My Journey to 2500 Bullet

Yesterday, I achieved something great: 2500 Bullet. For some of you, 2500 is not hard, on the other hand, for some players, 2500 seems like a "God" number. But don't worry, in this post I will be sharing what I did to get such an ELO rating and possibly how you can get there as well. I hope you will find this helpful .

Anyways, despite my "great" dominance in OTB (Over the board), and my powers in endgame grinds and Positional chess, bullet chess is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses, due to my slowness. For example, it can take a 2700 one second to spot a tactic while it will take me 3 seconds, although this doesn't seem like much, the advantage doesn't fall from the sky and will slowly build up. Even though I can outplay most of my opponents there's simply not enough time for me to take control and consolidate.

1. Tactical Senses

This is a very important point in bullet chess, the faster you can spot the winning tactic, the more time you will save. I have many games where I had a tactical win, but I missed it, or I spotted it but it took too much time.

What I recommend: Try to do 3(or 5) min puzzle rushes, not regular puzzles. Due to the time "pressure" you're under when doing puzzle rush, it can nicely simulate what happens during a real blitz or bullet game. If you can score 40 or more, that is great. But if not, be patient and work towards your goal.

Yes, even he does too.

When you're playing bullet, instead of always trying to attack and destroy your opponent, try to prevent your opponent's ideas as well. Making him frustrated and he will be prone to make errors.

5. Be consistent with your time spending.

If you ever have watched Hikaru's bullet streams, you will often hear him say, "Gotta move, Gotta move!". This is very important, if you think for too long on one move, you might fall behind and went into constant pressure.

6. Don't resign too early

Even if you're dead lost, or down a rook, play on, as chances may appear later on. But in Rapid and Classical chess tournaments you should resign when lost, as a sign of respect for your opponent.

7. Always try to create problems for your opponent

In chess, your opponent's blunder doesn't happen in the thin air. You must create problems and put him under pressure, thus increasing his chance of going wrong.

8. Don't Premove until you only have a few seconds left

Premoving when you have 30 seconds on the clock is dumb, as it allows you to hang a piece.

9. Don't panic 

When under pressure and you're not sure what to do, don't panic. Making a waiting move here is a good idea, throwing the "ball" back to your opponent. 

10. Try to be on the offensive, instead of being on the defensive

Attacking can be easier than defending, you should try to create attack chances for yourself.

Examples: (Please Pay attention to my explanations)