It's a bit slower than people usually like to play blitz (3 minute chess is popular on other sites too). Also with that much increment there are no pulse racing photo finishes, which is a favorite of blitz junkies.
Doing something about the pre-sets is fine, but suggesting your personal favorite should be standard is just humorous :p
3 minutes is a great way to play survivor against your opponent but does not incorporate all three facets of chess. It should involve an opening, middle, and end game. 3 minute chess provides a rushed opening and a very sad attempt at a middle. It is fun for many players but not a true full style blitz game that I am asking people to consider. Did you even try it a few times before you posted?? I am just asking that it be considered. Thank you for your comments :)
I agree, 3 minute chess doesn't have an endgame at all usually. It's a rushed opening, then 5:40 of middlegame (each player has 10 seconds left), and if the position isn't a trivial win then the winner will be who has the better blitz skill (clever premoving, sacrificial checks, that sort of thing).
I've played all kinds of blitz before. 1/5 wouldn't be bad, but it would take a bit of getting used to. Sometimes when I try these my internal clock will tell me I have ____ amount of time but I look up and it's different (I should have been slowing down or speeding up).
I've played (not on this site) a lot of 10/10, and I like how a good amount of increment makes for a more complete game. But when I play blitz with no increment I'm not looking for a complete game, I just want a wild game where blunders and bad sacrifices can be forgiven as long as you keep moving quickly. I suspect that's how most blitz players are, and that even if you removed all presets that players would still gravitate toward 1 and 3 minute chess.
True actually... at 1/5 I will actually be punished for my mistakes and reckless play, as just playing fast won't save me. Oh my bad!
Probably around 4:20 minutes for each player - making 8:40 minutes in total.
The calculation is based on the idea that the average game is 40 moves long. The way to make these calculations is generally to add the number of minutes to two thirds of the increment (here it's 1 + 3 1/3)
Hope that helps
Well, if an average game is 40 moves (and that's how I usually figure it). 40x5 sec.(incr.)=200 sec. +40 sec (straight time)= 240 sec. which is 4 minutes even by my calculations (but I'm definitely no mathematician), making it a little slower than 5/0 and a little faster than 3/0 but with the questionable ability to add time in the endgame if one moves extremely fast - except that the endgame requires more time than any other part of the game (for me). I guess one could move extremely fast in the opening and early middle game to store up time for later. Increments add a somewhat distorted use of time for my tastes, though I can see how others might like it.
adding up time for the endgame is tempting - but if you don't take time to calculate when you need it, sometimes there is just NO endgame... blast!!
The error in calculation is that the straight time is one minute, not 40 sec - so there you have it, 4:20 minutes again.
I remember looking at your Fischer website once, and reading your thoughts on many things, which were very interesting reading... although at the present moment I can't come up with anything concrete - but I think I first discovered you at chessgames.com - although I can't remember for the life of me which handle you were (are?) using there..
What is the +40 seconds of "stright time" ?
Base: 1 minute each = 2 minutes total.
Increment: 5 second over 40 moves = 200 seconds = 400 seconds total = 6 minutes 40 seconds total.
Base + increment is 8 minutes 40 seconds. Somewhere between a 4/0 and 5/0 game on average.
Endgame are less forgiving, but one saving feature is a repetition of moves to gain some time on the clock which seems more available in endgames.
The error in calculation is that the straight time is one minute, not 40 sec - so there you have it, 4:20 minutes again.
I told you I am no mathematician! Thanks.
At chessgames.com I'm SBC. I don't have a Fischer website. I do have an extensive Morphy site though and some other chess sites including my blog here.
I appreciate the feedback :) I'm glad that some of you see where I am coming from. Having to wait 10+ minutes to finally have someone accept my game request in the seeks is slowly taking away my youth lol If this great site decides tomake 1/5 a choice on the presets i'm sure many players would try it simply from intrigue. After the first few games you will be hooked. It is real chess with speed involved as opposed to a game of speed with some chess involved ;)
Although stronger players do manage to play some real chess also in 3 0 time controls, even including an endgame here and there
my problem with 15+10 is:
1. it is not blitz :p
2. if your winning and someone wants to mess with ya they can just let the time tick down and you have to wait 15 or more minutes lol hate that
IF YOU HATE 15+10 THEN DONT PLAY 120+120 MINUTES
Just play 10 minutes like a normal person
EHH BULLET IS BETTER
1 min 5 sec increment!!!
I think that this should be a standard set time option. I notice that you get matched up much quicker if you choose one of the preset times in live chess and there is a gap missing in the blitz chess category that allows players to still finish the game. I think the site needs to really look at this and start making 1 min 5 sec increments a standard time option. This keeps the time low so players can not abort and make you wait 5 minutes to win if they are sore losers. It also prevents you from losing because time runs out even though you are ahead 15 points lol. I encourage everyone to try out this time limit and I promise you will enjoy it!! Anyone elses thoughts??
Thanks,
Canadian87