Blitz chess tournaments

 Hello again chess.com, this time my topic is Blitz chess or as some people prefer to call it SPEED CHESS. How many of you play speed chess? What are your opinions of blitz chess. Do you feel that there should be more blitz chess tournaments or should they still be side events at major tournaments?

 To me, blitz chess is like a race against the clock. Which it really is. A certain amount of time to complete a game. If you complete the game before the time hits zero it is good but if you lose the race then you lose the game and the initiative. I love playing blitz chess on my spare time but I have to say that it requires more mental focus and reflexes than a normal game of chess. Many experts say that blitz chess is bad for your regular tournament play and I agree with them but I also disagree. I feel that blitz chess helps to build up your repertoire of moves and openings and that you can learn openings faster but I also feel that the speed of it will ruin a regular game because you put your focus on one type of game and then lose it in another.

  Tell me what you think all you chess players. Is it a YES for blitz chess or a big NO for it in tournaments and what are your feelings of blitz chess.

If you want to improve stop playing blitz chess.

I believe one of our wiser members, Estragon, pointed out that blitz is valuable as a showcase for your chess skills.  Until those skills are developed there is nothing to show (titled players generally love blitz).  I would go further and say that not only is it a waste of time but is actively counterproductive.  Hey, you asked....

I believe that baddogno is misquoting Estragon. Pls provide an exact quote from him along with the source.

It's something he wrote in the forums sometime in the last week.  If I had the exact quote and source I would have used it.  I just wanted to give him credit for the whole "empty showcase concept".  Perhaps the exact quote was closer to "Blitz serves as a showcase for your chess skills.  Until those skills are developed, there is nothing to show".  I just didn't want to be accused of "plagiarism".   I suppose we could message him if it's that important to you....

Well it's not exactly a matter of life and death but I've read a fair amt of Estragon's comments and I don't recall him ever saying anything positive about blitz chess. That doesn't mean he never did of course and maybe I'm misinterpreting "...blitz is valuable as a showcase for your chess skills"

The whole point of my post was to give homage to Estragon's observation that since blitz serves as a showcase for your chess skills,  it's an empty showcase at anything less than expert level.  Obviously I must have mucked it up and caused confusion because that's certainly not saying anything good about blitz.  Again my apology for any confusion.  I thought I made it clear I was paraphrasing his observation, but obviously I didn't.  Lesson learned.

Ok so we have opinions from 2 people. Can we get anymore opinions about blitz chess. Who likes to play it for fun and how does it help you guys when it comes to mental strength and quickness?

NimzoRoy, can you give me your opinions of blitz and why you feel that one should quit it if they want to improve because I have seen some players improve by playing blitz chess.

blitz chess is fine, i find it better with 1-3 second delay or increment to prevent winning via time gamesmanship instead of by position on the board.

obviously blitz is a slightly different discipline than otb chess at longer controls, and one should recognize that and play according to the situation.

i think blitz is good to practice developing a repertoire or to try playing different types of positions and pawn structures.  u can definitely develop tactical acumen there.   tal would play chess for hours on end against all comers and botvinnik never... and yet both were WCs with philosophies that sufficed for them.  just have fun.

blitz strength does not necessarily imply otb strength,  one of my friends who taught me some chess, less than 2000 otb is/was 2600+ bullet here and over 2800 blitz icc.  if you can defend defend and defend , you'll do well in blitz.

For me blitz chess is fun.I get to handle my "panic mode" game after game. It also helps me become familiar with the openings i often use. But is very painful for my index finger.

bestmom   I play blitz myself but mainly concentrate on turn-based games where I can think things out, or at least try to, with plenty of time to do so. Ask estragon, IM pfren or any other FM/IM/GM and see what they have to say about how good or bad playing blitz is for overall improvement. From what I've read over the years few really strong players recommend playing blitz if you want to improve and IMHO I think they know what they're talking about. But it is a tough habit to break once you get addicted!

Ok NimzoRoy, two things. 1. I thank you for saying that because you shared something valuable with that comment. I agree totally that once you start playing blitz chess, it is a tough habit to break and I do agree with you and the other masters on chess.com that playing blitz chess doesn't help to improve your all around chess playing skills. So again thank you for that comment. 2. I also mainly concentrat on turn-based games because by doing that, I can remember where I am in a game of chess or I can practice a new opening or tactic that can help me in the future.

Ok. Now I will jump to turn-based chess. How many of you here feel that being able to play over a course of a few days can help you to remember your current games and to help you concentrate while playing them. I for one love correspondence chess because I can really hone my skills.

The notion that blitz is harmful to slow games is ridiculous. There is no basis in fact for such a claim. In actuality, bullet and blitz improve tactical skills as well as clock management. Plus it's super fun. 

I agree with blitz chess being fun and helping with tactical skills but I also must admit that it does affect a slow game a bit. I do feel however that if you play speed chess it won't tire you out as quickly as a slow game does and blitz chess does help with reflexes so fianchetto123 I understand where you are going with your idea.

Well it's nice to see that you know more about this than a bunch of know-it-all IMs and GMs. Bobby Fischer used to diss blitz chess even though he won at least one world-class blitz tnmt in his day, I guess he was wrong too huh?

It's harder to argue with the stmt "There is no basis in fact for such a claim" because all I've seen are the opinions of world-class players and some very strong players here, and not anything remotely resembling a scientific study of this notion. Of course your claim that bullet and bitz improve tactical skills is likewise just an unverified opinion.

In the words of an International Master friend of mine, Calvin Blocker, blitz is "garbage chess". He indicated it was like fast food. A little is okay, a lot is bad for your health.

I think correspondence chess can be very helpful if you have the time to devote to it. If trying to improve play, I would avoid the computer assistant even if it means a lower rating.

I am currently playing games against a chess computer where it has 10 minutes and I have unlimited time. I am finding that I am a bit weaker than the computer under these circumstances and the mistakes I am making are instructional and helping me truly understand the game better. Correspondence seems like it is similar in this regard.

Ok chess.com, I have been playing a lot of correspondence chess and blitz chess lately and I have some new information. I found that after I practiced an opening or a strategy on turn-based chess, it was much easier to play the openuing against other players in blitz chess because I had the chance to work it out with other players on turn-based chess first. I found that on blitz chess, I had a much easier time coming up with winning tactics instead of using the strategies that I would normally use for correspondence chess. After I played a good amount of correspondence chess, I went and competed in 4 blitz tournaments and I had not been very good at playing blitz for a few months and I had always done terrible in tournaments but this time I won one of the tournaments and I got second place in all of the others. Now tell me something players. Do you think that playing blitz chess gives you the ability to blow off steam if you are frustrated or nervous? Do you feel your senses in chess open up to the excitement and challenge of blitz chess? in my experience with blitz chess, I feel that the knowledge and the libraries I have for correspondence chess that are in my head open up even more when I play speed chess. I feel as if I have a more vast knowledge that I never had with correspondence chess that I have finally opened up. I would love to hear what you think. To all of you blitz chess players, give me your honest opinions. Do you love the rush of excitement and adrenaline of an epic game or a showdown of the masters?