Time pressure in chess / flagging / etc
There are two kind of chess games.
the one which are friendly without any clock or time measurement. casual chess.
and the ones with this below !
even online you can pick a variety of speed controls ( i do not count daily games which have a very long time horizon, requiring uber patience level...)
which one is your favorite ?
at any rate, even in slow chess, time management matters a great deal.
@hikaru defeated @fabianocaruana yesterday in Toronto (2024 candidates).
Did time management matter in what is "classical chess " game ? lets check FIDE exact time control in their regulation
you would think 2 hours for first 40 moves is plenty. Yet @hikaru won in 35 moves and time management was a huge factor.
I won't analyze the game, but look at the final touch Nd5!! below ending the fight !!
Nd5! attacks the queen and if the knight is taken Qxf8 is checkmate because the bishop on c2 guards h7. c6-c5 Qxc5 doesn't change anything, white will be up a piece. Convincing win if you ask me. Fabiano had only around 5 minutes to reach the 40th move, so the slow game was turning into faster time control. it always does.
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what about blitz ? of course you have to play "the clock". It's part of the game. Let me show a 3 minute blitz I played against an IM (International Master)
I have the white pieces and just played h5-h6. Chesscom review thinks its the best move.
but lets look at the clock situation, I have 38 seconds and Black has 15 seconds.
Lets say you take 5 seconds to look at the board which is 33.3% of your remaining time.
What would you play as Black ?
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you can try your luck on the diagram above with the move you would select or press ? for solution.
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my opponent chose Kf6 to prevent from promoting my h-pawn. understable
what did he forget ? WHITE TO MOVE
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solution below
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the rest doesnt deserve a diagram. I played Nd5+ which is the winning fork. My opponent continued for a few moves , then resigned.
if he had played Rb1+ instead of Kf6, and with remaining times closer to equal, I am not sure I was better in the endgame nor what would have been the result.
"the clock is part of the game"
dont get me started on bullet and ultra bullet. here's a suspicious #1 in the world ranking on chesscom, but maybe we should ask Kramnik or Hikaru or Danny Rensch about it ? I think he plays ultra-bullet only but it counts for his insane bullet rating.
