Joshua Posthuma IM

Hi Joshua!

Below is a strength-focused, improvement-oriented review of the recent games in your database. Feel free to skim the bold headers or dive into the move-by-move suggestions.

1 Your Core Strengths

• Opening readiness against 1.e4. Your Caro–Kann & Sicilian repertoires are deep and you often reach the middlegame with at least equality.
  • Example: in the B30 win vs roguecalvinist you navigated the Open Sicilian smoothly and punished 19.Nc4? with 19…Qxa2!
• Tactical alertness. The games vs Takao2020 and vs Dumitru-Daniel Dinu show clean conversion once a tactic appears (e.g. 23…Nxf3+! and 24…Bxa1).
• Good feel for active rooks in late middlegames. Several wins feature a quick doubling on the c- or b-files followed by invasion on the second rank—keep that up!

2 Key Growth Areas

1. Caro-Kann Early Tactics (Two-Knights & Fantasy sidelines)
   Your loss to noobspiderman shows how 6.Nxf7! can explode if …h6 is inserted too soon.
   • Practical fix: meet 5.Ng5 with 5…Bf5 or 5…e6 instantly; vs 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Nf3 either 7…c5 (critical) or 7…g6 followed by …Kg7.
   • Book up on the mini-match (B15) lines for 5.Ng5 & 5.Nc5 so you don’t burn clock or concede the initiative.
2. Benko / Benko-Type Pawn Sacs as White
   In the loss vs Paweł Kowalczyk you accepted material but allowed a typical Benko grip (…bxa6 / …Ra4!).
   • General plan after 4.cxb5 a6 5.e3: decline with 6.bxa6? only if you know the theory; otherwise 5.bxa6 or 5.e4 aiming for Be2 / 0-0 and dxe6.
   • Study model games by Giri & Aronian where White keeps the extra pawn and neutralises the a- & b-files.
3. Handling Catalan Endgames down material
   Two Catalan games drifted into pawn-down rook endings you could still save.
   • Technique tip: adopt an auto-checklist—push the least advanced passer, centralise king, cut the enemy king with the rook, then race pawns.
   • The 3-check rule: if you can check the opponent’s king three times with your rook you’re seldom worse in blitz.
4. Clock Management
   The timeout vs robertosantiagoh came from spending ~40 s on 16.d5?-(17)…cxd4. Try the 15-second rule: if you calculate & nothing changes, move.

3 Illustrative Snapshot

The critical moment from the Caro-Kann game (position after 6.Nxf7! Kxf7):

Instead of 7…e6?! you can play 7…Be6 or the modern 7…c5! when Black’s pieces spring out and the king finds safety on g8.

4 Targeted Homework

• Opening files to review:
  • Caro–Kann Two-Knights (B15) update (short PDF / 10 games).
  • “Benko Gambit Declined for White” (watch 2 model games, take notes).
• Tactics drill: 30-minute session on knights vs. rook back-rank themes—this pops up in both your wins and losses.
• Endgame mini-task: play the 4-pawn vs. 3-pawn rook endgame vs computer set to 2200; goal is to hold the draw in 5 attempts.

5 Stats & Motivation

Your best rating peaks so far:

• Blitz: 2760 (2021-02-18) • Rapid: 2296 (2022-12-14)

Keep an eye on hourly consistency and day-to-day swing:

6 Next Milestone

Breaking 2300 blitz will likely come not from new openings but from solidifying the problem lines above and trimming 5–10 % of your time off the critical decisions.

Keep the energy and creativity—just add a dose of prophylaxis and clock discipline.
Good luck, and let me know how the next training block goes!