Blitz or Bughouse

Since the beginning of time, Chess has always been a pastime in my family. Either sitting down on a Sunday afternoon or between school and dinner when we were bored we all would pull the boards & clocks out to play a quick game of chess. After awhile, competition at home became obsolete and had to look elsewhere for more of a challenge. It was not long thereafter I became involved in local chess communities and supervised after-school activities.

I was very fortunate as a youth to have been educated by great minds that of which I still consider inspirations to my higher learning. I was taught by many coaches throughout my youth (mostly due to my parents moving all the time to different states). All of them (coaches) always insisted in assuring us as players were taking proper notations as well as time & patience before making your moves. The coaches I had the privilege to be apprenticed under all despised any of us from playing "Blitz" or speed chess:

Blitz chess is fast chess, also known as blitz chess, sudden death, speed chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60–180 minutes (1–3 hours) per player. Bughouse chess (also called Exchange chess, Siamese chess, Tandem chess, Transfer chess, or simply Bughouse) is a popular chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. Normal chess rules apply, except that captured pieces on one board are passed on to the players of the other board, who then have the option of putting these pieces on their board.

Why? Because, they felt the brain doesn't allow us to think through our moves enough before implementing our decision; in such that we "rush" and tend to slip or make mistakes.

When I used to play tournaments in elementary, junior high and high school, between matches everyone was sitting around trying to get in a quick game; therefore, two forms of games would be played: Blitz or Bughouse. Both of them, if caught by your coach (as for myself) would pull you aside, chew your butt and tell you to get your head back in the game (i.e. going over your last game, studying endgames, solving puzzles, etc.).

As I got older, I would get involved in these types of games aside from competing actively in tournaments in or around the surrounding communities where I currently reside. These games became an addiction to playing chess, which has positive and negative outcomes. The positive was being able to get quick games in whenever I felt like it; two, because it was exciting and fun. These games got my heart racing, veins coming out from the temples, nail biting and wanting the rush to victory. They were fun to bring friends and family members together or just a good afternoon bolt playing the game at a park or a street corner. 

The turnaround or negative effect was still remembering the speeches every coach made to me, thus showing that these games tend not to be effective for developmental learning or becoming a more efficient player. Some people within the chess world may think these types of games help structure their way of thinking or improves the nature of their abilities. If so, all the power to you and you might just be the better player to have your mind work that much faster. Don’t get me wrong, my opinion after all these years would have to show I would rather play a long enjoyable game where as a side of me always wants to creep back and get in a game of “Blitz or Bughouse.”

This site has an enormous amount of data that allows many players to adapt and adjust to their currently playing styles focusing on structure while continuing to improve strategically in the most efficient way. While knowing this information is readily available to you, there are many of us that want additional changes made to the system to help improve the site or attract many more individuals by allowing more added features.

Currently, the site offers Online Chess; although quite enjoyable it lacks the quick play while waiting for your opponent to make their next move. Therefore, we are given the Live chess version, where, even though live and quickly, there seems to be many bugs that need to be fixed or adjusted. I figure when all things have been worked out, then maybe down the road we as members can recommend installing Bughouse into the site; which, I believe could really make for some interesting gameplay.