will help.
• Occasional slow or weakening pawn moves.
  • 7…f6 vs ZielonySmok13 gave away dark-square control; luckily you outplayed him later.
  • …f5/e4 in the Four-Knights win works tactically but would backfire against tighter defence.
  A quick blunder-check of pawn pushes (“does this square become a permanent hole?”) before moving will save rating points.

Targeted to-dos for the next two weeks

1. Time-split drill. Aim to reach move 15 with ≥60 % of your starting time. Use an actual stopwatch or the on-site timer; hit “autopilot” for obvious recaptures with pre-moves to preserve seconds.
2. Anti-Dutch mini-repertoire. Spend one hour learning the 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 f5 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 !?. Plans: press on the light squares with Ba3, Nc3-e2-f4, break with d5. Try five blitz tests, review with an engine.
3. Prophylaxis warm-up. Before each rapid game, solve three CPT exercises that ask “What is my opponent’s idea?” (If you use Chess.com’s puzzles, filter for advanced defending.)
4. Endgame speed. Recreate the rook-and-pawn ending from your win vs ZielonySmok13 after 40…Ra2⁺ (diagram below) and practise winning against the engine on max 30 seconds/move. Repeat until victory feels automatic.

Study snapshot

Quick reference toolbox

• Re-watching pawn-storm themes? See hook-pawn and outpost.
• Need a queenside plan in the Slav? Review the minority-attack.

Motivation corner

Your hour-by-hour performance already shows a sweet spot in late evenings – keep stacking games there for a confidence boost:

. And remember, rating dips after experimental openings are tuition, not failure. Stick to the programme above and a new personal best is around the corner.

Good luck & good moves!
– Your Chess Coach