Mees van Osch FM

Hi Mees!

Great job keeping your Blitz rating above 2519 (2021-06-13) and scoring a healthy number of wins against strong opposition such as Sandro Tskitishvili. Below is a short review of recent trends and some concrete ideas to sharpen your play further.

1. What you are already doing well

• Dynamic piece play. Your wins often feature rapid development and active piece coordination. In the miniature below you used fast-paced central tactics to win material and force resignation:
  
  
  
• Flexible openings. You switch comfortably between 1.e4, 1.d4 and flank openings such as 1.g3. This makes preparation against you tricky.
• Conversion of extra material. Several endgame wins show good technique, e.g. the rook endgame vs. Sandro Tskitishvili where you calmly created a passed a-pawn and forced resignation.

2. Patterns behind recent losses

• Time-pressure decisions. Four of your last five losses were on time while you were still objectively better or equal. Good clock handling will give an instant rating gain.
• King safety in the Sicilian/French systems. In the loss to blunderingmyself you castled short and then allowed Qg4–h4–g3, leaving dark squares weak. A single prophylactic move (…h6 or …g6) would have neutralised the attack.
• Endgame pawn-races. The marathon vs. Sandro Tskitishvili (see diagram) shows a missed drawing fortress once both sides queened. Work on king activity and outside passed pawn themes.
  
  
  

3. Opening map

Your best results arise from structures you understand deeply:

• King’s Fianchetto (1.g3). You score above 70 % when you obtain the d4–e4 centre. Continue refining setups against …d6/…c6.
• French-Sicilian hybrid (…e6 & …c5). As Black you reach comfortable middlegames, but watch the d5/f5 holes that appear after …f6/f5.

4. Middlegame focus areas

1. Exchange sacs on the 7th/8th rank. Consider thematic ideas like Rxe6! or Rxf8+ when the opponent’s back rank is weak. Reviewing classic games by Tal will sharpen your eye.
2. Centralisation in opposite-side castling. Some attacks stall because minor pieces stay on their original files. Look for Zwischenzug tactics (Zwischenzug) that bring a knight to e6/d6 or f5 earlier.

5. Endgame checklist

• Convert an outside passed pawn by cutting off the enemy king with your rook first – then push.
• When both sides queen, safety checks are key: force perpetuals immediately if down material.
• Refresh essential rook endings (Lucena, Philidor). Ten minutes of spaced-repetition each day pays huge dividends.

6. Time-management drill

The quickest rating gain for you:

• Adopt a 30-20-10 rule: by move 10 you should still have ≥ 30 s, by move 20 ≥ 20 s, by move 30 ≥ 10 s.
• Use the opponent’s think time to decide on candidate moves and blunder-check.
• Practise bullet “one-touch” input for pre-moving safe recaptures.

7. Suggested weekly plan (total ≈ 3 h)

1. 30 min: solve 12-15 mixed tactics at 2400-2600 level.
2. 20 min: review one blitz loss with an engine, focusing on the first critical mistake.
3. 10 min: rehearse one theoretical line you find uncomfortable (e.g. 6.Bg5 in Najdorf).
4. 15 min: play a 15 + 10 training game vs. a human, annotate without engine.
5. Repeat x3 per week.

8. Motivation corner

Your hourly win rate has been steadily climbing – keep the momentum!

See you at the next training session. Good luck and enjoy the journey!