Bullet is not Rapid. This page shows which openings swing most across time controls, ranked by conservative win-loss edge (not engine theory).
Source Lichess·Games 2.1B·Covering 2023-12 to 2025-11·Updated January 2026
Ware Opening: Meadow Hay Trap swings 63.4 percentage points between clocks.
For White, its Edge at worst is +0.1% in UltraBullet and −63.3% in Classical. Filter by time control and rating to find what fits your speed.
Affected — swing most across time controls · Top TC — 9 openings peak in this time control
Openings that swing the most across time controls - pick your weapon based on the clock.
Swing is how many points a line's edge at worst moves between its best clock and its worst. A clock only appears once 200 games sit behind it — fewer than that and the figure moves too much to rank on.
| Opening | Best TC | Swing | |
|---|---|---|---|
UltraBullet+0.1% · 1.3K games | 63.4 pts | ||
UltraBullet−2.2% · 3.1K games | 61.4 pts | ||
UltraBullet−16.6% · 647 games | 58.0 pts | ||
Rapid+5.3% · 360 games | 48.1 pts | ||
Bullet−23.0% · 4.4K games | 46.5 pts | ||
UltraBullet+4.9% · 7.1K games | 46.3 pts | ||
UltraBullet−10.7% · 484 games | 44.7 pts | ||
Rapid+59.1% · 922 games | 43.7 pts | ||
UltraBullet−2.6% · 440 games | 43.6 pts | ||
Classical+51.7% · 276 games | 43.3 pts | ||
UltraBullet+17.9% · 314 games | 43.3 pts | ||
UltraBullet+3.9% · 1.2K games | 42.3 pts | ||
UltraBullet+6.1% · 3.8K games | 42.0 pts | ||
Bullet−1.6% · 732 games | 40.8 pts | ||
Rapid+41.4% · 200 games | 40.4 pts | ||
Classical+38.5% · 477 games | 26.0 pts | ||
Blitz+4.4% · 1.6K games | 11.6 pts | ||
Blitz−18.5% · 1.5K games | 10.3 pts | ||
Bullet+15.0% · 18K games | 5.2 pts | ||
Bullet+4.7% · 6.7K games | 4.7 pts |
Openings that perform similarly regardless of time control - reliable all-rounders.
Swing is how many points a line's edge at worst moves between its best clock and its worst. A clock only appears once 200 games sit behind it — fewer than that and the figure moves too much to rank on.
| Opening | Best TC | Swing | |
|---|---|---|---|
Bullet+6.1% · 897 games | 1.4 pts | ||
Blitz+99.4% · 825 games | 1.4 pts | ||
Blitz−5.6% · 237 games | 2.2 pts | ||
Blitz+5.7% · 2.6K games | 2.4 pts | ||
Blitz−1.5% · 1.0K games | 3.0 pts | ||
Rapid+5.8% · 67K games | 3.4 pts | ||
Blitz+10.5% · 1.5K games | 3.7 pts | ||
Blitz+8.5% · 3.4K games | 3.9 pts | ||
Blitz−7.0% · 1.2K games | 4.3 pts | ||
Bullet−7.7% · 810 games | 4.4 pts | ||
Blitz+9.8% · 1.5K games | 4.8 pts | ||
Blitz−1.7% · 682 games | 6.1 pts | ||
Blitz−11.6% · 683 games | 6.2 pts | ||
Blitz+6.4% · 914 games | 6.4 pts | ||
Classical+2.8% · 8.5K games | 9.6 pts | ||
UltraBullet+6.1% · 73K games | 31.2 pts |
An opening that swings a lot is a weapon on one clock and a liability on another. Play it where it wins. An opening that barely swings is the safer thing to carry everywhere.
Openings change with the clock. TrueElo compares openings across time controls and ranks them by how much their edge at worst — how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident — changes, based on 2.1B rated Lichess games (2023-12 to 2025-11). Rankings are computed separately for playing White vs playing Black.
Yes. Across 2.1B rated Lichess games, Ware Opening: Meadow Hay Trap swings the most, for White: its Edge at worst (how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident) is +0.1% in UltraBullet and −63.3% in Classical, 63.4 percentage points apart.
The ones where Bullet is the worst clock for the side you play. Set You play to your side, then look for Bullet in the Worst TC column; Swing shows how far the Edge at worst drops there from the opening's best clock.
Set "Best in" to Blitz above, and the tables keep only the openings whose Edge at worst, for the side you play, is highest in Blitz.
For some openings it pays. With You play set to Both and Rating set to All, the 20 Most Affected rows swing 50.6 percentage points on average in Edge at worst between their best and worst clock. Check an opening's best clock for your side before taking it to another.
Scotch Game: Sea-Cadet Mate, for Black, is the most consistent: its Edge at worst does not move across the clocks with enough games to rank. With You play set to Both and Rating set to All, the 20 Most Consistent rows average 2.4 percentage points. Consistent is not the same as good: a line can lose just as badly on every clock, so check its Edge at worst before building one repertoire on it.
It depends on the gambit. Each gambit's own page breaks its results down by clock, so check whether Bullet is where yours pays.
In Ware Opening: Meadow Hay Trap, for White, the Edge at worst swings 63.4 percentage points between its best and worst clock, the most of any opening here. With You play set to Both and Rating set to All, the 20 Most Affected rows average 50.6.