Is Bullet Chess Your Favorite?

Tomorrow is another day of the season 19 Hive chess tournament. In preparation for this tournament, I have been practicing extensively; solving puzzles, watching videos, and playing games on my favorite chess app, Lichess. One thing about me is that I love exploring and trying new things. New and interesting things tend to capture my attention quickly. For example, aside being a lover of chess. I also love books. In 2020, I was all into Greek mythology. I could spend all my day watching videos on YouTube or reading European literature that explored Greek novels. One might assume I would remain engrossed in Greek mythology for years to come. Surprisingly, after six months, I stopped reading them and got into something else; African Novels. Interestingly, I shifted my focus to African books and fully immersed myself in them.

Similarly, when I started playing chess online (Lichess), I was into Rapid and Blitz. I vividly remember crossing 1800 rating in 2020 and then I also crossed 1700 in Blitz in 2021.I consistently played them for two years. I wouldn't say I got bored with Blitz and Bullet. I simply wanted to try something new. So, I shifted my focus to Bullet. I've been playing Bullet for two years now, and I must say that my journey has been interesting.

While some people argue that playing Bullet chess is not a good way to improve your chess skills, others see no harm in it. Well, here’s my take: I go with the school of thought that playing bullet is not really a good way to improve your chess skills. However, there is more to it. I would not advise anyone to start their chess journey with bullet chess. Nah, don’t do that. Instead, start with Rapid or Blitz. Improve your openings and build your end game. After you are certain that you have gone a long way, then you can hop in and start playing Bullet.

Just last week, I crossed 2000 rating on Bullet and the ironic (and funny) part about it is that I am still struggling with 1700 on Blitz. I don’t even remember the last time I played Rapid. It would be nice if the Hive chess tournament included Bullet games, but since there is nothing like that for now, I'm more focused on Blitz. I've been trying to improve my rating. The goal is to cross 1900 before the end of this year.

This morning, I played 5 bullet games. This one is my favorite;

As usual, we both had 1 minute. I have developed my chess skills to be able to make strong openings and think quickly. My opponent was also a strong player (within the same rating range.) I checkmated him and still had more than 10 seconds left on the chess clock. I don't know what it is with King and Knight Checkmate, but they are my favorite.

So, what is your take on Bullet chess? Is it your favorite?

All images in this post are mine.