Two weeks of green now — 30–27, then 26–22 — but the board won't budge. I'm writing this at 931, a notch under last week's 963, because every climb ends the same way: up to 995, a knock at the 1000 door, a walk back to the 900s. The London (52%) is the floor I trust; the Caro-Kann (44%) owns the Black job now; the Sicilian's a cameo. The 1000s took 32% of me again — that bracket is the whole story. The bleeding's stopped, two weeks running. Cracking the door is what's left.
Opened the window at 906, ran it up to 995 — knocking on the 1000 door yet again — then got walked back to 931. Net +25 over 49 games, but the ceiling hasn't budged an inch: same 995, same bounce.
White still carries it at 49% over 100 games; Black leaks at 40%. The Caro-Kann holds, but the rest of the Black book is where this month keeps getting lost.
Still the ceiling: 32% against 1000–1099 over 63 games. I crush the 800s (92%) and split the 900s (46%), then the four-figure crowd drags me straight back. This bracket is the slide.
Half my losses are resignations, a third checkmates, only 8% on the clock. I'm not getting flagged — I'm getting outplayed. The fix is cleaner moves, not a faster mouse.
Mornings and afternoons hold near 48%; evenings sag to 38% over 69 games. The late games are quietly bleeding rating — tired chess is losing chess.
A losing month — 89–104 over 200, the 1062 peak long gone, rating stuck at 931. The bright line: two winning weeks that stopped the bleeding. But the 1000 wall (32%) caps every climb. The slide's over; the rebuild hasn't begun.