Jan Gustafsson GM

Hi Jan, thanks for sharing your recent Blitz run!

What you’re doing really well

• Opening range  – In the six-game sample you handled English, Italian, King’s Indian Attack and some off-beat Queen’s-Pawn lines from both sides. This keeps opponents guessing and shows healthy curiosity.
• Dynamic pawn play  – Against Rafael Vaganian you seized the initiative with 13 Ng5/14 Bf3/16 Nxe6! creating lasting pressure. Similar pawn storms (g- and h-pawns) decided the games versus Vi_Los and TheNextLevelFan.
• Conversion technique  – When you reach a winning position you normally finish the job, even with little time. The 90-move grind against Philippians46 is a textbook example of perseverance.
• Clock handling  – Your moves-per-second peak shortly after contact; you often leave yourself a 15-20 second cushion for the final kill.
  confirms that your win-rate stays constant even in the later rounds when fatigue sets in.

Recurring problems (high-rated opponents exploited these)

1. Early queen adventures
   • Vs penguingm1 the sideline 6 Qa4 & 7 Nb5 combined with …e5 left your king in the centre and the game ended in 15 moves.
   • In the WoodlandMagic loss, …Qe8/…Qxb5 fixed the queen on the edge while White built the d-pawn steamroller.
   Practical tip: When you grab pawns in Blitz, ask “How many tempi does it take to bring the queen home?” If > 2 moves, look for a safer continuation.
2. Piece coordination in cramped positions
   …Ra7 setups in the English (A13) and the Italian (…Ba7, …Na5) sometimes left the back-rank undeveloped and invited tactics on light squares. In several defeats you spent tempi reorganising instead of contesting the centre.
3. Prophylactic thinking
   Missed resources such as 31 …Qe6+ (Bagrov game) or 14 …d5!? (Angry_Twin) suggest that you focus heavily on your own plans and occasionally overlook opponent counter-play. Building a quick “What is my opponent threatening?” scan into every move will help. See prophylaxis.
4. Endgame trust in the engine line rather than human patterns
   The rook-and-pawn ending vs Bagrov was still drawable after 46 …Re6+; technique with Philidor/Lucena patterns would have saved the half-point.

Targeted training menu

Opening lab – two concrete suggestions

1. Vs 1 Nf3/English (A13): Replace the …Ra7 manoeuvre with the modern plan …b6/…Bb7/…f5, keeping the rook on a8. Test it in ten practice games.
2. As Black in the Italian: After 7 Re1 consider the solid 7…0-0 8 h3 h6 9 Nbd2 Re8 (“Giuoco Pianissimo proper”). It eliminates the backward …d6 pawn and frees your pieces for …d5 breaks.

Mindset & practical tips

• Insert one 60-second “full-board scan” every five moves – your blunder rate drops significantly when you do this during streams.
• When up material, trade the dangerous piece first (usually queens or the attacker’s best minor). The Vi_Los conversion was smooth because you played 25 Rxc3, removing Black’s last source of counter-play.
• Trust your intuition, but verify forcing lines with a three-move calculation. In fast chess this balance is key.

Stats snapshot

Blitz 2928 (2023-12-25)
Your weekday performance curve is attached:

Next step

Pick one weakness (I’d start with early-queen grabs) and work on it exclusively for a week. Post a few sparring games in our channel and I’ll send concrete annotations.

Good luck in the next Titled Tuesday — I’m confident that tweaking these small details will push you back over 2800 very soon!