How I Reached 2500!

After more than a decade of playing on Chess.com and grinding blitz, I reached 2500 blitz on Chess.com - a years-long goal of mine that I honestly long thought I might never reach! I started chess late - not playing a tournament until high school - and as a result, I've never felt like my speed and intuition was strong relative to my peers. Other NMs I've played have typically been much faster and stronger in blitz, and I historically haven' t played that much blitz.

I've been playing blitz a lot more consistently, rejecting several hang ups I've had, and I've been making progress and playing some games and combinations I'm quite proud of! I wanted to talk about some of the things I've done to break through and reach my goal in the hopes that it's of interest to some of you, and maybe my experiences can even help you reach your goals.

PS: Yes, I have already fallen back well below 2500. I think I can make it back again, but I don't expect I can consistently stay above 2500 right now. As NM Todd Bryant says, when you are at your peak, you are typically 100 points overrated. Realistically, I'm probably a 2400-level blitz player now who can surge into the 2500s and fall into the 2300s. That's a big stride for me! Maybe someday I can be a 2500-level player who can approach 2600. 🤞

1. I played a lot of blitz games.

Obvious, but true. The more blitz you play, the better you get. There's a reason that GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Jose Martinez are online blitz chess legends. They have each played over 50,000 blitz games - to say nothing of bullet and other time controls!

I've typically only played blitz sparingly, and I've preferred 3+2. When leagues launched in 2022, I enjoyed competing to level up and that meant playing more games. I started playing 3+0 instead of 3+2, and I started playing on my phone so I could play whenever I wanted. My rating took a dip for awhile, but I think that getting more reps in and learning to play faster and without increment has paid off . Now I mostly play 3+0.

I've also been focused on playing daily for the past year. I JUST completed a one-year streak of daily play. For me, habits are really helpful, and I enjoy starting my day off with a blitz game.

2. I tracked my data.

This one is tricky, and it's certainly not easy to do, but as I honed in on my goal of 2500, I started a spreadsheet to track my play. After each game, I plug in basic metadata as well as information about the opening, time management, and typical errors. I also do a quick game review and jot down a sentence of my thoughts.

This has helped me avoid tilt and helped me identify some recurring errors I have been able to improve on. I got this idea from IM Greg Shahade who has a great video about his approach, and why he does this. He uses it to avoid tilt, but I was more focused on identifying repeating errors, bad trends, weak openings, etc. and addressing them.

3. I made an opening repertoire for blitz chess.

Ideally, one would play one's repertoire in both classical chess and blitz chess, but in practice, it's risky to play one's main lines online and allow your opponents in rated games to easily prep for you based on your game history.

To make a run at improving my blitz rating, I put some effort into a blitz repertoire to help me get stable and decent positions out of the opening. For instance, I used NM Jeremy Kane's Trompowsky Course and FM James Canty's Jobava London on the white side. These openings gave me sufficiently interesting positions without too much study.

4. Shut it down, or speed it up.

One of my biggest weak points is time management. I'm still struggling a lot relative to my opponents, and sometimes I get absolutely hosed in a time scramble when I'm playing on my phone.

Getting faster is obviously largely about practice, but I also find that I have a problem with perfectionism. When I have a strong position that I like, I can tend to slow down, looking for a knockout blow. Sometimes I find it and win a nice game, but at other times, I never find it, I fall behind on time, and I lose or draw from a position that was great, but maybe it was never better than +2 or +3. My learning has been that I need to have a stronger sense of when there really is a knockout and can end the game - then I try to "shut it down". When it's not there though, I need to "speed it up," and make sure that I keep a good position on the board AND the clock.

Here's a good example of a really nice game I spoiled by not speeding up enough when I went into a piece up endgame down 10 seconds on the clock.

5. I used the Pebbles sound theme.

It seems like I'm totally joking, but I'm kinda serious. I REALLY like the new "Pebbles" sound theme at chess.com/settings/themes, and I think that the snappier and more tactile feel of Pebbles actually does help me keep a slightly better tempo in my own games. Even if I'm wrong, and it doesn't help my Elo in the slightest, at least it makes each game a little bit more fun for me.

6. I (try to) enjoy the good times!

Chess is a difficult game, and it's very, very easy to focus on the blunders and losses more than the wins. Most people seem to find the pain of a brutal loss is greater than the euphoria of a great win or a rating high. Both are inevitable parts of the game! I try to celebrate the highlights. I'm here to have a good time, try to play some nice games and combinations, and occasionally score some upsets. When I manage a good moment or highlight, I try to really enjoy it, and I'd encourage you to do the same!

With that in mind, here are a few fun moments from my recent games 😄

This is probably my favorite recent highlight. I LOVE these long distance queen moves.

I have a lot of affection for attacks against uncastled kings and opposite-color bishop attacks. Here I got to combine the two!

This line from GM Sadler in the Pirc has been a favorite and always leads to pretty attacks and a brilliant move or two from Game Review.

I've also really enjoyed Jeremy Kane's "Tromp-Wall" lines, and I've had several nice opportunities to attack on the f-file. I liked these three wins quite a bit!

7. I was lucky.

I've played some good chess, and I think I've improved in some ways. My rating graph suggests I am getting better, but there are always upswings and downswings. Chess may be a game of skill, but there are still mouseslips, bad internet connections, distraught children in time scrambles, and simple variance. Ups and downs are a part of the game. I'm happy to have had a good run helping me to reach a new peak rating, but I'll also see more downswings and upswings. Hopefully, I can take them all in stride

Thanks to everyone for the interesting games so far, and I wish you all new peak ratings and good games!