Milestone: 1600 on Lichess Bullet

On Mondays and Thursdays my first class doesn't start until 8:30. Typically I arrive at school at 7:30 and use the time to prepare for my first few classes, but last Thursday I had nothing to prepare, was feeling bold, and on a whim sought a 2+1 Bullet opponent on Lichess while sitting in an empty classroom. It was my first rated Bullet game since December 2024.

Thursday's game went badly. I lost as White in a Queen's Gambit Accepted, and Lichess slashed my rating from 1455 to 1334. Maybe it was rust, I thought, and played another game. This time I won, and Lichess restored 83 of the 121 points it had just docked me. Then I played a third game, won again, and was awarded another 71 points. On Monday I found myself in a similar situation, queued up for an opponent, won as White in a Samisch King's Indian, and my rating surged 63 points. This morning's win earned me 62 points and boosted my rating from 1551 to 1613.

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1. 2026-04-30: Konoty-ahmed v. physics2112

Position 1: Black to move

Assigned the black pieces I replied to White's 1.d4 with 1...Nf6, and after 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 we were in a Nimzo-Indian. White continued 4.e3, the Rubinstein, and I struck with 4...c5. White advanced 5.d5, which was surprising, and the Fish says I should have escalated my threat against White's knight on c3 with 5...Ne4 or castled with 5...0-0 but I exchanged with 5...exd5 6.cxd5 and then castled with 6...0-0.

White unpinned his knight with 7.Bd2, and I correctly put pressure along my semiopen e-file with 7...Re8. White's 8.Bc4 was an awkward way to develop the light-square bish, and I correctly fixed White's d-pawn on a light square with 8...d6. We each developed our knights with 9.Nge2 Nbd7, White castled with 10.0-0, and I correctly attacked White's bish with 10...Ne5. After White retreated with 11.Bb3 I had a negligible advantage of -0.4, but White gained an advantage of +1.8 after my 11...Qd2.

1. Why did I choose the move 11...Qd2?
It's possible the plan was to maneuver my queen to the g-file and follow up with ...Nf3+.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
11...Qd2 overlooked a tactic White had in 12.Ba4, skewering my queen.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top moves involved developing my light-square bish, either with 11...Bd7 or 11...Bf5. Both are intuitive, deploying the last undeveloped minor piece to an active square.

Position 2: Black to move

White missed 12.Ba4, instead continuing 12.Ng3, but 12...Nfg4 offered him a second chance. Again White missed 13.Ba4, instead kicking my knight with the weakening 13.h3 that would later seal his fate. I retreated with 13...Ng6 and for the third time White missed 14.Ba4, instead putting pressure on h7 with 14.Bc2 and prompting 14...h6. At last White found 15.Ba4, and I played 15...b5 to at least have counterplay on the b-file. White chopped with 16.Bxb5, and I played the engine's third-best move with 16...Qb7. We exchanged with 17.Bxe8 Nxe8, and after White's 18.Nce4 I was down to 35 seconds on the clock while White had 54.

18...Bxd2 19.Qxd2 resolved the tension between our bishes, and here I had a vague plan beginning with 19...Bd7 to go after White's h3-pawn. White continued 20.Rab1, lining up a rook with my queen, but that was fine because my plan was 20...Qc8 anyway. White tried 21.Rfc1, lining up his other rook with my queen, and now I executed my plan: 21...Bxh3. After White chopped with 22.gxh3 I immediately replied 22...Qxh3. A momentary advantage of -2.2 flipped to +3.7; however, this move turned out to be the blunder that won me the game. White, as I had, failed to appreciate the threat of my knight on e5, and after 23.b4 I mated with 23...Nf3#.

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2. 2026-04-27: physics2112 v. OvejaElectrica

Position 1: White to move

Assigned the white pieces I opened 1.d4, and 1...Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.f3 we were in a Samisch King's Indian. Black's next move was 5...Nbd7, and I developed my dark-square bish to its best square in the position with 6.Be3. Black's 6...Nh5 was unusual and the Fish says 7.Nge2 was best, but I continued 7.Qd2.

Black struck at my center with 7...e5 and I recalled from earlier games that locking with 8.d5 was correct, but in this position the engine preferred 8.dxe5 or even better 8.Nge2. According to ChatGPT 8.Nge2 was best for its flexibility, i.e. if Black had already castled then locking would be best but since Black was threatening to maneuver his knight to f4 a better use of my tempo was developing my knight to e2. After we each castled with 8...0-0 9.0-0-0, Black's 9...Ndf6 prompted 10.g4 and Black was forced into 10...Nf4. My advantage here was +1.9, but after 11.Bxf4 Black gained a -0.5 advantage.

1. Why did I choose the move 11.Bxf4?
Black's knight was attacked by my bish and queen but defended only by a pawn. Chopping won me material.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
Again soliciting ChatGPT, the reason 11.Bxf4 benefits Black is that the removal of Black's e-pawn from e5 allows the f6-knight to maneuver to that square, with the f6-square becoming available for Black's queen. Together, and considering I'm castled queenside, Black would have formidable pressure directed at my king. Moreover, in the KID the dark-square bish is a high-value minor piece, and surrendering it for a knight and a pawn is a bad deal.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
What the engine wanted was 11.Nge2, retaining both my dark-square bish as a longterm asset and the option of Nxf4 at the right moment.

Position 2: White to move

After 11...exf4 12.Qxf4 Black began his knight maneuver to e5 with 12...Nd7. I continued 13.h4, the best move, and Black couldn't resist exchanging with 13...Bxc3 14.bxc3. Black then completed the knight maneuver with 14...Ne5, and I pushed 15.g5 to fix Black's g-pawn as a target for my h-pawn. Black pushed 15...c6 and I engaged the Black king's defenses with 16.h5.

Black chopped in the center with 16...cxd5, making 17.cxd5 look like the most natural way to rechop, but I liked the immediate pressure on Black's iso d-pawn with 17.Rxd5. What the engine finds in this position is 17.Qh4, posing problems for Black on the h-file. Here Black had a strong move in 17...Be6, which in conjunction with 18...Qa5 would have been disastrous for me, but he went for a double-attack on my c4-pawn with 17...Qc7 instead. This transferred the initiative to me, along with an advantage of +2.5, but after 18.hxg6 it was Black who had an advantage of -0.5.

1. Why did I choose the move 18.hxg6?
I wanted an open or at least semiopen h-file.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
After 18...fxh6 I've achieved nothing. My queen can team up with the rook on the h-file, but Black's 19...Rf7 frees up his queen to harass my kingside.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The best move in the position was 18.Qc7, threatening mate after 19.h6, or if 18...Nd7 then 19.Qxd6. Black's best move would be 18...gxh5, but then I break through with 19.Rxh5.

Position 3: White to move

Instead of rechopping with 18...fxg6, Black tried to get fancy with 18...Nxg6. It came with a tempo on my queen but allowed 19.Qxd6. Black and I exchanged queens with 19...Qxd6 20.Rxd6, and Black went after my double-iso c-pawns with 20...Be6. The engine desperately wanted me to maneuver my knight to f6, even at the cost of my c4- and a2-pawns, but I developed my knight with 21.Nh3 so as not to block my bish's defense of c4. Black mobilized a rook to double-attack c4 with 21...Rac8, and I threatened a pawn fork with 22.f4. Black chopped with 22...Bxc4, and I traded off the bishes with 23.Bxc4 Rxc4. After 24.f5 Ne5 my advantage was +2.5, but it fell to +0.2 with 25.Kc2.

1. Why did I choose the move 25.Kc2?
Black was threatening 25...Rxc3, so I defended the pawn with my king.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
There are two reasons why. The first is Black could easily stack rooks on the c-file, leaving me no way to defend c3. The second is it failed to address the threat of 25...Rxe4.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
What the engine wanted was 25.Nf4, forging ahead with the knight maneuver to f6. I wasn't going to win the game with my two rooks alone, and it was crucial for my knight to advance toward Black's king before Black's knight and rooks coordinated around my king.

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3. 2026-04-23: GPQatar v. physics2112

Position 1: Black to move

Assigned the black pieces, I replied to White's 1.g2 with 1...Nf6. White fianchettoed with 2.Bg7, and I pushed 2...e6 to support 3...d5. I wasn't familiar with the position after 3.c3, but at least after 3...d5 I had a French pawn structure that was familiar to me. White pushed 4.d3, and I could have pushed 4...c5 but preferred to solidify with 4...c6. White's 5.Qb3 felt wrong for the position, and since I couldn't understand White's plan I developed with 5...Be7 to prep castles. After 6.Nf3 we both castled and developed our knights with 6...0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Nbd2. The engine here wanted 8...e5, but I saw no harm in attacking White's queen with 8...Nc5. The queen retreated with 9.Qc2, and 9...b5 claimed space but at the cost of weakening c6 and c5. White infiltrated with 10.Ne5, and I correctly threatened with 10...Qc7.

White's 11.d4 was effectively an offer to trade knights since if 12.dxc5 then 12...Qxe5, and the engine was proposing 11...a5 as my best move, but I offered to trade knights in a different configuration with 11...Ncd7. White acquiesced and after 12.Nxd7 Bxd7 he struck in the center with 13.e4. Allowing 14.e5 was out of the question, so I chopped with 13...dxe4, but a better way to prevent 14.e5 would have been pushing 13...e5 myself. White needed to rechop with 14.Nxe4, keeping his light-square bish targeting my weak c-pawn and the rook behind it, but he rechopped with 14.Bxe4 and I was all too happy to exchange with 14...Nxe4 15.Nxe4. I struck at White's center with 15...c5, but he ignored in favor of attacking my queen with 16.Bf4. I correctly replied 16...Qc6 and declined White's offer to exchange bishes with 17.Bg5 f6 -- again correctly as 17...Bxg5 Nxg5 and White would have initiative. White retreated with 18.Be3, and I exchanged my weak c-pawn for White's dominant d-pawn with 18...cxd4 19.Bxd4. After 19...e5, kicking White's bish, and 20.Be3, I had an advantage of -3.4, but it dropped to -1.8 after 20...Bf5.

1. Why did I choose the move 20...Bf5?
"Pin it to win it": 20...Bf5 pinned White's knight to the queen and was a second attacker on a piece only defended once.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
ChatGPT explains that White's 21.f3, which my attack invited, not only neutralized my pin but reduced the pressure of my queen along the a8-h1 diag and allowed 22...g4 kicking my bish and reducing its scope as well.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine finds 20...Bh3, which was a better way of pinning-to-win the knight as it introduced two threats: it attacked White's rook on f1, and if the rook moved then 21...f5 would win the knight due to the threat of 22...Qg2#.

Position 2: Black to move

After White correctly defended with 21.f3, I hung my a-pawn with 21...Rac8. White, however, missed it in favor of 22.Qb3+, which I parried with 22...Be6, and retreated with 23.Qc2. I pushed 23...a6, whereupon White's 24.Qe2 invited a skewer with 24...Bc4, but I missed it and attacked White's knight again with 24...Bd5. White retreated his knight with 25.Nd2, and now even if I found 25...Bc4 I couldn't play it. The engine here wanted 25...f5, opening lines toward White's king. In Bullet, when opponent is low on time, attack; and with that in mind I offered a bish trade with 25...Bc5, to which White obliged with 26.Bxc5 Qxc5+. White could have blocked but instead position his king on my bish's diag with 27.Kg2. I figured 27...Rfe8, lining up with White's queen, would force opponent to think, but he immediately attacked my queen with 28.Nb3.

This reintroduced the potential for the bish skewer from c4, but I exchanged with 28...Bxb3 29.axb3. My a-pawn was attacked, so 29...Rc6 defended. Then White attacked my queen with 30.b4 and my advantage went from 0.0 to +1.0 when I replied 30...Qc4. White needed to exchange queens with 31.Qxc4+ bxc4, but continued 31.Qd2 instead and the eval returned to 0.0. My 31...Qf7 was the best move, and after 32.Qf2 I claimed the open d-file with 32...Rd8. White continued 33.Qe3, and I correctly stacked with 33...Rcd6. White had ten seconds on the clock to my nineteen and his moves, presumably, were more a function of time pressure than calculation. I replied to his 34.Qc5 with 34...Rd2+, and after 35.Rf2 we exchanged with 35...Rxf2 36.Kxf2. But White needed to have rechopped with 36.Qxf2, because his move allowed my rook to establish on the second rank with 36...Rd2+. White retreated his king with 37.Kg1, giving me an advantage of -2.3, but after 37...Qd7 my advantage fell to -0.3.

1. Why did I choose the move 37...Qd7?
Presumably my plan was to force a trade of rooks with 38...Rd1+, and then White wouldn't have two attackers on my a-pawn.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
In the first place, it allowed 38.Rxa6; but additionally, it missed a stronger move to capitalize on the vulnerability of White's king.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The computer's top choice was 37...Qe6, defending a6 while retaining contact with f5-f3 and h3-g2.

Position 3: Black to move

Rather than chop with 38.Rxa6, White continued 38.Rf1 and the eval bar surged to -6.1. I forced the rooks off with 38...Rd1, and the eval bar dropped to 0.0.

1. Why did I choose the move 38...Rd1?
My plan had been to trade off the rooks, and White allowed it.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
My rook and queen were ideally placed for a coordinated attack on White's king.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The winning move was 38...Qh3, threatening mate with 39...Qg2# and forcing 39.Qf2 Rxf2.