Ludvig Carlsson IM

Hi Ludvig, here’s some focused feedback to help you push past the 2630-range wall.

Your Key Strengths

• Opening versatility. You comfortably switch between Petroff, Caro-Kann and English setups as Black while steering Rossolimo, French-rubinstein and King’s-Indian-Attack structures as White. Opponents cannot prepare easily.
• Initiative hunter. In several wins you sacrificed material (e.g. 15.Nd5! vs justforpractice-0_0) to seize dynamic play; your conversion speed is excellent once the initiative is secured.
• Control of critical files. You frequently triple on d- and e-files (games vs SebaGiacomelli and PrinzKoksvonderGasanstalt), showing strong understanding of central tension.
• Good practical sense in sharp endings. Converting the French endgame with 65.b8=Q+ 67.Qa4# under a minute was exemplary.

Recurring Improvement Themes

1. Early pawn-moves that create dark-square weaknesses

Losses to gogodomi (…g6, …c6 Caro-Kann) and icltspmosmong (…c5 break too early) show that hasty …g6/…g5 operations left f6 & h6 soft. Before advancing wing pawns, run a 10-second checklist:

1. King safety: can White open the g- or h- file within three moves?
2. Piece cooperation: do both bishops and the queen participate in the expansion or will you fight with half an army?

Try postponing …g6 in Petroff lines until you have …Be7 castled and …h6, or experiment with solid …Be7/…d6 setups.

2. Converting long technical advantages

Against joghurt1 you mis-evaluated a safe exchange sacrifice on c6 and resigned from a position that Stockfish assesses only –0.8. Build an endgame drill routine (10 puzzles/day) focusing on rook + minor-piece vs rook positions to strengthen patience when the tactic frenzy is over.

3. Time management & tilt control

You lost twice on time in equal or better positions (vs julian2024 & joghurt1). Average remaining time at move 25 in wins: 1:37 in losses: 0:28. Try a soft time-cap: never let the clock dip below 45 seconds before move 20 unless the position is a forced line.

4. Knight vs bishop choices

The loss vs icltspmosmong highlighted difficulty transitioning from middlegame to minor-piece endgame after 17…Be5. Analyse this miniature in depth with a focus on “bad bishop vs good knight” concepts and the importance of pawn anchors on dark squares.

Tailored Opening Tweaks

Current weapon	Low-effort upgrade
Petroff 3…Nxe4	Mix in 3…d6 to avoid early Nd3+ tricks and keep opponents guessing.
Caro-Kann Exchange	Add 6…Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Bf4 Nd7 avoiding slow …g6.
Rossolimo with 6.c3	Study the modern 6…d6 sidelines; you scored 100 % vs …g6 but only 50 % when Black chose …e5 structures.

Recommended Weekly Training Plan (2 hrs/day)

• 30 min Tactical motifs: fork, deflection & zwischenzug → goal: +10 rating on Puzzle Rush survival.
• 20 min Endgame fundamentals: rook endings & opposite-colour bishops.
• 30 min Opening deep dive: one tabiya per day, 15 moves of engine-checked notes.
• 20 min Annotate one of your rapid or blitz losses without engine, then compare.
• 20 min Practical: play 3 games at 3+2 strictly applying the 45-second time-cap rule.

Progress Tracking

Peak Blitz rating: 2872 (2024-11-11)
Hourly performance:

Day-to-day trends:

Mindset Nugget

Remember Garry’s rule: “If you have a choice between two good moves, spend the time deciding which plan you prefer, not which move is prettier.”

Good luck in your push to 2700, and feel free to send me any game you’d like annotated more deeply!