Coach Chesswick
Hi Hannu!
Congratulations on breaking the 2646 (2022-12-31) barrier and keeping a very healthy win-rate overall. Your recent results show both impressive strengths and a few patterns worth polishing. Below is some targeted feedback drawn from the last dozen games.
What you do particularly well
- Opening consistency. Whether White or Black you often reach the same East-Indian / Fianchetto structures (1 d4 Nf3 g3 Bg2). This gives you a time edge in bullet and produces middlegames you understand better than most opponents.
- Piece coordination. In your win against Paweł Kowalczyk you doubled rooks on the c-file, then transferred them to the b-file and finally hit …Be2?! with 20.Bxf6 and 21.Nxe4. Your pieces were always aiming at weaknesses rather than making random checks.
- Killer instinct. The “ladder mate” versus worldchessmatp (30.f7+ followed by 34.Rf4#) shows you do not hesitate to finish the game once the king is exposed.
Recurring improvement themes
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Early tactical vigilance as Black.
In the loss to Saveliy_Golubov the sequence 10…Nxf4? 11.Rxc5 allowed White’s rook to invade the 7th rank. A quick 10…Bb4! would have kept the balance. Before grabbing pawns, spend half a second on checks, captures, threats — the classic TACTICAL-SCAN. -
Counter-punching in symmetrical positions.
When facing the London-type setup (Bf4 e3 c3 Nd2) you have been relying on an early …c5 strike. Good! Just follow up with …Nc6, …e5 and keep the queens on; the resulting IQP position favours dynamic play which suits your style. -
End-game conversion vs higher-rated players.
Against x-9152624945 you reached a drawable rook+minor-piece ending but slipped into a passive rook scenario. Remember the end-game principle “Active pieces over passive pawn structure”. Even in bullet, activating the rook (e.g. …Re1+! first) is worth the micro-seconds. -
Time usage in critical moments.
You occasionally blitz out forced lines too quickly. Notice that in your best games the clock shows you invested ~3-4 seconds on one crucial move and then gained back time because the follow-up was obvious. Try to reproduce that rhythm consciously.
Action plan for the coming week
- Solve 15 tactics per day at ~5 sec per puzzle. Focus on defensive motifs such as the zwischenzug and overworked defender.
- Play 5 games of 3 + 2 blitz to practise slightly deeper calculation without abandoning your beloved bullet.
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Review two critical snippets:
• Attack model — your finish vs WorldChessMatp:
• Defence model — missed resource vs Saveliy_Golubov:
Progress tracker
Keep an eye on when you win most frequently and on which days your performance dips:
Final thought
Your strategic grasp of the fianchetto structures is already master-level. Add a daily dose of tactical hygiene and a pinch of rook-ending technique and 2600-plus blitz is around the corner. Good luck at the board!