Mika Karttunen IM

Recent Game Highlights

Your recent blitz performances show solid strategic understanding, particularly in complex openings like the Ruy Lopez Deferred Classical Defense where you secured a well-earned victory. Your ability to convert small advantages into a resignation by your opponent reflects good endgame technique and patience.

In Chess960 games, you've exhibited skillful positional play and resourcefulness in less familiar setups, although some losses indicated room for improvement in adapting quickly to unconventional positions and managing the clock effectively.

Strengths

• Strong opening repertoire with notably high win rates in Caro-Kann Defense (~59%) and Alekhine Defense (~61%), indicating you feel comfortable in less mainstream but solid openings.
• Good tactical awareness resulting in effective simplifications and trading when ahead, as seen in your recent win.
• Solid endgame technique, applying steady pressure and converting small advantages into wins.
• Steady rating trend with recent positive slopes over several months, suggestive of continual improvement despite minor short-term dips.

Areas for Improvement

• Time Management: Some losses in Chess960 were influenced by time trouble or missed opportunities late in the game. Enhancing your speed in tactical calculations and practical decision-making under time pressure will be advantageous.
• Adapting to Novelty: Chess960's less standard starting positions require rapid adaptability. Consider focused practice on quick evaluation of unfamiliar positions, emphasizing safety and piece coordination.
• Opening Exploration: Although your main openings are strong, your performance in the Queen's Gambit Declined Ragozin is under 50%. Studying key ideas and common plans in this opening could diversify your competitive toolkit.
• Handling Draws: Improving your ability to convert drawn or equal positions into wins will help capitalize on your strengths and push your win percentage higher.

Strategic Recommendations

• Review recent losses carefully, focusing on critical moments where alternative moves or plans could have shifted the momentum.
• Incorporate drills for quick pattern recognition to aid in rapid calculation during blitz time controls.
• Work on psychological resilience to maintain focus during adverse positions and time pressure situations.
• Explore and expand your opening repertoire gradually to include lines that might give your opponents less familiar situations to handle.
• Use your strengths in endgame technique to pressure opponents who may falter in longer sequences.

Monitoring Progress

Your rating trend over the past six months remains positive with steady gains indicating healthy progression. Keeping a detailed review log of your blitz and Chess960 games will help identify tactical blind spots and strategic nuances unique to your style.

Continue balancing between maintaining your strong openings and refining your overall play under time constraints. This dual focus will prime you for sustained success in blitz formats.