5 mins games - Is it good ?

Is it good to play short games ? Does one really think or learn to think in these games ? Your thoughts ??

No.

The deal is ones you learned to think you can then go for think faster.

There are some element on fast chess that are necesary on a complete profecional player.

Be careful with fast chess, because some bad moves maybe work on that kind of games and sometimes people believe they are good moves. In other words fast chess can reinforce bad habits.

Sure they're good. For having fun.

Fast games like 5 minutes. You use what you learned  but you don't learn anything new from it

Good for fun, bad for learning chess.

If you want to be good at X minute chess, playing X minute chess is good. If you want to be good at X minute chess, playing Y minute chess is bad. Find the X you enjoy and go for it.

Well, if you are good and desperate to get your rating up quickly then many blitz/ bullet games, if not just a casual few rapid/ standard games will do, too.

Fun => hell yes!

Good for long-term improvement / performance at OTB tournaments w/slower time controls => not so much (compared to playing slower games)

Good for practicing new openings => Absolutely!

A reasonable trade-off : 5-min chess w/5 second delay is "better" than 5-0.

Why?  The delay will force you to still look for a good chess move and not some race-condition horsesh$t with the clock.

Play the game, but only if you plan to analyze it afterward.

Add a 5 or 10 second bonus, and play at whatever speed you can handle, anywhere from Game in 5/5 up to Game in 15/10.  That way you get lots of practice, and the clock is much less of an issue.

IMHO, Game in 60/5 is absolutely all the time you need in order to improve.  And if you study middlegames and endgames, when you are not playing Quick Chess, your knowledge base will continue to expand.

Indeed, playing Game in 5 hours (when your rating is under USCF 1800) might not be the best use of your scarce time.  But it's mostly a matter of taste.

Personally, I would rather do the drill above (for 5 hours) than play a five or six hour OTB game.  The payoff seems much greater playing Quick Chess, coupled with focused study.  Just my bias.

Five minute chess is evil and the invention of the devil.  You put your soul in jeopardy by playing it.

  Yes, indeed.  Playing Game in 5/0, means signing up for a few extra years in Purgatory, before they let you through the Pearly Gates.

I like 10 min, 5 is just a little too fast.

5/2 is ok for pratice on speed and memory. Learning no.

I think 3/2 is great, just enough time. I prefer to have fischer time, also in longer games; check my over-the-board games 25/5 (for 30 moves) + 3/2 (to finish) with MSC157 (2100+).

Great 25+5 games analyses!!

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/analysis-4th-round---time-trouble

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/analysis-3rd-round---draw

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/analysis-ck-petrosian-smyslov

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/opocensky-in-najdorf-with-6nc6

A very high quality friendly match between me and MSC157 (2100+).

A great Blitz video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhe2rqEroqM

Well, not everyone here is here to become chess masters. Some of us play chess here just for the fun of it, as a "game", rather than "serious business". That being said, 5 minutes is too fast! 10 minutes is just about right.