What works showed up too: mornings (53%), the 800s I keep crushing (85%), and a White edge (50%) that flips the rapid script. Then the rest — 34 games to June 10, 14–18–2, minus-20 to 902, before I set blitz down and drifted to rapid. My own 900s are a coin flip (41% over 150), the 1000s a wall (28%), and the Caro-Kann that flies in rapid leaks to 38% here, though it still flashed two clean mates. The bleed is slower than last week's, but the number's stuck at 900. The next mountain is my own bracket.
Thirty-four games and the line just saws sideways — 922 down to 902, never out of the 899–925 band. No run to ride, no collapse to fear. The blitz number is simply stuck.
White scores 50.5% over 97; Black just 37.9% over 103. The mirror of rapid — there the Caro-Kann flies, here the same defense drags the Black score down.
The shape of the slump: 85% over the 800s, a 41% coin-flip with my own 900s across 150 games, and a 28% wall at the 1000s. The wins come from below me, not above.
When I win I finish it — 39% by checkmate. When I lose it's resignation (51%), outplayed not out-clocked; only 9% of losses fall on the flag. Time isn't the killer.
The one bright window is early — 53% in the morning over 55 games, easing to 42% in the afternoon and 39% by evening. Late-day blitz is where the rating leaks.
Five weeks, 200 games, 88–105–7 — a sub-.500 grind that's bled a 1040 peak down to 902. My own 900s are a coin flip, the 1000s a wall, and the rating keeps finding new floors. This is the one format that won't climb.
A hundred bullet games and the speed shows — 41–56, down 112. The Sicilian that carries my blitz only manages 28% at this pace; the London (56%) holds up best. The lesson writes itself: think slower.
Down 112 over the last 100 — bullet punishes every move you don't quite see.
Bullet is the leak: 41–56 over 100, a 961 ceiling. Fast hands, faster blunders.
The format where I actually play chess — and this week it showed. 27–8–2, plus-142 to 1234, a twelve-game win streak, 87.9% accuracy. There's no wall here: I beat my own bracket (68%), the 1100s (57%), even the 1200s, five wins in seven. Black is the weapon at 75%, and the Caro-Kann that leaks in blitz wins 83% in rapid — the engine behind the whole climb. Slow the game down and the chess finally shows up.
From 1092 to a 1242 peak inside one week — plus-142, with a twelve-game run through the middle. The line barely takes a breath.
75% as Black over 36 games, 55% as White over 44. The mirror image of blitz — here the Caro-Kann and Sicilian carry me, and it's White that needs the work.
The blitz wall doesn't exist here. I beat my own bracket (68% over 37), the 1100s (57% over 30), even the 1200s (five of seven). With time on the clock, the rating gap stops mattering.
I finish people: 53% of wins by checkmate, just 6% by flag. The losses come by resignation (54%) — outplayed, not out-clocked. Time pressure isn't what beats me here.
No weak slot this season: afternoons and mornings at 67%, evenings still 64% over 45 games. Unlike blitz, the late hours don't drag me down.
Three months, 80 games, 51–26–3 — a 64% clip against a pool mostly rated above me. Peak 1242, a twelve-game best streak, biggest scalp a 1237. This is the one format where the number actually goes up.
Correspondence is my best chess by a mile — 64–33 (66%), up 111, a nine-game streak, and a scalp of 1299. The Dutch (86%) and King's Pawn (71%) thrive when I can actually think. Speed is the enemy, not skill.
+111 and climbing — when the clock disappears, so do the blunders.
My best chess, full stop: 66% over 100, +111, a 1299 scalp. Patience is the cheat code.