Puzzle Rush Survival 50+ Goal Reached!

Puzzle Rush Survival 50+ Goal Reached!

I’ve got a rollercoaster of emotions to share with this one, but I must start at the beginning.

When I joined chess.com back in 2017, Puzzle Rush was nowhere near where it was now. I’m virtually certain 5 minute Puzzle Rush existed back then, but the 3 minute Puzzle Rush, 3 minute Puzzle Battle and Puzzle Rush Survival came out years later. Even when Survival was released, I mostly played the 5 minute Puzzle Rush; perhaps out of habit for the only one I played.

When I finally did try Puzzle Rush Survival, I tried my best and spent a while on each puzzle calculating the variations in my head before moving and such. Maybe some beginners’ luck and a lot of determination, but I scored an amazing 46 on my first ever Puzzle Rush Survival attempt!

When I scored that, I remember thinking how I like the Puzzle Rush Survival and that it was a nice change of pace to what I was used to. Of course, next time I went back to the 5 minute Puzzle Rush I knew and didn’t really attempt Survival much. It didn’t really interest me a ton and it was a lot more time consuming.

Many months later, one of my good chess.com friends @ZionPureinHeart mentioned how he was working towards a goal of his to reach 50+ score in Puzzle Rush Survival. I encouraged him and thought it was a nice goal to aim for, but that was as far as that conversation went.

A few months later, I remembered that goal and became inspired to try that myself. I set my goal to reach 50+ Survival score too. At the time, I knew that goal was ambitious. After all, around 50 in Survival are 2700+ rated puzzles. I was up for the challenge, but I had no idea just how difficult it would prove to be. I figured maybe a few months I’d reach it, but I couldn’t fathom how much effort and dedication it would end up taking me to reach a score of 50 puzzles correct or higher.

At this point in time, I had a free chess.com membership. I was given one free puzzle rush attempt per day, so I would use it on Survival each day and when I lose, I’d have to wait until the next day to try again. It made some losses heart-breaking when they ended unexpectedly and I’d have to wait until the next day to try again.

Making things worse for my progress was that I assumed my ability was mid 40s since I scored 46 on my first ever attempt. The truth was much harsher. For months, I struggled to even pass 30 and 40+ was a rare occurrence. Obviously my 46 was hard-earned, but not representative to what I could consistently score on average. Slowly, yet surely, I was making progress; but it took longer than I expected.

Around the time I began averaging mid 30s and 40s on my Survival attempts, an unexpected surprise came up. My friend @ZionPureinHeart accomplished his goal of reaching 50+ Survival score! I was happy for him and sent him my congratulations, but I still was far from accomplishing this same feat myself. It mentally motivated me a little bit, but ability-wise it didn’t really help me improve at any rate faster than I already was.

By now, I’d estimate about six months have passed since I heard about them working on their goal of 50+ and the day they actually reached said goal (but naturally that might have been a goal of theirs before I heard about it, so it might have actually taken a bit longer). I’ve been working on the same goal for about three or four months now. I wouldn’t miss a day and I’d always review the puzzles I got incorrect, but at least improvement was coming along steadily.

I didn’t know it at the time, but soon I would encounter something that would change my Puzzle Rush Survival routine dramatically.

Another good chess.com friend of mine (and also a friend in real life) @Arrakis09 generously gifted me a chess.com gold membership for reasoning unrelated to my puzzle rush ambitions. This changed my Puzzle Rush Survival routine because now I was allotted five Puzzle Rush attempts per day instead of the one per day I was previously working with! Literally overnight, I now had access to five times as many attempts and this consequently means five times as much Survival! The renewed hope would be that a month or two of hard work and I could finally reach a score of 50+ by simply putting in more volume (note that is what I also thought the first time around months prior).

For the next month or two, I was now playing Survival three to five times per day and many of those days utilizing the full five attempts I had available. Determined? Absolutely. Dedicated towards my goal? You bet! A bit insane? Well, sort of…

Through the literal gift of this opportunity to attempt Survival more times a day, I also encountered another obstacle I did not previously face: mental fatigue.

When I used to use one Survival attempt per day, I was also playing lots of chess games, habitually working on my daily tactics and studying chess on the side. My chess was fairly balanced and Survival was just one major component. However, one Survival run might take me an hour or two to reach 30 puzzles correct (at that point in time anyway). This was a lot, but it was manageable. The problem now was mental fatigue and literally scheduling. Assuming one good Survival attempt took me two hours, that would take me ten hours per day if I were to have deep runs on all five of my daily attempts!

I admire GM Bobby Fischer for being able to invest so much effort into chess, but there is no doubt that chess was predominantly his life. It is not the same for me to this extent. I still have school and other hobbies; I was not coming across ten hours for Survival that easily.

What would end up happening on my traditional day would be trying to blitz through the first few puzzles like GM Hikaru Nakamura (@Hikaru) and then slowing down a bit more once I was getting a “decent” score for myself when I’d need to focus more. I had to speed through the early puzzles this way, so that I wasn’t there ten hours each day. What happened most days was I’d be effectively playing blitz chess in Survival mode for 15 minutes or so and then get a “simple” puzzle incorrect and just start over. I’d usually get one deep run per day and the rest would be scores like 5 or 10 correct because I’d get a puzzle incorrect and just quit there. How else was I to fully utilize my five daily attempts and maximize my chances of reaching my goal? Even with this “speeding”, I’d still be investing around 5 hours a day to solely Puzzle Rush Survival. Naturally, I slowly began to give up playing as much rated live chess and give up on my routine tactics all together. How else could I make time for Survival? There are only so many hours in a day.

I wasn’t getting anywhere at this rate. Plus, I’d be mentally burnt out from 5 hours of Survival the previous day and that mental fatigue would carry over into the next day. This would make me more likely to mess up early in the attempts for the current day too.

I needed a change of strategy and I was reminded of a story.

The fictional story is of two hardworking lumberjacks who each were cutting down a tree with an axe. The first lumberjack kept chopping at the tree trunk when he noticed his axe blade getting dull. He made up his mind to sharpen the blade when he finished cutting down the tree and kept hacking away for the time being.

The second lumberjack also noticed his axe blade getting dull from the cutting, but he arrived at a different conclusion. The second lumberjack decided to temporarily pause his progress on cutting down the tree and use that time to sharpen his blade.

A short while later, the second lumberjack comes back with his newly sharpened blade and immediately brought down his tree with one or two good strikes.

Meanwhile, the first lumberjack was still hacking away exhaustedly with his dull blade.

The lesson learned here is that sometimes a needed break to “sharpen your blade”, or “mentally refresh” as in the case with my chess, is actually the most efficient. This is true even if it means you aren’t working non-stop. That time to sharpen the blade is an investment that will pay off in due time.

I instead began playing Survival a lot slower and not necessarily utilizing all five attempts per day just because I had them available. Doing so would just burn me out and carry into the next day, so instead I would only play Survival two or three times a day and I was getting deep runs still about once a day. This means that I was pushing my high scores even though I was actually playing slower and less attempts than before!

Now I was beginning to score 40s more often and then I got a new personal best of 47 about a month or two later! After some more hard work, I reached 48 and even 49 once or twice about a month or so after that.

Then I was scrolling through some old forum threads I was following on chess.com and I came across one thread I posted in months ago where I casually mentioned I was working towards my goal of 50+ Survival. Then another thread with the same thing and a few messages with the same goal mentioned in one way or another. I was aghast by the dates on these messages and threads. The oldest one I tracked went as far back as May of 2020. It was now late April of 2021. Wait? That means this goal has taken me almost an entire year to reach! I still hadn’t reached my goal that I initially suspected would only take a month or two. I had no idea just how difficult 50+ was and how long it would take me - not to mention how much work and effort I put into it. The first 30 puzzles are fairly easy for me by this point and if I get a single puzzle incorrect before 30, I typically just quit right there and restart, or come back after a break. The resistance of the puzzles after 30 feels noticeably tougher and require a bit more mental energy to sort out; then high 30s and low 40s has another tier higher in how tough they feel in comparison to the earlier puzzles. 50+ really is no simple task.

I think one of the toughest parts of Survival is the fact that it is all in one sitting. It is mentally draining and after an hour or two of solving and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep calculating accurately. Just because I begin with a promising run, that doesn’t guarantee a strong Survival attempt.

I specifically recall one attempt I had where I had none incorrect going into puzzle 39. I got that one wrong and then the next one wrong. I struggled with the next, but solved it correctly and then I got number 40 wrong. Three strikes and I’m out. I had zero wrong at 39 and struck out at 40. A similar case happened where I flawlessly had 46 puzzles correct in a row and thought that would finally be the day I reached 50+. I got the next puzzle wrong and it killed my momentum and then I got the next two incorrect as well for a final score of 46.

What really hurts in how time consuming the attempts are. It isn’t even Survival in general, it always just seems to be one or two individual puzzles which stump me. Sometimes it is a puzzle as early as 30 and other times as late as mid-40s, but there are always a few puzzles which stump me on a deep Survival run. It usually only takes me a few seconds to solve the first few puzzles correctly. I blitz through the easy mate in 1 puzzles, the hanging pieces, the backrank mates and so on. Then around 30, I certainly must slow down to navigate the maze correctly. These puzzles only take a minute or two, but they take a bit more insight and care. Occasionally a single puzzle might take me a few minutes, but there always seems to be some puzzle or two which stump me and I never know which until I reach it. These stumpers might take me 30 minutes to an hour to solve! Worse is that after investing an hour on a single puzzle, I still only get it correct maybe half of the time, but the half I do solve correctly is a very rewarding feeling.

Due to these few random puzzles taking so long, most deep Survival runs are now taking me 3 hours or so before I get close to 50 and inevitably lose. One day I was solving really well and felt “in the flow.” I had one puzzle incorrect around 40 or so, but was still going strong. Then I got my second wrong around 46 or 47. The pressure was on again. The drama was there. The tension was building. This felt like it might be it - I was on 49 and seeing it. With this much on the line, I double checked my variations and made sure all the details were calculated to the best of my ability. I move and… “49 new personal best.” Yes, I tied my score of 49 and I’m out: not reaching 50 here. I probably sighed at the truth of me still not at 50+ correct and that I’ve have to restart another time. In fact, I saw the right idea, but I played an inferior move order! Gah! In my defense, I fairly got the puzzle incorrect. I didn’t rush and I honestly thought my move order was best, but I overlooked a single variation where the opponent refutes my move order and this I didn’t see at all. The puzzle “solution” was indeed the best and I deserved to get that puzzle wrong as I did.

Someone hearing this story casually explained said something to me like: “Wow, that must make you really salty. Like, you were so close to your goal of 50+ and you have to restart after failing on 49; you must have really been upset.”

They said this sympathetically. They really felt bad for me, but actually their normal reaction caught me off-guard a bit. I responded as if almost surprised myself, “No. I actually don’t get upset at that.”

Getting so close to my goal and having to start back at square one next time doesn’t really feel this way. It is more of a disappointing feeling. It feels more like you can feel your heart just sink. As you spend so much time grinding puzzle after puzzle correctly, the intensity builds and the drama elevates. The tension heightens and you can feel the pressure in the air. Could this time be it? Is today finally the day?

Then when you finally get that third puzzle incorrect, it feels more like this balloon you’ve been inflating for the last few hours just lets all the air out. You just feel yourself deflate and all the pressure is gone. All of the tension in the air with the excitement just dissipates. It is not a fun feeling, but it is more disappointment than anger.

Perhaps everyone is different, but at least for me: it is more like the wind is taken out of your sails.

Just before midnight on May 23, 2021: I begin another Survival attempt as usual. Habitually, I’ve been playing a lot of my Survival attempts later at night (and sometimes playing until the early morning when the sun comes up) as I find there to be less distractions around at this time and easier for me to think. The daytime is hectic and busy with life, but at night, I’m able to focus as everyone else has gone to bed and there is little to no background noise.

Now I’m feeling motivated at another deep run. I’ve been more motivated other days and more in the flow other days again, but I’m feeling good and playing consistently. Thus far, I’ve got 44 correct and feel good. Perhaps this will be the day, but I know from experience to not get my hopes up too much.

I think I see the correct idea, but alas, my first incorrect puzzle. I have no idea what I missed, but apparently there was better. I have to shake it off and move onto the next puzzle. One strike on puzzle 45 is still not too bad for me and I’m on track for 50+ if I can keep it up. The next puzzle or two feels especially important psychologically so that I can keep the momentum going.

By chance, it was just a few seconds after I get this puzzle incorrect that my chess.com friend @Anatomy99 messages me in Connect Messages. We talk for a little bit (mostly about my current Survival progress) and then I minimize the messages and go back to solving my puzzles.

I think I see the right idea. I’m mentally double checking my calculations and visualizing where the pieces all end up. I move, then move again and again and it is correct. Phew! 46 now. Now 47. The atmosphere is getting more tense again and one can almost feel the atmosphere becoming more charged. The momentum seems to be present. I solved 48 correctly now. Now 49 is correct. I have 2 strikes left to solve just one more puzzle correctly and I’ll make my goal of 50+ Survival score. It has been almost exactly one year I’ve been following this ambition to reach my goal.

Listening to Survivor - Eye of the Tiger, I can feel the concentration within me and the excitement building. I’m visually double checking my variations, but I believe I solved the puzzle. I think I got it worked out and I move the first piece. Then the second piece in the sequence and the third and so on. Eventually I see the checkmark. I did it! I have scored 50+ in Puzzle Rush Survival! I only have one strike and I’ve made it to 50 correct; my goal is now complete!

I take a minute of processing the moment. I thought I’d be all smiley and excited. Perhaps even jumping out of my seat, but none of this I feel really. Perhaps it just takes a while to fully adjust to what just happened, but I feel more relieved than anything else. It feels like I’ve finally done it and I don’t have to restart back at square one again. I’m still smiling, but I’m more optimistic about thinking how much time I’ll now save. With Puzzle Rush Survival taking up several hours most days and almost every day for an entire year, what I’m excited for is now having this block of time freed up. Now I can use that time to catch up on my chess reading and maybe play more chess.com rated games in live chess again. Ooh, my regular puzzles! Yes, I can return to the daily routine I used to have ritualistically. I stopped doing my puzzles daily because they were basically the same as Survival, but I was burnt out from that. Puzzles are timed (unlike Survival), but I like them better because it isn’t one continuous sitting; I can take breaks in between tactic puzzles.

Yes, I finally reached 50+ Puzzle Rush Survival score. Of course, I’m not quite out yet. I still have two more strikes to use up. I wonder how much further I might go…

Just for reminiscing, I take a screenshot of myself at 50. I save the picture to my flashdrive in a Microsoft Word document. Then I return to keep working on my Survival puzzles.

As if the story couldn’t get any more climactic, I’m at 50 puzzles and my internet randomly goes out. We didn’t lose power, but now my computer is notifying me that I’ve lost internet. This is rare, because I’m on a PC and we’ve got really good internet where I’m at (although it wasn’t always that way years ago). You can’t make this stuff up people. I was playing Puzzle Rush Survival for probably about 2 and a half hours and within 5 minutes of reaching my goal of 50, I lose my internet. Talk about a close call!

I was also messaging my chess.com friend @Anatomy99 by chess.com’s Connect Messages and we were happily celebrating 50+ in the chat. After a few minutes of conversation. I randomly lose messaging capabilities. Never had this error message in the chess.com chat before.

My computer claims I have got no internet, but my puzzles seem to be working fine though. Strange, but all right, I’m not complaining. I take about five minutes of serious calculating and then I solve it correctly. Now I’m on 51 correct. Oddly enough, chess.com takes me to the next puzzle as if my internet connection was normal. I take another 5 or 10 minutes and now I solve another correctly. Now I have 52 puzzles correct!

By now, I’m losing more and more internet features. It is as if everything is collapsing around me. Now I just got the next puzzle incorrect. All right, pull it together and see if I can keep solving before whatever else goes out (still no idea how I’m using the chess.com Survival puzzles fine with no internet).

Just got my third strike. This puzzle incorrect too. Fair enough. I didn’t see the right idea apparently. I scored 52 and have surpassed my goal of reaching 50 puzzles correct. I’m still elated just to be over 50; there has got to be an end to the Survival run eventually and 52 is as good a spot as any.

Now that my Survival attempt is complete, I still don’t see the leaderboard stats come up and the message about my “personal best” score reached. As a keepsake, I grab a screenshot of this moment displaying 52 as my final score. At the exact moment I get the screenshot, the dreaded “Connection Failed” notification comes up on the bottom-right of my chess.com screen and the screenshot captures this notification too. Literally seconds later, chess.com has a loading error connecting to my internet and I can’t even log off; I’m simply immediately kicked out and forced to close the tab and eventually shut down the computer after a few minutes of trying to get it back.

After this grueling Survival attempt lasting so long, I can only wonder if I would have failed to reach my goal if I was only a smidge slower calculating and had the internet go out when I was on 49 or something instead of just after completing 50 and finally going out entirely after 52.

For whatever reason, my internet finally comes back on about an hour later (I was keeping tabs via my phone if and when the internet returned). I log back onto chess.com and by chance @Anatomy99 is still online. I message them, since our conversation was abruptly cut when my Connect Messages went out on puzzle 50. I tell them this story of my internet issues and what had happened. We chat for a few minutes more and then we decide to part ways until morning.

It is a great sense of accomplishment that I’ve reached a 50+ Puzzle Rush Survival score and finally succeeded in reaching my goal. The very screenshot I took at reaching 52 is the one for this post thumbnail. Note the “Connection failed” in the bottom-right and also how my score doesn’t register under “Today”, “This Week” or “All Time.” All three slots should say “#1” as this is my highest Survival score to date, but with no internet connecting - it doesn’t display the little details.

To my dismay, chess.com seems to have no record of this attempt since the internet went out mid-attempt (even though I was able to complete the run from when it went out after I made 50 correct until I finally went out after 52 correct). Even my computer search history doesn’t display my final Survival score of 50+ and my chess.com profile remains outdated with the old record of 49.

If it doesn’t update within 24 hours or so, then I sadly suspect it never will because of the weird incident with the internet. Now I’m doubly glad @Anatomy99 witnessed me reach 50+ and that I was lucky enough to take screenshots. There is no other evidence to my accomplishment of a 50+ score! If the chess.com profile doesn’t update, then I might have to contact chess.com support to see if they can update my Survival stats manually.

I also want to review the puzzles I got incorrect in that run too, but there is no way to find them again. The chess.com stats have no record of the attempt and indirectly no record of my incorrect puzzles.

It would be nice to have a little more closure to reaching the goal that has taken me about one year to complete, and having it correctly recorded in the profile stats, but at least I know I reached it.

Anyhow, this is what it took me to finally reach a Puzzle Rush Survival score of 50+. This is certainly not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of calculation ability, some visualization and a lot of patience. As the reader, I am confident that you have the potential patience 50+ Survival score requires if you’ve stayed around long enough to read this entire chess.com blog post.

Keep up the determination and working hard and perhaps your chess goals will be just around the corner as well! Good luck and happy chess puzzle solving everyone