Hersh Singh FM

Quick summary

Nice work, Hersh — your bullet play shows clear strengths in creating and converting passed pawns, and you win a lot of sharp, unbalanced games with aggressive openings. Your recent trend is slightly down, so the suggestions below focus on small, high-leverage fixes that fit bullet time controls.

What you did well (concrete examples)

• You convert passed pawns very effectively — in your recent win you pushed a pawn to the seventh, queened and finished with a clean mating net. That shows good endgame intuition and calculation under time pressure.
• Your opening repertoire includes many aggressive, practical systems (gambits and offbeat defenses) where you score highly — this lets you create imbalanced positions and practical chances in bullet.
• You keep pieces active and coordinate queen + rook + bishops well in the winning game: that piece activity led to decisive threats rather than slow maneuvering.
• You win a lot of short tactical fights — your instincts to grab initiative are paying off in many games.

Want a quick replay of the queening win? Open the mini-board below to step through it:

Patterns to fix (highest impact)

• King safety and early tactical awareness: in your quickest loss you left g7 and related squares vulnerable and the opponent executed a mating tactic (Qxg7). Before castling or making a pawn move near your king, check for short tactics around g7 and h7. For reference, see thegame vs Michael.
• Avoid grabbing material or making flashy tries without checking opponent resources. Several short losses come from missing a simple recapture or tactical reply in the opening — when the move looks forcing, spend the extra second to scan for enemy checks, captures and threats.
• Opening move-order awareness: some early piece trades (or missing a small tactical defense) quickly turned a normal position into a lost game. Learn the 2–3 traps your opponents use most often in Caro‑Kann / Queen’s-pawn lines and memorize safe move orders to avoid them.
• Time-sense discipline in bullet: a small recurring leak is trying to calculate long forcing lines when a simpler consolidating move wins practical chances. If you’re low on time, choose safe active moves (centralize, force exchanges that simplify your task) instead of long sacrifices you can’t calculate fully.

Practical bullet tips — in-game

• Pre-move smartly: only pre-move tidy captures or single-response recaptures. Don’t pre-move in sharp, tactical positions (you’ll lose to «Mouse Slip» style tactics or swindles).
• One-second rule: if a move requires more than 1–2 seconds to calculate in bullet, make a safe active move instead and save time for the critical phase.
• King safety checklist before each move: enemy checks, undefended back rank, and weak pawns around your king (g7/h7/e6-type squares). Train this as a 3-point scan you do automatically.
• When ahead materially or positionally, simplify: exchange pieces (not pawns) to reduce opponent counterplay and reduce calculation load.

Opening & repertoire advice

• Lean into what works: your best win rates are in sharp gambits and offbeat lines (Barnes, English Agincourt, Colle variation). Continue using these as practical, surprise weapons in bullet.
• Patch vulnerable defenses: the Caro‑Kann game you lost shows you can be punished for exposed king squares. Add a one-page cheat sheet for the Caro lines you play — typical tactical shots and the safe move-order.
• Practice one forced line every session: pick your top 3 troublesome openings and drill the common tactics so the responses become automatic in bullet.

Training plan — 3 week routine (bullet-focused)

• Daily (10–15 min): tactic puzzles (focus on mates, forks, skewers, and tactics around the king). Use sets with escalating time pressure to mimic bullet.
• 3× per week (20 min): play 5–10 1+0 or 2+1 rapid bullets specifically practicing opening lines and the 3-point king-safety scan.
• 2× per week (15–20 min): quick endgame drills — pawn promotion races, basic rook endgames and converting a single passed pawn. You already do this well; sharpen it more.
• Weekly review (10–20 min): pick your last 5 losses; do a quick self-analysis first, then check critical positions with an engine only to confirm ideas. Focus on recognizing the one moment where the game swung.

Mindset & time trends

• Your long-term performance shows small declines recently (rating slope negative). That’s normal — small adjustments (scan-for-tactics, pre-move rules) will usually stop the slide quickly.
• Play for practical chances: your strength is creating messes and converting them. When you’re ahead on the clock or have a passed pawn, simplify and trade to reduce blunders.

Next steps (short checklist)

• Make a one-page opening checklist for Caro‑Kann and your top 2 opponent responses.
• Do 10 tactical puzzles every day for 7 days; track your accuracy.
• Record 3 bullet sessions and review two decisive losses — identify the single missed tactic each time.
• Keep using the sharp openings that give you practical chances, but add one safety move (king-safety scan) to your pre-move routine.

Useful quick references

• Replay the win here:
• Review the short loss vs Michael — it highlights the common slip around g7 in the Caro lines.

Final note

You already have the ingredients for a strong bullet rating: instincts, tactical sharpness and good endgame conversion. Patch a few recurring leaks (king safety, pre-move discipline) and keep the training short and focused — you’ll stop the slide and get the slope back up. If you want, I can create a 7-day tactic set tailored to the exact motifs you miss most.