The Ultimate Time Management Guide for Tournament Players, Part I

Part I: Trimming the Fat

Introduction

When we study chess, we usually focus on the internal factors, or the actual chess: tactics, strategy, openings, endgames. But what's not talked about enough are the external factors that may come up at chess tournaments, one of which is time management. I have noticed a lack of resources on how to manage your time in classical time controls, so I put together this guide using my own and other players' experiences.

Firstly, what is time management and why is it important? To put it simply, in tournament chess, there are an almost infinite amount of variations to calculate, but only have a finite time to think. This means that we have to choose how to allocate our time wisely, and think when it matters most. That's a pretty simple principle in theory, but if you've played yourself then you know it's anything but: losing a game with an hour left on the clock, spending too much time in the opening, blundering a knight after playing a move too quickly. 

So how can we decide where we can save time and where we have to slow down and think?

Your first thought might be "why don't we just divide the time equally between all our moves"? Unfortunately, this is a common beginner mistake, and there are a few ways the idea falls short.

The most obvious problem is that you don't know how many moves your game is going to be. Let's say you have 1 hour to think, and using the benchmark that the average game lasts 40 moves, you budget 90 seconds per move. But if the game ends on move 20, then you would have wasted 30 minutes, or if the game starts dragging out, you will start to run out of time before the game finishes. The other problem is that not all moves are created equal! Do you really need to spend 90 seconds to play 1.e4, or escape check when you only have one legal move? Conversely, what if you are calculating a tactic, but at the end of 90 seconds, you still haven't seen it to the end of the variation? Should you just make a decision with incomplete information, or risk overrunning your time allotment by continuing to think?

While few people spend exactly the same amount of time on every turn, the fundamental issue is the same: the number one mistake I see beginner tournament players making is using too small of a range of times (let's say, a given player spends between 30 and 60 seconds on every move). On one hand, they feel like they will miss something if they move too fast, and on the other hand don't want to feel like they are moving too slowly and get flagged.

So how can we improve, while still avoiding those dreaded blunders? Well, lucky for you, there are a lot of things you can do!

The first thing you will notice about this example is how the time usage "spikes" at a few critical moments in the game. I will make a separate article explaining how to identify critical moments in a game, but in a nutshell, it's a position where the evaluation of the top few moves differ significantly, and thus an inaccurate move could significantly alter the character of the game. These few moments will require deep calculation and the majority of your time on the clock, so we need to "trim the fat" elsewhere to make room for them.

Trimming the Fat

There are some common ways you can reduce how much time you are burning on non-essential moves, some of which can be prepared off the board.

1. Having a plan

The thing is that for most positions, there is actually very little difference between the top 3 or even top 5 moves. There is no use spending tons of time on deciding between two moves that are more or less the same in evaluation. There could even be multiple viable plans, and which one you choose could be completely up to personal preference. The most important part is that you come up with any plan at all! This will allow you to do a few things. For one, you can plan a sequence of multiple moves in a row in advance so you can play them quickly (one notorious example is the London system - it's so popular in bullet because there is a predetermined sequence of moves white can play quickly against almost everything black does). It also gives your thinking some direction, which will help narrow down the list of candidate moves down to the ones that advance your plan in some way. 

2. Knowing the book

The first few moves in the game are usually well-established theory, such as the starting sequence for the Najdorf Sicilian or Berlin Ruy Lopez. Knowing the theory in the openings you play so you can blitz those moves out will help you bank some time. The player that has the theoretical advantage will go into the middlegame with more time, while the disadvantaged player had to waste time finding moves other players had already figured out before. 

3. Making the automatic moves automatic

Your opponent initiates a queen trade, threatens an obvious mate-in-1 or gives you a check. Often, these types of moves only have one reasonable response; there's no point in thinking when you don't have any decision to make. This is especially true when you only have one legal move, and yet I still see people thinking on the board! Not only is this bad time management, it also probably frustrates your opponent, who might think you are intentionally stalling the game!

4. Having good endgame technique

By the time you get to the final stages of the game, both players are normally in time trouble. But if your opponent is stubborn and doesn't resign, you need to prove that you can still put the game away, even with little time. Know the standard winning techniques for common theoretical endgames, such as the Lucena position or the Rook vs. Rook and 2 positions. For more advanced players, knowing the theoretical drawing techniques is equally important, as advanced players will often press drawn endgames and hope you error under time pressure. These include endgames like Rook vs. Rook + Knight/Bishop, the Vancura position, or a Rook and 4 vs. Rook and 3 position.

5. Use the opponent's time correctly

Up until now, we've only covered things you can do on your time. But what about when your opponent goes for a long think? Well, this is the time for you to do all the miscellaneous things you have to do during the game besides thinking. Filling up your water bottle, going to the bathroom, or filling out the scoresheet header if you didn't do that before the game. If you need to take a break, stretch your legs, eat something (not every tournament allows eating in the playing halls, always check the tournament policy before hand) or splash some water on your face, now's also a good time to do that. Once you get those things out of the way and get back to the board, it's important to remain concrete when calculating on your opponent's time. Actual variations, not just vague ideas or general plans which could easily be interrupted depending on what your opponent plays. I find that it's also helpful to think about only one or two responses from your opponent that are the most likely, since spreading your calculation across too many moves will dilute their effectiveness. You will only be able to utilize the calculation you do for the one move that appears on the board. If you get lucky, this means you will be able to execute a well-planned response without needing to burn any of your own time.

By implementing these five basic strategies, you will be able to create room to calculate during the critical moments, when it matters the most. In the next part, we will be going into more detail about how you can identify when a critical moment arises, and how you can approach them. In part III, we will go over some of the common problems players face, such as playing too fast, playing too slow, hesitating when it's time to make a move, or getting lost in the weeds. In part IV, we will go over more advanced time management techniques, such as the barrage tactic, banking time, and using the clock to apply pressure. Finally, in part V, I will show some examples of real games where these techniques were used.

I will also be bringing back the opening meta series, expect to see an article released on that soon!