Lagging Behind: A Bullet Chess Tragedy

_{"Come on. C'mon Vishy," make a move!” — Maurice Ashley commentating during a 1995 Armageddon game in which Viswanathan Anand took nearly two minutes (out of five allotted) on his fourth move.}

Introduction

Hello Everyone, Last time I wrote about How speed chess keeps me going, been playing alot of bullet games, gotten to a highest rating of 2500 on lichess recently, while aiming for 2600, ny biggest problem has been my internet connection.

Lagging Behind - A bullet chess Tragedy_20250211_152544_0000.png

_{Image from pixabay}

My bullet story

I kept premoving, my heart was racing like I was being chased by an animal, I was tensed! You could feel the adrenaline rush by looking at me. My fingers were moving so fast. 1.6 seconds left - plenty of time in a bullet game, my knight was destined for d5, a sure checkmate after a brilliant sequence. But then... nothing! I haven't heard the lichess sound "pom". My screen froze. My opponent clock paused, then nothing again.

"Reconnecting"... "reconnecting"

I felt awful immediately, I knew it but I quickly pressed the refresh button like a desperate time scrambler trying to flag his opponent. Suddenly the board reappeared and guess what? My clock was at zero, a bright -8 elo staring at my face indicating a red hot defeat.

Another beautiful game lost. Not to blunders or a missed combination, but to the annoying force of my Nigerian internet.

Speed chess keeps me going

But despite how frustrated and often it occurs, I still keep playing. Because bullet chess isn't just a game, it's like a test of instinct, a rush, a battle fought in seconds and milliseconds. There is something special about the speed, the way pieces fly, the adrenaline rush, it's a world where strategy meets chaos and the fastest and the smartest mind wins.

My friend will say "speed kills but thrills" truth is even with the lag, I still feel and crave that thrill, it's something I want everytime which keeps me back to playing chess everytime. Like how I feel turning a game around in 3 secs and sometimes delivery checkmate on the last second. It's just so cool. And what's cooler is even escaping with a draw with almost no time left on the clock

_{Stalemate achieved as black to play and no where to run too - Image via lichess}

That's why almost after this post, I'll queue up for another game. One more battle against the board and my Nigerian poor internet.

Conclusion

To those who don't find bullet chess interesting, I urge you to try it, it isn't just clicking of pieces to any square, but a blend of speed and intuition at work. Also try it to experience the adrenaline, the quick combinations, the feeling of losing a won game because you were not fast enough or vice versa, winning one because your opponent wasn't fast enough.

So if you've never given bullet chess a chance, try it! You might be surprised, you probably get addicted to it just like i am.

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The best.jpeg

_{_I am @samostically,I love to talk and write about chess because i benefited alot from playing chess.}

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Thanks For Reading!