A guide to 2000 ultrabullet
A guide to 2000 ultrabullet
As a decent ultra player (2370 peak), I have received many questions on how to get better at ultra. Even though this is probably the most useless variant, it sure is fun and some people are genuinely passionate about 15 second chess and want to get better.
This blog will give some tips on how to improve mouse skill and accuracy as that is extremely important in this variant, and will cover what type of chess to study.
So without further adieu lets get into the tips.
MOUSE SPEED ISN'T EVERYTHING
Many lower rated people coming into ultrabullet will think that this whole variant is moving random pieces, trying to scholars mate as soon as possible, or just whoever can deliver the most checks. This is partially the case for 10 second chess on chess.com, but surely isn't in ultrabullet on lichess. Because the premoves aren't 0.1 on lichess, there is actually more time on the clock than you think. What to do with this time you may ask? Think about how to do tricks, and just play chess! Ultrabullet still is chess in the end and if you can play hyperbullet you should treat the moves the same as you do in hyperbullet, just material doesn't matter as much.
DONT ALWAYS PREMOVE
Too many times I see these 1500-1700s carelessly premoving at every chance they can get, which is extremely risky in ultrabullet. As I said earlier, it might sound wild but 15 seconds is a lot especially on lichess. If you want to premove, make sure that your position is fairly closed, as if it is open your opponent can easily do a trick.
For example in this position, premoving the move e3 would be risky as black can play the tricky move Bxc2, threatening your queen.
This does not mean to not premove every move, just be careful when you premove and in the lower level I'm sure 2-3 seconds won't make much of a difference, but losing a queen will.
IDENTIFY IF YOUR OPPONENT IS PLAYING SLOW OR FAST
If your opponent is playing slowly, then playing a risky move such as bxc2 would be a mistake as your opponent rarely premoves. A better approach would to premove every other move in this type of scenario, as usually slow players won't try looking for tricks because they are focused on not getting tricked themselves.
If your opponent is playing fast, a good approach is to not match their speed, but to play only slightly slower. This can leave room for you to think and try to create threats/do tricks because when your opponent is trying to premove everything and get a 3 second lead out of the opening (which I see a lot of u2000) it is very easy to play moves like Bxc2 in these types of scenarios, all you need to do is set the mood (play fast yourself for a bit), set up a trap, and win a piece.
PRACTICE MOUSE ACCURACY AND SPEED
Many people think that the only way to practice speed and accuracy is just by playing a lot, which is partially correct. Playing a lot of ultra is a great way to improve, but it isn't the only way to improve.
If you want to improve your accuracy, something I would not recommend is 3d shooting games. Even though it does help with aim, that's 3d aim and playing ultra is 2d aim. A game to consider is osu which is a 2d aim game that many top ultra players play such as the one and only Andrew Tang. If your too lazy to download osu, then another great game to practice aim is https://www.donttap.com/ (i recommend the frenzy mode)
If you are struggling with time scrambles, (randomly moving pieces at the end of the game with 1 second on the clock), a great way to practice these scenarios is to do the following:
1. Go to board editor
2. Set up this position: 
3. Select the "continue from here" option and click "play vs computer"
4. Make sure to set the time control to 1+0 and play against stockfish level 1
After that, move your pawns and rooks as fast as possible, just dont move your pawns much. I usually just move my pawns to the 4th rank then move my rooks a bunch.
It is required to move a pawn every 50 moves or else it will be a draw, so just keep that in mind when conducting this speedtest. Here is a video of me doing this exact speedtest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30u5B1XxaDQ
The higher your ping the easier this will be, as stockfish plays slower against higher ping to compensate for the lag.
PUZZLE RACER/STORM
Both puzzle racer and puzzle storm are both great practice for ultra. Puzzle racer and puzzle storm consists of puzzles that are easy but you need to solve fast. In puzzle racer you are also racing against other people, and in puzzle storm your pressured to solving them as fast as possible for the bonus time. The puzzles are also really realistic as they come from real games and you may encounter similar positions in ultra games.
EXPERIENCE
If you just picked up ultrabullet, experience is the greatest way to improve. If you play a lot improvement will come naturally.
If you already have 5k+ games and your stuck, just do the tips I stated above.
FINAL WORDS
Hopefully this blog helped you in your ultrabullet journey, and I wish you luck in your ultrabullet journey! (might make a blog about tilt soon, stay tuned!)
Thanks so much for reading!