Bullet Theory

My daughter introduced me to the term "the Ipod generation" a couple of weeks ago. It obviously refers to the current generation of kids/teenagers who having access to electronic content (via the net/mobile phones) is part of their everyday existence.

Now I'm not sure if the term "the bullet chess generation" has already been trademarked, but it may be applicable to the current generation of young chessplayers. I know of a number of young players who have sharpened their skills with this form of chess, and have even included a couple of games on this blog.

Now it is my turn to dip my toe in the bullet chess pool. Up until now I've never really done well at this form of chess, but over the last few days I've actually played some interesting games. Quite possibly the difference is what sort of interface I use, as I seem to find the Chesscube interface easier to use than my previous experiences with Xboard/Eboard. In the following game it also helped that I was able to bang out a huge number of semi-remembered moves in the Marshall, but a win is still a win!

earlofshiring@chesscube.com - shaunpress@chesscube.com

Bullet S&G 3078 www.chesscube.com (1), 12.10.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 Nf6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Ng4 14.h3 Qh4 15.Be3 [RR 15.Qf3 ] 15...Bh2+ 16.Kf1 Nxe3+ 17.Rxe3 Bf4 (D)

18.Re1N [RR 18.Rf3 Qh6 19.Qd3 (RR 19.Bd5 ) 19...Bb7 20.d5 Rad8 21.Qf5 Bc1 22.d6 (RR 22.Qc2 Bxd5 23.Bxd5 Rxd5 24.c4 Re5 25.Nc3) 22...Rxd6 0-1 Franz,S (1835)-Kotzem,E (1915)/Schney 1999/EXT 2002] 18...Bxh3 19.Qf3 Bd7 20.Na3 Rfe8 21.Re4 Rxe4 22.Qxe4 Re8 23.Qf3 Qh1# 0-1