My Tips On Winning Bullet Games

Here are some tips and tricks I picked up on my trek to 1800 a few months back. Unfortunately I took a month long break and that shook up my play a good bit. Having dropped 350ish points, I am back on the journey of 1800 and beyond. 

Tip #1: Never Resign. There is always hope until chess.com actually says that you lost. 

Tip #2: Never pre-move in the opening. Take in your opponents moves and check to make sure that he hasn't made any mistakes so that if he has, you can take advantage of their error.

Tip #3: I suggest playing the French Defense as black. It being a defense, it's relatively hard to make any opening mistakes. 

Tip #4: Only pro-move when you are under 30 seconds. Not in the first 30 seconds.

Tip #5: Know when to stop. I've had this problem where I am doing fine and I'm climbing in points, but then I notice that I have a couple close calls or draws. That's when you should stop.

Tip #6: Pace yourself. As I achieved 1800 several months ago, I tried something new: playing 2 or 3 games at least an hour apart. I'd play a couple games, get up and do something else for a while and then play a few more games. I think the reason this had an affect was because it made you forget your last couple of games. Your mood changes, which, at least in my case, affects your play. Get up, take a break and refresh your mind before playing more.

That's all I have for now. 

Some of you higher rated players might think "Who are you to be saying all this stuff?!" I'm just sharing what I've learned in the past. These aren't instructions, just suggestions. If you enjoy giving up hope and resigning, then by all means, resign!

Until next time, chow!  - Joshua, aka @GreenAardvark (currently 1459 and hovering)