Disagree. I found that by playing blitz / qucik games of 1 min, i saw a lot more possible 'good' moves and combinations than when i started out. you see them very quickly because you have to move very quickly - players at my quick rating ( 1900ish ) dont rely on premoves, as many weaker players believe. So playing blitz forces you to come up with several ideas quickly, and dismiss the ones that dont work quickly. If you can do that but in a long game, you will have more time to spend on the lines that do work, and cause maximum damage with it. Every training method has a purpose, some methods just work on different areas.

Also, in quick games, your opponent WILL make mistakes. I once saw ( on this site albeit) a NM leave his bishop on. Although that doesnt really make much room for great tactical play, there are opportunities in every game. 'but i dont have time to find them in the game! i only have one minute!' study the game AFTERWARDS then! run it through a computer and see what it comes up with. quick games make for awesome tactical puzzles!

fncll> [W]ill that memorization help me in my games? In general, I doubt it.

Memorizing common patterns certainly does help during games, although I agree that one should know how to calculate them. Either ability in and of itself is not so strong as the two abilities combined. This position is from a game I played last week:

Memorize the calculation just in same fashion one memorizes multiplication tables.

8 year old kids can easily learn a 25 X 25 grid of multiplication, which is 625 answers, and fill it out in less than20 minutes.  Well, the intelligent ones that are willing to work can, anyway.

Chess calculation is not any harder than math.

The real CRUX is VISUALIZATION!  That is why we must memorize things like colors of squares, the geometry of the board, where the pieces are and what it will look like after they move. 

Being able to visualize a position after 3 ply moves and then consistantly ASSESS it properly is aided very much by memory.

Not everyone is capable of this.  I am not. 

That is why I am a patzer.

~ richie_and_oprah

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