10 Ways To Improve In Blitz
Hey guys, how are you all?
This is quite aw bit overdue but, here it is, 10 ways to improve in blitz!
Once again thanks for being here, any questions just ask in the comments below and enjoy!
(If you want me to make a specific post, get at least 10 people who also want to see it and then I'll make it!)
1.
Find Your Time Control
There are many time controls in blitz, and finding the one which suits you the best will help you improve the most, so here are the most used time controls and the chess personalities that best suit them.
3|0
If you like speed, 3|0 is for you, down a piece or in a tough position, the clock is there to save you, but also to destroy you, to play 3|0 you have to be a fast player from start to finish, you also need to have good opening theory so you're not defeated in the opening, 3|0 tends to contain aggressive chess with your opponent trying to give you a hard time so you can go lower on the clock, if you have good speed, good chess ability and know how to make a position hard, 3|0 is for you.
3|2
3|2 is similar to 3|0 except you don't really have to worry about time thanks to the two second increment, this is for players who are semi-aggressive but like to calculate before attacking, and although they want you down on the clock so you are put under pressure, ultimately they want to deliver checkmate, not be saved by the clock.
5|0
A more relaxed speed, plenty of time for calculation and plenty of time to look for tactics, but not long enough that you can sit there not worrying about your time! Although you have a lot longer, you still need to be careful on the clock because you can find yourself in nasty time situations. So if you prefer to think out your moves, but still want the chance to use the clock against your opponent, 5|0 is for you!
5|5
Wow, we might as well be playing rapid over here! 5|5 is a leisurely time, you basically never have to watch out for time problems, but I must warn you, 5|5 is the least played time control and tends to be played by players with a bad connection, so they don't have to worry about timing out, so if you have bad connection, this is probably best, but if you like rapid, 5|5 is the best blitz time control for you.
2.
Get Prepared for Aggressive Openings
In classical chess, aggressive openings and gambits don't usually work, but in blitz, where you only have a few minutes, calculating it out and leaving the opening with gains, is very hard, and if you do manage to survive, it might've taken you so long you lose on time, so here are the aggressive openings (mainly gambits.)
White and black openings will be separated.
I'll also link some good resources underneath the diagram if you like what you see so you can go and study more!
Aggressive Openings
Your here for blood, for quick wins or for a lovely position, these openings will all be gambits, but be careful about playing them, because if your opponent knows what to do, it could be game over!
Aggressive White Openings
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King's Gambit
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3.
Analysing
This is a very important part of chess, analysing your game, you will be surprised at how many games you play that you skipped, but don't just analyse by reading what the computer says, no you're not even analysing at that point, here are the two steps that will help improve your chess when you analyse.
1. Open up the game and first analyse by yourself! Think back and look for the correct play for both sides, anaylse for yourself and them, and make sure you have a reason why, such as, I should've done this instead because it made me develop faster, etc.
2. Once you've done step one, now you can run it through the computer and have it analyse, then go to each mistake or inaccuracy and try to understand why it was what it was, and finally after that go check how your own anaylsis compares to the computer, this way of analysing will help open your chess brain and will defiantly help you improve!
4.
Thinking Ahead
Thinking ahead is very critical to success, and I don't mean the casual if they move here I move there and they move there I move there etc. I mean making a plan, asking yourself are these pieces happy where they are? Where can I move them to make them in a happy position.
Another good way of thinking ahead is reading the board, if I do this trade, this will bring us into the endgame faster, or if I play this move this, it will lead to very dynamic play, am I ready for such play? If you ask yourself these questions in advance, you will find yourself playing at a much higher level.
5.
How Long Can I Think?
In blitz time is a real problem, and if you really want to be a master of blitz, you need to make sure you're spending your time well! So here are some tips you can use!
1. Get the opening moves fast! You would be surprised the amount of people who waste time in the opening, if you can get the first 10 moves in a matter of seconds, you have saved so much time for thinking later, this is why it is so important that you know how to deal with gambits etc, because then you don't have to waste all your time figuring out how to survive!
2. When you're losing keep the position tricky! Let's say you just lost a piece, the best chance is to keep the position as tricky as possible, this is for two reasons, 1. because you can get a good shot at getting that piece back 2. because you can wither down their time and get them on the clock! Though make sure you don't make it so tricky that you have to think for long as well!
3. Make sure you see what your opponent is actually doing, sometimes you see they make a move and you reply prematurely, you want to (as fast as possible) try and see if it's a threat, if it is spend another few seconds dealing with it, if it isn't continue with your plan.
4. Make sure you always have a plan! If you don't have a plan you will find yourself wasting time trying to think of a move, rather then just thinking for the move, make a plan, what you want to do, that way you can get your moves out fast.
5. Use your opponent's time! Every second they speak are precious seconds you are saving on your clock, while they are thinking long and hard, quickly identify their threats and make a plan for it before they can even move, this way you stay up on the clock.
6.
Finding Weaknesses
It often is hard to find weakness in your opponents position, but here are some common weakness you can spot easily that you can take advantage of.
1. Backward pawn. A backward pawn is when one of the centre pawns is behind, or supporting a pawn in front of it, these tend to be very weak pawns in a position, you can easily stack onto them or plug a piece right in front of it, a knight would be a great piece because it could be an outpost.
2. Weak squares around the king. A positional weakness is when your opponent is castled and they have one of their king pawns pushed whatever pawn they pushed may have made a weakness, lets say the fianchetto but they have no bishop to put in front of their king, those squares around the king will be very very weak and if you were to put a queen and the right coloured bishop on those squares, checkmate is near.
3. Isolated pawns. An isolated pawn is a pawn that has no pawns around it to defend, if you target these pawns you will find they fall quite easily, and you can easily tie up one of your enemies pieces to that pawn, if you did this, they could technically speaking, be down a piece.
7.
Forgetting Rating
Often times in any rating once you reach a peak you tend to freeze up, stop playing it because you want to enjoy it, in fact I'm even guilty of it, but this is a mistake. If you stop as soon as your peak your play will go down, just keep playing, if you go up, great, you can stop whenever but make sure you continue over the next days, however if instead you go down, don't stress you have just proven you are capable of reaching that rating, so keep playing and remember that you are capable of reaching that rating.
The second point I wanted to cover was to also forget your opponents rating, often times when you versus a player who is a couple hundred points higher than you they already have an advantage just because of the sheer psychological pressure, but it's only yourself who is allowing that pressure, if you thought of your opponent as merely an opponent you will quickly discover you have the psychological pressure, because your opponent would be expecting you to be frightened and just play cheap and wait for you to blunder, but if you don't give in you will soon have them on the backhand.
8.
Tactics
Here are some tactics, you will find them repetitive but it is all about drilling in the idea of the tactic, and hopefully you can execute it in your blitz games! These all came through real games, some I managed to get from the chess book '1001 Deadly Checkmates' by John Nunn, it is a great book if you want to improve your tactical recognition.
Deadly Diagonals
9.
How to Comeback
You've just blundered a piece in the opening, you're down a piece, you hover over the resign button, but then my writing kicks in your head, don't give up, there are still chances, the game isn't over until it's over, don't call it a blunder, call it a sacrifice, you would be surprised how many resign as soon as they're down a piece, but it is far from the end, when you are done you have to focus and make the trickiest position known to chess, you can make a tricky position by advancing your pawns, attacking the important pieces like the king and queen, putting pressure on the weakness, trying to grab as much space as possible to try and immobilise their pieces, when you are down you should go and turn into the attacker, of course this won't necessarily always work but this is the best shot you have, and remember the trickier position you create the more they have to think and the lower their clock goes!
And if everything turns sour, don't forget about stalemate 
10.
The Importance of Blitz
It's no news that classical chess is dying, it just isn't fitting with the modern norm, and whilst longer games bring out better play, blitz is the style of chess that is starting to rise, so while you may get into debates about how blitz isn't the best for your play, remember that is what is being played more often nowadays, alongside this blitz is probably the best time control for casual players, if your busy or on a car you can just drop a quick game.
BIG ANNOUNCMENT
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Alright so that's me, thanks for checking in, hope this helped you out! If you have any thoughts or want to show progress or so I did a mistake, feel free to say in the comments below!
Yours!
@destroyer8470
