Tales of a Bullet Player, Part 1

Bullet is not chess, but bullet is fun. I used to be an active bullet player, but interest dwindled and I began to focus on other things. Now, some months later, I've started the crazy variant once again...

Bullet has the amazing ability to give you extreme rating changes in a matter of minutes. Often, you will have a long streak of wins. Just as commonly, you will have a long streak of losses. First you gain one hundred and fifty points, then you lose a hundred points. Then you gain two hundred. Then you gain another hundred. Then you lose one hundred and fifty. And so on. Bullet will cause many tears, but also many smiles.

Bullet requires a certain amount of energy, full concentration,  fast, confrontational moves (especially in the middlegame and endgame), and a sharp tactical eye. Those principles of bullet chess are the ones that you must work to master. 

With that in mind, I began. To my surprise, I wasn't rusty at all. I started winning, winning, and winning. My rating jumped from the low 2200s to new peaks, getting higher and higher. It went to 2278, setting a new record. 2286 was next. Two days ago, I finally broke the barrier and reached 2300. 

I thought that that would be the end of my rise to bullet greatness, but still it kept rising. My bullet winning streak rose to 10 games in a row, and I ascended to the beautiful rating of 2361. I hammered down 2200s with ease, had exhilirating fights with 2300s, but then I found my weakness: The next 100.

I was supposed to lose to 2400s. After all, they outrated me by 50 to a 100 points. But in most games, I found them weaseling out of positions where I was up a piece, or completely had them tied up. I wasn't strong enough to be a 2350 yet.

My rating fell after an 8.0 - 2.0 loss to an FM in the 2400 rating range, and I suddenly became a "meek", miserable 2320. As my energy and confidence ebbed, further lows were reached.

As of today, my rating had fallen back to where it used to be; the low 2200s were again my home. I decided that to get back to 2350, I had to make some more effort. And so, I remembered my six bullet rules.

Once again, here they are. Bullet requires a certain amount of energy, full concentration,  fast, confrontational moves (especially in the middlegame and endgame), and a sharp tactical eye. Those principles of bullet chess are the ones that you must work to master. I might also add another one: Confidence.

And so I began. I trained my tactics, I regained my concentration. My only weak point was the mouse. You see, my problem was that I could not bear to make horrendous moves in time pressure to gain some time on the clock. As a chessplayer who is a perfectionist, who wants perfect moves, I just couldn't do it as fast as my opponents. 

So finally, I tried to end my games in the middlegame. I started to (sometimes unsoundly) engage in complications, began to hack up the opponent's king at the first chance, and back my rating rose. It's now 2256, which is not so bad. Who knows what awaits me...

Come back tomorrow for some interesting bullet games!