Atle Gronn IM

Constructive feedback for Atle Grønn

Great work maintaining a consistently high level in Chess960! Your creativity in the opening phase and your willingness to enter dynamic positions give you a real edge. Below is a summary of what you are already doing well, followed by a few targeted suggestions that can help you convert even more of your promising positions into full points.

What you do well

• Active piece play: In your recent win over josiur you seized the initiative early with 15.Nxa5! and never let go, demonstrating excellent awareness of tactical resources. (
  
  )
• Transition to winning endings: Once you reach a favorable endgame, your technique is solid. The conversion after 40.Rxe6 in the same game is model play.
• Opening inventiveness in Chess960: You often use early flank pawn pushes (b- and g-pawns) to unbalance the position and steer opponents out of their comfort zones—an excellent strategy in a less-theoretical variant.

Opportunities for improvement

1. King safety against pawn storms
   In the loss to Tormoz you castled kingside into a pawn avalanche and fell behind after 16…g4 and 20…Nd5. Before committing your king, spend an extra tempo evaluating your opponent’s pawn breaks and piece concentrations. Drills on prophylaxis and “danger checks” each move will help.
2. Central control vs. flank play
   Several recent wins start with early b--pawn thrusts, but your losses show that if the center collapses (e.g. 20…c6–c5 in the same Tormoz game) it becomes hard to coordinate. Aim for a healthy balance: challenge the center before launching full-scale flank operations.
3. Time management
   The game with ElGasanov was lost on time from an equal position. Try the “Bronstein 3-move rule”: if your clock drops below a preset threshold, force yourself to make the next three moves in under ten seconds each. This habit keeps you out of sudden-death scrambles.
4. Calculating forcing sequences
   In the critical position of your loss you had 34.Qc5 but missed Black’s resource 34…f3!. Regularly solving tactics with the theme “silent killers” (quiet moves that unleash threats) will sharpen your radar for such ideas.

Action plan

• Weekly puzzle sets focused on prophylaxis and king safety.
• Annotate one of your own wins and one loss each week, paying special attention to moments where you either did or did not ask “what does my opponent want?”
• Play a few classical games (rapid or OTB) to practice deeper calculations without time pressure.
• Track your performance trends with
    •
  – spot which time of day yields your best focus.
    •
  – identify and replicate your most productive routines.

Quick stats snapshot

Peak ratings so far:
•
• 2227 (2019-07-28)
• 1816 (2019-05-16)

Keep building on your natural tactical flair, tighten up your king safety checks, and manage your clock proactively. With these tweaks, I expect your rating curve to break new highs soon. Good luck, and enjoy the journey!