user23457: I noticed on lichess.org that the shorter the time control, the higher the world-leading elo is. Is there a simple explanation for that?

I also noticed that, in the meantime, the shorter the time control, the lower the median is vof all players. I think it is because, the shorter the game is, the more you need to know by heart many openings and the more you need to be skilled to be good at such mode.

user17100: In addition to number of games played, draw rate is a very important factor. The top players will mainly have their ratings brought down by draws against lower rated players. For high level chess, blitz has an 18.5% draw rate compared with a 30.8% for rapid, and 36.9% for classical. Shorter TC allows super-GM level players to do weirder things to bring GMs or IMs way out of their comfort zone, and thus gives them more opportunities to win.

user27165: I think the key of this is number of played games.
Nihalsarin2004 9440 bullet games
konevlad 1113 blitz games
Zhigalko_Sergei 257 rapid games
Biranidun  84 clasic games

23457: <p>I noticed on lichess.org that the shorter the time control, the higher the world-leading elo is. Is there a simple explanation for that?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kx2tD.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kx2tD.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>I also noticed that, in the meantime, the shorter the time control, the lower the median is vof all players. I think it is because, the shorter the game is, the more you need to know by heart many openings and the more you need to be skilled to be good at such mode.</p>
 17100: <p>In addition to number of games played, draw rate is a very important factor. The top players will mainly have their ratings brought down by draws against lower rated players. For high level chess, blitz has an 18.5% draw rate compared with a 30.8% for rapid, and 36.9% for classical. Shorter TC allows super-GM level players to do weirder things to bring GMs or IMs way out of their comfort zone, and thus gives them more opportunities to win.</p>
 27165: <p>I think the key of this is number of played games.</p>
<p>Nihalsarin2004 9440 bullet games</p>
<p>konevlad 1113 blitz games</p>
<p>Zhigalko_Sergei 257 rapid games</p>
<p>Biranidun  84 clasic games</p>
