Week 2: a nine-game losing streak in rapid chess

In my second week (January 15–21, 2024) I played 36 games and finished at 899, up 24 from 875, with 14 wins, 21 losses and 1 draw. After three games at 15|10 I moved down to 10|5 rapid and lost nine games in a row (games #37 to #45). The clock records and three key positions below show what happened during that nine-game losing streak in rapid chess.

A nine-game losing streak in rapid chess: the week in numbers

Split by time control the picture is blunt. The three 15|10 games on Monday morning were all wins. The 33 games at 10|5 went 11 wins, 21 losses and 1 draw, so every one of my 21 losses came at the faster setting. White was a coin toss (9–9 with a draw); Black was not: 5 wins and 12 losses.

My rating peaked at 931 after game #34 and again after #36, then the streak dragged it down to 871 after game #45. A strong finish (four wins in the last five games) pulled it back to 899.

Here is the part that surprised me. The analysis marks moves played with very little time left, and none of my 72 blunders was flagged. So the faster clock didn't make me run out of time. What it did, as far as the data can tell, was leave the same mistakes in place: 32 blunders in the opening phase, 39 in the middlegame and 1 in the endgame. Five of my losses (#39, #41, #45, #51 and #61) came after the engine had given me at least an 80% winning chance; in game #61 against Sh3lm0 it was 97.4%.

Three wins that were worse than they looked

The engine's biggest swings this week came from my three 15|10 wins on Monday, which is a little humbling. I won all three, but in each one I let a big advantage shrink with one move, while I still had plenty of time. Evaluations are from White's point of view (+2 means White is about two pawns better).

Game #31: a quiet pawn move when the king was in the open

Against pinakin34 (1024) I had White in a Queen's Gambit Accepted and Stockfish had me at +6.33, completely winning. Black's king was still on e8, without castling. I played a2–a3, a pawn move that does nothing urgent, and the evaluation fell to +1.97.

r . b q k b . r
p p . . n p p p
. . p . p . . .
. . . n P . B .
. . . P . . . .
. . N B . N . .
P P . . . P P P
R . . Q . R K .

The engine's line is Ne4, then the knight lands on d6, right next to the black king. I had 14 minutes on my clock when I chose a3. I won anyway, but nothing about that win was clean.

Game #32: a knight where it can be hit together with my bishop

With Black against debabrata882 (1041), I was clearly better (-2.74). I put my knight on b4. That allowed White's queen to go to a4 and attack two things at once: the knight on b4, which had no defender, and my bishop on a6. A double attack like that usually wins material, and the evaluation dropped to about equal (-0.10). The engine wanted the knight in the center, on d4, where it keeps Black clearly better.

r . . q . r k .
p . p . . p p p
b p n . . n . .
. . . . p . . .
. . . . P . . .
. . N P . . P P
P . . . . P B .
R . N Q . R K .

I still had over 11 minutes. My opponent later abandoned the game.

Game #33: opening a diagonal toward my own king

Against Grosams (928), White, I was +1.97. I jumped my knight to e5, attacking a pawn on g4 and the knight on c6. But moving that knight from f3 also let Black's bishop on e4 look down the long diagonal toward g2, next to my king. After my move the engine sees either a knight trade that leaves things equal, or the bishop taking on g2 and hitting my rook. The better knight move was to d2, attacking that bishop directly (+2.06 in the quick check).

r . . . k . . r
p p p . . p . .
. . n . p . . p
. . . q . . . .
. . . P b . p .
. . P . P N B .
P . . . . P P P
R . . Q . R K .

I won by checkmate, with 7 blunders of my own along the way, which tells you how chaotic it was.

The lesson of the week

The clock wasn't my problem. In all three moments above I had more than 11 minutes left, and not one blunder all week was played in time trouble. What I didn't do was stop when the position was clearly good and ask the one question that matters: which move hits something or brings a piece closer to their king, and does my move open anything toward mine?

So my rule for getting better at rapid chess, at least at 900: keep playing the routine moves quickly, but when the position is clearly winning or clearly dangerous, spend a full minute. Rapid gives you that minute. I just wasn't using it.

All games this week

Previous: week 1, my first 30 games. Next: week 3, the London System and a lot of losses with White. Everything else is on the journey page, and if you want to see your own critical moments like these, Chess Coach does the same analysis for your games.

For a general method beyond this week's games, see the rapid improvement guide.