five minute blitz as a new player

As a new chess player, I find the time controls to be particularly critical to the essence of chess and how I play it.

When I was a 300 or 400, I remember distinctly not knowing which time controls to play with. I would blunder everything from pawns to queen (and even king) if I played games too short. Even today, when I'm around 950 and coming up on 1000, 3-minute blitz games still have this effect. I don't have enough time to think about the consequences of a move. I don't have enough time to think of a better move. I would constantly have to think about the clock, in the corner to my screen, and no matter what I did I felt that even if I didn't get outplayed in the middlegame, the endgames were always scrambles where way too often I would have ten seconds to my opponent's minute.

So briefly put, I didn't play 3-minute blitz.

The second time control I played with was 10-minute, which is technically still considered blitz but added a lot more freedom and liberty to make decisions and contemplate moves. I now didn't have to worry so much about keeping my eyes on the timer, but I began to also realize the other effects of 10-minute blitz chess. Now, every move counted to an excruciating degree. And being a 950, no matter how much time I was given, I would inevitably blunder and fall behind. Sure, minor success was prevalent in a few games, when I emerged in the endgame as the superior and was able to keep my head straight, but too often my games would constantly reach the endgame without any attacking opportunities. In 10-minute chess, position is everything.

And blunders really have an effect on your position.

So now I present the effective solution to my time control problems, where, speaking from experience (as little as I have), the most dynamic and fun games are. 

5-minute blitz. 

No other time control has prevailed to a 950-rated player the same as 5-minute chess, where the perfect combination of concentration and potential resides. I don't feel any anxiety from the clock and I'm able to embark on attacking opportunities that actively see my pieces truly engage in the game of chess. I can spend reasonable amounts of time deciding over a particular move, even going back during my opponent's time to watch how certain positions develop. Situations become imprinted in my mind, and I can remind myself not to fall into opening traps from the experience I gained from 5-minute blitz.