24-Hour Chess Challenge Summary

Introduction

• Starting with a brand new chess.com account
• Objective: Play 24 hours straight to maximize achievements and rating
• Aim to complete difficult achievements: Killer King, Castle Victory, and checkmates with every piece.

Initial Setup

• First five games needed for official rating
• Initial rating: 400
• First game won, rating increases to 96.

Checkmate Awards Goals

• Goal to get a checkmate with every piece.
• Achievements started with Killer Queen and Rook Checkmate.
• Struggled for two hours to get additional checkmates (only had Queen and Rook).

Progress Update

• Rating increased to over 1,400 after several games.
• Finally achieved Bishop Checkmate after three hours.
• Achieved Pawn Checkmate after several attempts.

Achievements Obtained

• King Checkmate obtained after finding a non-resigning opponent.
• Played chess bots; destroyed first two, but lost to remaining bots.
• Blitz and bullet games played to boost rating.

Mid-Challenge Updates

• 10-hour mark: Played 120 games; many Blitz and Bullet, few Rapid.
• Rapid rating raised to 1300 after several games.
• Played chess variants including King of the Hill and Crazy House with mixed results.

Exhaustion Sets In

• Energy levels began to drop significantly around hour 14.
• Started struggling to stay awake and to maintain focus.
• Blitz rating remained stuck until attempts to boost it were made.

Final Stretch

• Reached a point of frustration with Blitz rating stuck around 1200.
• Continued playing Bullet games, reached 1,600 in Bullet rating.
• Tried various methods to wake up (different board themes, food breaks).

Conclusion

• Final hour marked by intense exhaustion; performance suffered significantly.
• Last game completed after 24 hours of continuous play.
• Final account metrics compared to start: significant improvement but left with fatigue and regret.

Key Takeaways

• Difficult to maintain focus and performance over long periods.
• Achievements can be rewarding but require significant effort.
• Playing continuously can lead to physical and mental exhaustion.