Marton Braun FM

Hi Marton!

You have been playing a lot of sharp, fighting 3-minute games lately, and the data shows steady progress (see

What you already do very well

• Dynamic piece play. Your recent win vs RGullit featured the energetic 27.Rg5+ followed by 30.Nf4!, converting a small initiative into a decisive attack.
• Central control with 1.d4. In almost every White game you seize space early with d4 → c4 and handle the resulting structures confidently.
• Practical end-game instinct. Your 75-move grind against Tardnof17 shows patience and good conversion technique when you are the side pushing.

Key areas to improve

• King safety in razor-sharp lines. All four losses on 5 June arose after castling was delayed or dark-squares around your king were weakened. Give extra weight to “king security” in positions with opposite-side pawn storms.
• Opening choice vs 1.e4. The Alekhine Defence brings rich positions, but in three of the losses you fell into cramped, tactical melees. Consider adding a steadier backup (Caro-Kann or French) until you tighten your Alekhine repertoire.
• Conversion when material up. In the Staunton Gambit game (loss vs strdfgggffvv) you were the exchange up on move 35, yet the game slipped. Train on “technical” rook-and-pawn endings to reduce these slips.
• Clock discipline. About 30 % of your recent wins were on time; that is great, but half of the losses also show time pressure. Experiment with a lighter opening prep to save 10–15 sec for the critical middlegame.

Opening snapshots

As White

• Your Nimzo/Queen’s-Gambit structures look solid. • The Dutch Staunton Gambit still needs rehearsal: after 21.c4 you missed the thematic break d4–d5 when Black’s pieces were scattered.

As Black

• Alekhine Defence: two common problems appeared—(a) …c4 pawn grabs that leave your queenside undeveloped, and (b) premature …g5 (as vs lossmoose). • Kings-Indian setups vs 1.d4 are scoring well—keep them in the repertoire.

Illustrative moment

Below is the critical moment from your win vs RGullit. After 31…Qxd4+ you calmly played 32.Kh1 and Black’s queen is suddenly short of squares. The same calm, prophylactic move (a quiet king step) would have saved you in the Staunton Gambit loss on move 44:

Action plan for the next two weeks

1. Daily 15-minute tactics burst (3 × 5 min puzzles) focusing on defensive motifs: back-rank safety, between-move checks,  zwischenzug.
2. Pick one safe reply to 1.e4 (Caro-Kann or French) and play at least 20 games exclusively with it.
3. Run the endings of your last 10 games through an engine; whenever the eval drops by Δ1 pawn or more, replay the segment and note the missed technique.
4. Include one 10|0 rapid game each day to practise deeper calculation without the extreme 3-min clock pressure.

Motivation corner

Your current peak blitz rating is 2550 (2025-03-06). A 20-point jump is well within reach once the “king safety” leaks are plugged—keep grinding, keep analysing, and enjoy the climb!