Joël van der Werf

Quick overview

Nice session — you’re clearly comfortable with offbeat, aggressive systems and you punish opponents who mis-handle the opening. Your wins show good attacking instincts (knight jumps, checks, king hunts) and ability to create tactical motifs quickly. The losses point to recurring themes: pawn races / passed pawns, tactical oversights on counterplay, and occasional time trouble in messy positions.

What you're doing well

• Creating immediate imbalance with unusual openings (you convert surprise value into initiative).
• Excellent instincts for knight forks and queen checks — you spot forcing moves that crack the opponent’s king safety.
• Good use of opposite-side castling pawn storms: you understand when to open files and target the enemy king.
• Confident, direct play in blitz — you keep the pressure and create practical problems for the opponent.

Main areas to improve

• Pawn-race awareness: in a few losses you underestimated the opponent’s passed pawn(s) (e.g. the game with the c-pawn queening). Always count tempi in pawn races before committing a capture or piece trade.
• Defensive calculation and tactic-checking: after you create threats, take a moment to scan for your opponent’s tactical replies (sacks that open files / create promotions).
• Endgame technique vs passed pawns and rook activity — practice defending with limited material and converting advantages when the position simplifies.
• Time management in messy positions — avoid getting into severe time trouble; when the position is complicated, slow down for a couple of critical moves.

Concrete drills & short-term plan (next 2–4 weeks)

• Daily tactics (15–25 min): focus on motifs you use most — forks, mating nets, and discovered attacks. Use mixed sets but add targeted drills for pawn promotion tactics and defense against passed pawns.
• Pawn-race counting drill (10 min): set up common pawn-race scenarios (opposite wings and central passed pawns). Practice calculating promotion tempo and which pieces must stop the pawn.
• Endgame practice (3× week, 20 min): rook vs pawns, defending passed pawns, and basic king + pawn endgames. Learn simple techniques for blockading and cutting off kings.
• Play longer time controls occasionally — one or two 10+5 rapid games per week to practice converting winning attacks without time pressure.
• Opening refinement (short sessions): if you like offbeat lines (Grob Opening / Amar Gambit-type setups), build short reliable responses to common counters (…d5, …c5, knight jumps) so you don’t get punished by simple central breaks.

Game-specific takeaways

• Win vs sasha_kosteniuk_fan — strong demonstration of direct play and tactical vision: you opened the game with b4, developed quickly, and used knight jumps to break the enemy king. Keep this plan when opponents fumble development. (Replay key sequence below.)
• Loss vs glamdring27 — critical moment was the c-pawn advance leading to promotion. Lesson: when opponent’s c-pawn starts rolling, ask whether you can stop it with piece play or must change strategy (blockade/sacrifice to eliminate the pawn). Review similar promotion tactics so it becomes automatic to check for them in future.
• Across the session — when you sacrifice material or open your own king-side, always run a quick “opponent counterplay” checklist: can they create a passed pawn, open a rook file, or give a perpetual/decoy?

Replay two instructive games

Win (sharp attacking play):

Loss (pawn becomes unstoppable — promotion follows):

Short checklist to use during blitz

• Before making an “aggressive” pawn push: count pawn-race tempi (who queens first?).
• After creating a threat, spend 3–6 seconds scanning the opponent’s strongest reply (sacrifice that opens files / creates passed pawn).
• If you have an attack and time is low: trade down to a won endgame when possible (simplify with rooks off when you're materially ahead).
• Avoid automatic pre-moves in unclear positions — they cost you winning chances if the opponent has a tactical resource.

Next session focus

• One puzzle set for tactics (20 min), one endgame module (20 min), one rapid game to practice conversion (10+5 or 15+10).
• Review 3 losses and replay the critical moments — ask "what else could I have done?" and test alternative continuations over the board.

Closing

You have a strong blitz profile: creativity + sharp tactical sense. Tightening up counting in pawn races, defending against counterplay, and a little endgame polishing will lift your conversion rate significantly. If you want, I can produce a 2‑week training plan tailored to your schedule, or run a quick tactical set targeted at pawn promotions and forks.