How to Play Faster In Chess
Thinking and playing faster chess and taking less time to make moves is a matter of lots and lots of practice over a long period of time. Here are 5 tips to improve your bullet and blitz chess.
1: I have noticed that players can get into really good positions in the opening and middle game when playing a fast time control, but they simply did not save enough time to finish off their opponent in the endgame.
Many players who have not played enough fast games are often used to classical games at over the board tournaments where they have either delay or increment added on to their clock as well as a substantial amount of time to make each move with precision. It can sometimes be hard to transition from one time control to another, so they take their time to play an accurate opening and decent middlegame. They are up maybe ten points, however, they just realize that their clock only has twenty seconds left.
The first natural instinct is to panic and play fast, sloppy moves just to try to move fast. They start disregarding the position and only focus on not losing on time.
This leads me to my first tip: DON'T PANIC!
You must realize you have to move quicker, but you can't randomly start clicking on squares and hope that it does something. After practice, you realize that 20 seconds is plenty of time to mate your opponent if you just focus on a certain goal. To illustrate this point I will provide an example. In this example, I had only played a handful of bullet chess and you can see me get into a pretty good position (about 10 points up in the position) and gradually, I blow it. Once I saw my clock at 30 seconds, I panicked! Panicking makes you blunder and blunder and lose the game.
Tip 2: Know your openings well and don't waste time on them.
There is no sense in spending five seconds on one move, or even worse every move, in the opening. This leads to wasting time and losing time you could be using for harder calculations in the middle game. If you know the theory of the opening you like best well, you shouldn't need to double check your moves in the opening. Of course you need to see what your opponent does first, but as long as you have the basic principles and ideas you want to accomplish, you should be done with the opening in about 5-10 seconds in a bullet game and maybe 20-30 seconds in a blitz game. Get out of the opening in a good or equal position and you will have time to play out the rest of the game.
Tip 3: Know when to calculate and when to play instinctively.
Calculation plays a large and crucial role in classical chess. You must find candidate moves and go deep into many possible lines of analysis. Usually in fast games you only calculate when their is clearly a hard decision, but don't think too hard. Sometimes you have to skim the surface, but try to make the decisions that don't place your game at risk. This doesn't mean to only play defensively, but only play an attacking move that you can clearly see will work. Often times after a sacrifice, you may miss an in-between move and be down on time after a calculation. If you recognize the theme and you just need to make sure it works well in your current positions, take the time. Mostly though, play instinctively. Go with what your mind first tells you. This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of fast chess to me- instinct. Instinct can only be achieved by lots of practice which means that you need to PLAY A LOT OF CHESS in this time control to get good. All in all, tip 3 essentially is to PRACTICE!
Tip 4: Space out your time well.
I have already talked about not wasting time in the opening, but you should be wary of how you spend your time in the middle game as well. The middle game to me is the hardest part. There are no books to memorize and study. You cannot rely on theory you have locked in your memory, nor can you rely on huge endgame books with everything you need to know from A-Z and every position to practice. The middle game is an original part of the game in which each player's creativity and wits are pitted against each other. It is a game of tactics and precision. Often in bullet and blitz formats, tactics are overlooked and can sometimes prove fatal. My tip is to make a quick check for the basic tactics when your opponent moves an attacking piece into your position. If he moves a knight, is there a fork? What is the purpose of that move? These two questions may save you from making blunders under pressure. By asking these questions as well as many other common sense ideas and plans in chess, you should be able to cut down on time and still have time to finish off your opponent. If you are the attacker, look for tactical ideas. Your opponent might not see a fork in the position and lose because of it. One more thing that is important to mention is that you should be cautious about premoving. Premoving should be done mostly when you are winning or when less can go wrong, like in the opening. But NEVER, EVER premove too many moves in succession. Here is an example from a game I played that proved fatal for my opponent:
I played a blunder in this position, but sometimes in bullet or blitz these sacrifices can be made to punish your opponent's mistakes.
Tip 5: Don't stress it, have fun! 
Bullet and blitz aren't serious games. They're for fun! They may even help in classical tournaments to instinctively have a plan at ready. If you get stressed in time trouble, take a deep breath and continue as best as you can.
I hope this helps! Good luck and have fun!
