Veronika Shubenkova WFM

Hi Veronika!

You continue to score impressive results in bullet (current record: 8 wins out of the last 10, peak rating 2757 (2025-06-21)). Below are a few focused observations to accelerate the next jump forward.

1 · Opening habits

• White repertoire: The sequence 1 d4 e3 f4 appears in almost every game. It gives you quick, playable positions, but strong opponents are beginning to pre-book antidotes (…Bf5/…c5 set-ups). Add one surprise weapon—e.g. a Catalan or London line—to stay unpredictable.
• Black repertoire: You are doing well with the French and the English Defence. Be careful, however, not to drift into passive structures. In the loss to Schachkatze2000 you delayed …c5 and …Nc6, allowing White a free hand.
  
  
  
  → Here …cxd4! or …Qb6! was critical; instead …Be7 let White consolidate.
• Homework: Spend one hour this week checking the first 15 moves of your main lines with a light engine just to patch the biggest tactical holes.

2 · Middle-game themes

• f-pawn pushes: You often launch f-4/f-5 early (both colours). While it wins time in bullet, it also weakens e4/e5 and the king. Try to ask: “What will protect the squares I’m giving up?” before pushing.
• Prophylaxis: Several losses stemmed from ignoring the opponent’s plans (e.g. Robin_cool’s …h5-h4-h3 break). Insert one “null-move” check moment each game—literally stop and think: “If it were their turn twice, what would hurt me?” Prophylaxis
• Transition to winning endings: Your wins are often flashy checkmates. When the attack stalls, you sometimes hesitate to simplify into won endings (see win vs. Elefante_2011, move 22…Rd7 was good, but 22…Qh4! forced mate faster).

3 · Clock management in bullet

• You consistently reach sub-10 s positions yet still calculate deep combinations. Trust your intuition more once under 10 seconds; use premove chains in forced recaptures.
• Try a 30-game streak where you never drop below 15 seconds before move 20. The discipline will train quicker decision heuristics.
• Review your personal time-of-day performance:
  shows a dip around 23:00 UTC—consider scheduling critical games earlier.

4 · Practical training suggestions

1. Daily 5-min tactic sprint: 20 puzzles on “mate-in-2/3” themes to keep pattern memory sharp for bullet.
2. 30-min slow game (15 + 10) once per week: Forces you to verbalise plans and notice the pawn-structure details you miss in 1-minute time controls.
3. Annotate one loss per day: Even five verbal comments (“Missed fork on move 16” etc.) will build an error catalogue.

5 · Mindset & goals

You are already outperforming most 2600-level bullet players in tactical sharpness. The next step is consistency: patch the three biggest structural weaknesses (over-extended f-pawn, neglected king safety, time trouble) and a 2700+ bullet rating is within reach.

Keep up the great work, enjoy the process, and feel free to share your annotated games any time. Good luck at the board!