After the opening stretch's +121, the bill came due. A month in the four-figure foothills: 90–103 over 200 games, a peak of 1062 clawed back to 963 by the same 1000s wall I flagged last time. The Sicilian that carried me cratered to 31%; the Caro-Kann took over as my main Black answer and the London (54%) became the one line I could trust. But watch the last week — 30–27, +31, the first up-week since the slide started. The wall's still standing. So am I.
Opened the week at 932, bled to 898, then a late surge to 995 before settling at 963 — net +31. After a month of giving it back, the first week that clawed some of it back.
White still pays the bills at 50%, but Black sprang a leak — 39% over 99 games. The Sicilian's collapse and the Caro-Kann's growing pains both show up on this side.
Still the ceiling: 31% against 1000–1099 over 68 games, down from 38%. Every climb into four figures got me dragged back — this bracket is the whole story of the slide.
By resignation (49%) and checkmate (37%), almost never by flag (8%). I'm not getting flagged — I'm getting outplayed. The fix is cleaner moves, not a faster mouse.
The afternoon edge flipped: mornings and afternoons sit at 49%, evenings sag to 38% over 69 games. Tired evening chess is losing chess.
A month of correction: after the surge to 1062, the 1000s wall won the rematch and walked me back to 963 — 90–103 across 200 games at 45%. The encouraging part is the last week, where the bleeding finally stopped.