Johan Norberg FM

Hi Johan!

Congratulations on maintaining a very high bullet level – your current peak is . The games supplied show a confident and imaginative style. Below you’ll find a summary of strengths, the most common leaks that are costing you points, and a short-term training plan.

What already works

• Opening depth: With Black you are at home in the Caro-Kann (B10/B12) and Alekhine/Modern structures, while with White you willingly steer play into dynamic sidelines. Your opening score against strong opposition such as mizzbruk proves you often leave the first phase ahead on the clock and the board.
• Tactical alertness: Motifs like the Greek gift, mating nets on g7/g2 and the classic “rook lift + queen swing” appear frequently in your wins. Being able to spot these in <1 s is a big edge in bullet.
• Piece activity instinct: Your bishops are almost never passive; you exchange them only when a concrete benefit follows (e.g. 23…Re1+ in your most recent loss was actually made possible because you had already centralised the rook).

Recurrent issues that cost you games

• Clock management: Four of the five losses provided ended with “won on time” even from drawable or winning positions. After move 25 you are averaging <0.3 s per move while still spending >2 s on some “quiet” decisions. In bullet it’s better to keep the hand moving and trust simple plans.
• Early pawn storms with the h-pawn: In both PGNs versus …g6/Bg7 setups you pushed h2-h4/h5 before completing development. When it works you crash through; when it fails your king remains in the centre (see move 14 of the loss to mizzbruk). Consider delaying the pawn storm until the king is castled or the centre closed.
• Over-pressing already won positions: In the Yakimkin_Igor game you had a completely safe ♖×f7 perpetual on move 37 but kept trying for more and flagged. Convert first, style points later.
• One-move tactics in your own camp: Several defeats stem from a single overlooked check or fork (…Qxe1+, …Re1+, …Rc1 mate threats). A ½-second “danger scan” of opponent forcing moves would eliminate most of these.

Action plan (next 2 weeks)

1. Bullet time-drill: Play 20 games at 30-second hyper-bullet focusing ONLY on moving instantly after each premove chain. The goal is to train your hand/eye rhythm so that a normal 1-minute game feels spacious.
2. Forced-move warm-up: Before every session spend 5 minutes on a puzzle rush set filtered for checks, captures and threats. This will sharpen the “danger scan” reflex so you don’t miss cheap shots.
3. Safer “anti-tilt” line with White vs Caro-Kann: Replace 5.Ng3, 6.Nh3 (time-consuming) with 3.Nd2/4.Ng3 Classical or the mainline Advance. Fewer knight sidesteps = more clock.
4. Endgame premove library: Work out premove sequences for the ten most common K+P, R+P endgames you reach. Knowing, for example, the automatic technique in the Philidor / Lucena rook endings means you can finish the game while keeping 2-3 seconds for safety.

Progress tracker

Use the charts below to see when you are scoring best and schedule your serious sessions accordingly.

Key concepts to keep revisiting

Premove, Conversion, Danger square, Zeitnot

Keep the pieces active, keep the hand moving, and you’ll break the next rating ceiling soon. Good luck, and enjoy your games!