Why Blitz Is The Best Form Of Chess Training

Quantity has a quality all its own

—Thomas A. Callaghan Jr

In 2019, GM Hikaru Nakamura was over the hill. He was 32 years old and had gradually dropped nearly 70 points from his rating peak four years earlier, falling from number two in the world to 16th place. For many, when Nakamura started streaming blitz games for hours a day, it seemed to signal his retirement. However, as a blitz streamer, Nakamura's competitive strength improved in all formats. He regained his peak ranking and rating, and this spring he will be competing in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, with a shot at a world championship match. 

Nakamura's resurgence shocked some, but in the modern era, playing blitz is an excellent training tool. Virtually all up-and-coming stars and top GMs play massive numbers of blitz games. Blitz builds pattern recognition, identifies weaknesses, and helps to build opening repertoires. The question isn't about whether chess improvers should play blitz. Instead, it's how should you use blitz to improve your game?

If You Want To Get Better At Chess, You Have To Play Chess. 

The heading above was written by coach and FM Nate Solon in a blog post titled 5 Reasons You're Not Improving. It seems like obvious advice, but many people interested in improvement feel a need to perfect their study routine before playing. A good training plan is helpful, but nothing prepares you for playing chess quite as well as playing chess. At the time of this writing, Nakamura has played over 67,000 games on Chess.com. Most of those are blitz, and this isn't counting the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of games he played on Internet Chess Club before he started playing here. 

Just when I thought I couldn't get enough chess, it looks like @MagnusCarlsen and I will be playing a blitz match tonight!

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) November 18, 2010

There's simply no substitute for the benefits of repetition and instant feedback you get from playing games. You would never expect to become a good runner by primarily studying running theory. You mostly get good at it by running. Why would you expect to become a strong chess player by primarily studying chess, rather than playing the game?

It's not just common sense that you need to play games to succeed at chess. The data demonstrate that playing more blitz games correlates with success at both rapid and blitz! The number of blitz games users play is more heavily correlated with strength in every time control than the number of rapid games that they've played. 

But Shouldn't I Be Playing Classical Chess?

Classical chess, played with long time controls, is a great way to improve at chess. However, it's often difficult to find the time or opponents to play. Even without those issues, it's not necessarily true that classical is the best use of your playing time. One classical game can take several hours. You'll probably learn more from that experience than playing any one blitz game. However, if you spend those same hours playing several blitz games and analyzing each one, you may learn more from the blitz experience.

How To Learn From Blitz

You have to be intentional about your blitz games to make them an effective form of training. I recommend following a three-step process for each game.

1. Play Focused

For blitz to help you improve, you need to be able to give your best effort in each game. Don't have family distracting you. Don't play when you're overly tired. It's OK to play at other times, but don't think of those games as training. GM Magnus Carlsen and GM David Howell were not training at puzzles in this clip.

2. Review Your Game

Run a Game Review or do your own post-game analysis for every game. You don't need to spend a lot of time reviewing fast games, but look to discover the critical moment that decided each one, and try to find a takeaway that you can focus on in the future. This will help identify trends in your game. Maybe you're struggling to spot forks and can work on that with puzzles. Maybe you need to better understand isolated pawn positions. It's OK to play several games in a row before reviewing, but make sure to go back and complete this step if you're looking to learn from your games.

3. Learn One Opening Move Each Game

If you play a lot of blitz, you can develop an incredible opening repertoire, one small step at a time. Nearly every game you play will feature a move you've never seen before. After the game you can find that new moment and check with an engine, database, or book to see what you should play next time. This only takes a minute, but if you do it consistently you'll create your own opening book.

Here's how it works for me. I learned a variation against the Slav Defense from a book nearly a decade ago. Through trial, error, and postgame analysis I've fleshed out the opening, one move at at time. I recently checked the position from this game on move nine in the ChessBase Database. It has never been reached in over-the-board play, but I've had it in Chess.com games 155 times. Objectively, the position is equal, but it's not surprising that I'm able to score well against unprepared opponents.

Not every game of yours (or mine) will go so smoothly, even when you've learned from each blitz game. However, if you repeat this process several times each day, you're sure to improve one 3-minute game at a time.

Is blitz really a good way to improve at chess? Let us know in the comments!