Why I Hate Level 60

My Arch-Nemisis is Back
I have a particular loathing for level 60. In the first circle, I scored a miserable 55% in level 60, which tied for my lowest score with level 90. I'd be curious to hear from others if they had a similar experience.

I think part of the reason for it is that many of the problems have "enticing" initial moves that don't work out without some sort of preparation. In prior levels, if I couldn't see a very promising continuation for the tactics I saw, the first couple of moves were correct so I could play out a move or two and then figure out the remaining wrinkles. But in level 60 this doesn't seem to work as well. Maybe I am not looking carefully enough at all the opposite side's defenses. At any rate, I find that level 60 really takes the wind out of my sails.

For the record I have finished through 1020, with my current level 60 score at 66% and falling. I am supposed to finish this circle on Monday but I'm still four days behind. I hope to catch up this weekend so I can finish on schedule.

An Observation
In an earlier post I noted the increased calculation ability and the mental stamina I had noticed when starting the second circle. Having made it a significant way into the second circle, I have realized that in many of the problems (up until level 60 of course) I am seeing the initial tactics far better than before. In the first circle I would often have to go through a mental checklist of tactical elements to try to figure out what was significant in the position. Now, I look at many problems and almost immediately I notice the major tactical feature of a position, i.e. the enemy queen is very short of squares, undefended pieces in opposition with mine, captures that drag the king out into the open, etc. I'm not sure if this is a result of having memorized parts of the problems (I am fairly good at memorizing things) or if my pattern recognition is improving. I'm not sure it matters much at this point.

Congratulations are in Order
Congratulations to Chris Kilgore who just made class A! I hope to join you some day...