How to master bullet chess

Many players do not appreciate bullet chess due to its lack of well calculated variations and intuition based play. It is true that playing too much bullet chess will not be as beneficial very for novice players if they want to improve their game. However, for stronger players playing short time control games can help to develop chess intuition as well as to test opening ideas.

There is no time to think about each move, the decisions need to be made almost instantaneous making the game very unpredictable. In bullet, a much weaker opponent has a greater chance of beating a stronger opponent, than say in classical chess. For example, an experienced bullet player with 1800 -2000 classical ELO can beat a GM, not as experienced at 1 minute chess, maybe 2 times out of 10. In classical time control, this player will not stand a chance against a GM.

What equipment do you need for winning at bullet chess?

With a freezing computer, slow internet connection and an old mouse it will be difficult to compete at bullet chess, where every single second counts. Therefore, the following are recommended for optimal play at bullet chess:

1. A high end, precise and fast gaming mouse is necessary to save time which you never have enough at bullet chess

2. A fast internet connection with a minimum server ping/lag, meaning your moves will not be delayed

3. A large screen, at least 19 inches, where you can expand the chess board for the ease of use
*****************************************************************************************************
How to maximize your results at bullet chess

The main resource of bullet chess is time. The most important idea that you need to always keep in mind when playing bullet is that you need to save your own time and to force your opponent to spend his. How can that be done?

1. Do not play standard opening lines (such as Queen’s Gambit or standard Sicilian lines), since your opponent most likely knows them as well, and will not spend much of his time thinking about the moves. Instead, play off-beat, rare lines, the ones you won’t ever play in classical chess.

2. Play the lines which lead to positions which do not require much thinking from your side. Avoid open positions in favor to closed systems (especially against stronger opponents), in which you can burn the clock by simply moving back and forth. That is something many novice bullet players do not understand, and that’s one of the main reason they lose on time.

3. Keep the knights on the board. Remember, in blitz the knights are as valuable as the rooks. It is also true for bullet chess. Knight moves tend to burn more of your opponent’s time than other moves, say bishops, because of L-shape nature which is generally harder to visualize, especially in extreme time deficit.

4. If you are up on time, you should repeat the position for couple of times, which will burn your opponent’s clock. Be careful of threefold repetition draw rule. For example you can attack a piece and step away for a couple of times or to check the opponent’s king twice before continuing with the attack.

5. Play on both sides of the board and make moves that your opponent does not expect to be made. That does not necessarily have to be objectively strongest moves on the board, but they will do their trick by burning opponent’s clock due to an element of surprise.

It is indeed make sense to learn fundamentals of chess, train tactical skills, go over the masters games, and study most common endgames which are the most important components of our training program which will bring your chess level up allowing winning both short and long time control games.

Strategy against a stronger opponent at bullet chess:

1. Play defensively, it is much harder to beat a defensive player at bullet chess.

2. Keep the position closed. Do not exchange pawns. It is much harder to break through the closed pawn formation when you’re short on time that will involve some element of risk which you can utilize at the right time.

3. Exchange pieces, especially the queens. This is a completely opposite approach from playing a stronger opponent at classical time control, where we want to complicate the position. The main idea in bullet’s defense is preventing your king from getting mated for a maximum number of moves. Simple, closed positions are the best bet for that.

4. Castling, contrary to the classical chess, is not always a good idea. The reason is that after castling your king has a more or less permanent position on the board and it’s much easier for your opponent to come up with a plan to attack.

Therefore, sometimes it make sense to leave your king in the center and castle only when it is absolutely crucial to evacuate the king from a direct threat. Remember, time is the number one priority. Meanwhile, the king can hide behind its pawns.

That's it for today see you next time!!