Agree! When I lose blitz games it is always because either I miss a tactic - usually later in a game when I am low on time or I take so much time looking for 1 move threats in winning positions that I lose on time.
For longer games, I accumulate and review thematic MG tactics in the openings I play. (I've find them by playing thru many GM games in the openings and accumulate them with an old fashioned set of postal chess stamps.) I can know tons of tactics but only see the ones I look for because I believe it may be there in that structure.
When I find a flaw in how I play an endgame, I study to fix it. I almost always start with going through van Perlo's chapter to see typical tactics with that piece configuration before looking at EG manuals.
bill
Hi there
I get a lot of questions about openings. Which openings to study ? How ?
is the sicilian good for Black ? should I play the London System with White?
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Good questions but in my experience, tactics in blitz and bullet games are essential. if you dont get to trick your opponent in the opening, you will have to play in a middle game.
in fast-paced chess, mistakes are bound to happen, and if you can find a winning tactic, you will score more wins and gain rating points, whichever is your level.
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here's an example of what I practiced in puzzle battle
43 puzzles is pretty much my maximum in 3 minutes. if today I play 2 battles and average 33 puzzles I will lose rating points. if I average 39-40, at least I will be competitive. Regardless of the opening, whether it will be Sicilian Dragon, Nimzo Defense or English Defense.
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At basic level, we need to learn and practice "easy,fast" tactics and then more "difficult" ones.
Why ? because we dont know what will get in our games, maybe 1 move blunder or maybe a 4-moves combination. we shall be ready for both.
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what are easy puzzles ? I will list examples here and you can guess move on board or replay solution by clicking ? or Hint for help. all diagrams given as puzzles
did you solve this fast ? I would think so.
These were easy because they are short, the candidate move or solution seems familiar. in the first one, we checkmate in 1 move. in the second one, we use a classic pattern to win the queen in a discovery pattern.
you would need to know all classic motifs, which I call building blocks before tackling next level. for instance you need to know back rank mates, forks and double attacks, interference, smothered mates, deflection, perpetual checks patterns. all that good stuff.
now what are example of medium level tactics ? here are 3 example for you to solve
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congrats if you found the 3 medium level positions.
These were harder for a host of reasons.
less familiar patterns, longer variations, more candidate moves. in certain positions after move 2, there were several ways to continue but 1 was stronger than the others. in the first batch of positions once you found the right move, there wasn't much debate about sequence of moves