Martin Oksendal FM

Quick summary

Solid overall session — your rating trend and win rates show you're on an upward trajectory. Your opening play is a real asset (notably strong in Sicilian lines and the Alapin), but the recent blitz losses share repeatable patterns: king-safety weaknesses after opposite-side castling, tactical slips around tactical exchanges, and trouble converting or stopping pawn races in simplified endgames.

Game to review (key turning point)

Below is the loss vs water_cold in the Sicilian. The moment to study is the rook capture on c3 and the follow-up central pawn break — that sequence opened lines against your king and created passed pawns that you couldn't stop in the endgame.

Interactive snippet (use to step through the critical sequence):

What you're doing well

• Opening preparation: your data shows clear strength in Sicilian systems (Naidorf/Alapin) and some Italian structures — you get playable positions out of the opening consistently.
• Active piece play: you look for initiative rather than waiting — that creates practical chances in blitz.
• Growth trend: rating +18 last month and steady positive slopes (3/6/12‑month) mean your practice is working.

Recurring problems to fix (actionable)

• King safety after opposite-side castling — when you castle long, the reflex to push pawns (f/g/h) is understandable, but those pushes often open files that favor rooks/queens. When castled opposite, prioritize a pawn shield and piece coordination over immediate pawn storms.
• Tactical oversight on material exchanges — the Rxc3 moment vs water_cold is a classic example: before accepting or forcing trades, count attackers/defenders and two–three moves ahead for pawn breaks that open your king. In blitz, pause an extra second on captures that open lines to your king.
• Endgame/pawn‑race technique — you repeatedly let advanced passed pawns get to queening squares (a‑file pawn in the reviewed game). Practice simple king-and-pawn races and common rookless endgames (opposition, outside passed pawn, and king activity) so you convert or stop these faster.
• Time management in complex positions — your clocks show you sometimes reach very low time with critical decisions left. Aim to keep 15–25 seconds for the middlegame/transition in 3|0 games; that prevents calculation mistakes under extreme time pressure.

Concrete drills (weekly plan)

• Daily tactics: 15–20 puzzles focused on forks, pins, skewers and discovered attacks (5–10 minutes).
• Endgame drills (3× / week): 10 minutes practising king+pawn vs king races, opposition, and the basic rookless pawn endings you see in your blitz games.
• One deep loss review per day: pick a recent loss, identify the single turning move, and write 3 candidate lines you should have seen. (5–15 minutes)
• Blitz practice session: play 20 games 3|0 but force yourself to spend at least 8–12 seconds on each move for the first 12 moves, and 15–25s in key middlegames.

Practical checklist to use mid-game

• Before any capture that opens a file: count attackers and defenders and check for checks on your king.
• If castling opposite sides: stop and ask — "Do I have a safe pawn shield?" If not, delay pawns storm until pieces are ready.
• Spot passed-pawn creation: who will promote first? Trade pieces if opponent's passed pawn queens faster than you can create counterplay.
• Keep a reserve of time for 5 critical moments (opening transition, sacrificial moment, queen trades, pawn race, last 10 moves).

Small technical notes

• If you want to drill this Sicilian line specifically, study the standard reactions after 8.O-O-O Nxd4 — a quick book refresher will reduce surprises in blitz (Sicilian Defense).
• You have very good opening winrates in several lines — keep those in your quick-repertoire and try to steer games into those structures where possible.
• Strength-adjusted win rate > 0.50: you're beating similarly strong opposition — refining the above habits will convert more close games into wins.

Next session goals (3 targets)

• Turn 1: Spend 8–10s per move through the opening, avoid auto-pushing pawns when your king is opposite the enemy.
• Turn 2: Do a 10‑minute endgame block — king + pawn races and opposition drills.
• Turn 3: Analyze one lost game (the Rxc3 game) and write down the single alternative move you would choose next time and why.

Encouragement

Your recent numbers show clear improvement — keep the drills short and focused, review the two or three turning moments from each loss, and your conversion rate in blitz will climb. Small discipline changes (counting defenders, preserving a little clock time, targeted endgame practice) give big returns quickly.

If you'd like

• Tell me one of the losses you want a move-by-move mini-analysis on and I’ll annotate the 3 most critical moves.
• Or I can generate a 4‑week micro-training plan targeting your three biggest leaks.