My Toughest Opponent: Time
Unlike many who play mainly Blitz or Bullet, I stick to Rapid 30 minute...and I still run out of time all too often. I think more slowly than 98% of my opponents, I'm a perfectionist looking for the "!!" move, and I enjoy attacking, which requires a lot of time to calculate possible responses.
But none of that matters if I'm frequently losing on time or running so low on time that I blunder or simply can't complete a won position.
I could just abandon R30 and go to Daily but I'm going to try an experiment:Â I'm going to attempt to get faster by concentrating mostly on my time management and not optimal moves or even winning. Even if I lose 20 games in a row, if I can at least end with, say, 5 minutes left, that will be an improvement over now.
This will probably be a humbling experience but that's how one learns.
[Look at the 5th comment from the bottom about a well-known chess player with similar time management issues.]
Date      Time remaining [m/s]  # moves  outcome
2024/04/03 Â Â 0:18 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 44Â Â Â Â Â Â Â fail
2024/04/03 Â Â 6:15 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 34Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [blundered a piece on move 3]
2024/04/03Â Â Â 21:18Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 24Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [blundered a piece on move 10]
This is turning out worse than I thought it would:Â I'm finishing with plenty of time because I blunder the game away quickly.
2024/04/04Â Â Â 00:21Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 26Â Â Â Â Â Â Â fail
2024/04/04Â Â Â Â 2:17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 50Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [R+P endgame ---> K+P endgame with opposition]
2024/04/05Â Â Â Â 0:17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 70Â Â Â Â Â Â Â fail [ironically, my opponent ran out of time]
2024/04/06Â Â Â 14:07Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 28Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [my opp blundered a piece then I blundered it right back and then some]
2024/04/06Â Â Â Â 2:26Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 42Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success
2024/04/07Â Â Â 15:00Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [lost horribly]
2024/04/07Â Â Â Â 8:38Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 36Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [blundered a piece then made it worse by losing a Rook instead]
2024/04/07    9:44                 58       success [blundered a pawn on move 2 [mouse slip] and it went downhill from there. Opponent appeared to throw the game with 2 game-changing blunders in succession]
2024/04/08Â Â Â Â 4:59Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 53Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [no blunders]
2024/04/09Â Â Â Â 2:30Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 36Â Â Â Â Â Â Â fail [I reverted to my old style]
2024/04/10Â Â Â Â 2:30Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 39Â Â Â Â Â Â Â fail [reverted; missed a win and settled for a draw]
2024/04/12Â Â Â 20:21Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18Â Â Â Â Â Â Â success [not only did I not blunder, I found a tactic and won a piece]
2024/04/13Â Â Â Â 4:57Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 34Â Â Â Â Â Â Â meh [blundered a piece early, got a great attack, but missed the winning idea, then got checkmated]