Part I, Forteen Hundred Bullet at ICC

I need to elaborate this post in detail in the days ahead but--for now--to my good friends:

1402 elo bullet at ICC, the major work of six hard months:
496w/ 709L/35D = 1,240 total games @ 39.968% wins last night, also attaining my major goal of LESS than 40% wins there, that is to say a preponderance of games against ++ elo opponents. 0/4 or 2:52 for 40 moves (starts with 0:12 seconds) and 3:00 for 42 moves, etc.

Among those games, in the last 305 games, w99/ L193/ D13 = 305 games or won only 32.5% of the games WHILE raising my rating some 22%, that is to say, I have taken a beating and been flogged daily--*smiles*--but for the better, shunting no challenges. Think about that. How do you win only 1/3rd of your games and raise your rating 22%??? You loose the mininum to peers and scalp your seniors every forth or fifth game handily. I cannot tell you how many nights, I have finished with 5W/13L/1D and had a rating increase.

Like I said, more latter, but for now note that I have found 1400 bullet harder to attain than either a 1700 Yahoo! Chess or 1600 ICC blitz rating. You tell me? Since lower ranked players tend NOT to ever even attempt bullet games, or if they do not significantly, the rating average tends to be scewed lower. While GM's tend well into the 3,000 elo for blitz, few if any exceed 2800 elo for bullet, and very few over 2000.

I am very proud of this, as this has been my burning desire since November, daily, and weekly, and when not otherwise engaged, all my training directed towards this. Bullet is a great test of chess knowledge and skill, since the constrained time while allowing constant and rapid calculation, is necessarily done at an instinctive level. There is no time to fuss, so it is the acid test of feel and intuition--that is to say, real chess knowledge.



I need to go for a good run in the next few minutes, then do a lot of Yoga, then a good scalding hot bath, and then start the long hard road also of TRYING to start getting to bed early--I go to see my aging mother for mothers day in New Jersey in exactly two weeks for her 80th birthday AND mothers day. Since I work late on the West Coast, and go to bed quite late, I might as well be flying to eastern Europe and try to suddenly adjust to the time change. I am serious. For me, this is as far as time (not hospitality wise) goes, I might as well be flying to Moscow from New York. A real adjustment!



Right on time, for Dow Jones Industrial Average 13,000+, so milestones abound.

Now to rest my nerves and work my brain on CT-Art 3.0 and then when I start back, after extensive analysis of all my games, I will hit 2/12 or 3/8 VERY hard and get my 1600 blitz rating back, if I can, but I plan to take it back! That rating fell on vicadin, and this was sad! That is to say, most of those blitz were done when I broke my rib in November, in a drug induced haze of pain and chess excess! Then the ulnar neuropathy on my right hand, etc.

Of course, I am still 1660 elo at Yahoo chess et al., actively, 2115 elo at CT-Art 3.0 at 72% for 778 problems, and 1590 at RHP for 8/0 games provisonal, but really just getting started, so 1800+ elo is where I am headed after some more games. I am also #9 in the world at CTS out of 1,868 active tacticians for accuracy at 96.3%, #39 among active users for quantity of tries and, at 86% accuracy, only one of eight among the top 40 users >1450 elo and >85.5%, and #131 for overall accuracy among heavy users.

1400 bullet, at ICC, as I will detail in days ahead as I add to this same post (and edit) is more like 1550 and 1650 blitz, and many 1800 and 2000 standard opponents, but we shall see what my numbers represent, having compared my bullet to those ranked near me in their standard and blitz ratings performances. I have the data now, and need to crunch the numbers, but, for now, a run and deserved rest, after many battles, and close attempts at 1350, 1390, 1370, 1389 etc.



No more bullet till the fall!

Warmly, dk