Blitz and Bullet are not chess

_not_ wrote:

chesspooljuly13 wrote:

Chess is too complex a game to think that 99 percent of players can find the best move or understand "the truth of the board" in bullet or blitz time controls. It's just a matter, in those games, of who makes the last in a mountain of blunders.

...and how exactly is this different to any other game/time control? Oh let me guess, it comes down to the definition of "blunder"? Semantics? Really? 

Looks like someone was...

The OP was saying that people make mistakes in all chess games. They were pointing out that they might be bigger mistakes in bullet, but a blunder for one player may just be a 'mistake' to someone else i.e. semantics. They are not stating that the quality is the same.

NINETIFE wrote:

Two words ‘’critical thinking’’.. I love playing bullet because it absolutely pushes your mind to the limit. I know that everyone has there own style and game but bullet chess is still chess in every aspect.. How is putting a time limit on a game of chess make it less of a game?

And another...

No. Nobody said it, if you want to twist people's words feel free, but I'm done with you.

stanhope13 wrote:

Blitz and bullet are games which depends on luck, you see it or you don't. Tough luck or good luck.

Interesting point I hadn't thought of. Actually, a very interesting point I wish I had thought of.

Bullet introduces luck into a game of skill, making it less of what it is and what it was always meant to be

I revise my point to make it even stronger thanks to this poster.

Herewith: Because bullet increases the element of luck in what was - and always will be - a game of skill, bullet chess is not chess at all because its very nature has changed.

That, my friend, is the cherry on the sundae for why bullet chess is not chess!

chesspooljuly13: 3

Scottrf: 2

Poker is much more of a game of luck because you have to play the cards you're dealt.

Chess, played under classical time controls, is almost completely a game of skill.

Bullet is much less a game of skill and is therefore contrary to the essence of chess.

It's been fun!

I totally disagree with this comment. I see MUCH more in a 40/2 game than I do in a 10 minute game. I won't even play anything less than 10 minutes, as it's not really chess IMHO.  It's basically just Beat The Clock.  By comparison, my 10, 15 and 30 minute online games give me a rating of about 1450-1500, whereas I can play 1700-1800 level in an OTB tournament length game.  Quick online games are fun and convenient, but the cons are: lag time causing loss of time on the clock, disconnects causing aborted games in won positions, rushing your moves causing blunders, focus on quick one-move tactics which reduces the chance of deep positional play, a 2 dimensional upright board which distorts your depth perception and allows you to miss moves and it all but eliminates the endgame, because someone's flag falls well before then. So, if you only play games under 10 minutes, you are missing out on the beauty of chess and reducing it to memorizing grandmaster opening lines, playing faster than your opponent and quick tactical exchanges vs a player who has made a lot of bad moves.  You simply can't get better at real chess by playing blitz.  It's just for fun.  Also, you can't compare humans playing chess to computers playing chess.  Computers have no emotions, cannot be psyched out and do not have to pee after drinking 3 cups of coffee.  lol  All they do is calculate at incredible speed, so of course they're better at blitz chess.  

No, I'm not taking this that seriously; I enjoy a good debate when everyone's debating the point and liked this one a lot:)

At the risk of stirring up (or re-stirring up) a hornet's nest, was the original poster really trying to argue that bullet/blitz weren't chess because they didn't follow the same rules of chess? Did anyone who posted in this topic think that's what the question was?

Or was the question whether bullet/blitz had the same nature/essence of chess with longer time controls?

I mean who would try to argue that bullet and blitz don't follow the same rules when they obviously do?

Ok, that really was my final post in here

Wow, JeffGreen333 summed it up better than I ever could. Wish his comment was the last one

When you play a longer game (40 moves in 2 hours, for example), you see all of the same tactical moves that you would in a 5 minute game, but you will also see that most of them are unsound, after looking at all of the possible replies and considering positional themes and deeper calculations.  Playing a long game forces you to look for the best move, not just the quickest move.  Those opening book variations that blitz players memorize and copy took Grandmasters hours to compose and play.  You're basically photo-copying a Mona Lisa when you do that.  It's counterfeiting, cheating, stealing from the great masters.  There's nothing more satisfying to me than divising a deep, complex plan and having it come to fruition.  You can't plan ahead in blitz chess.  You can't find the best move.  I hear people complain that they don't have the patience to wait 3 minutes for their opponent to move.  Well, patience is a virtue and the rewards are great.  While you're waiting, you should be studying the board and thinking of plans that you may be able to use.  This produces a much richer game.  All in all, blitz is just for adrenaline freaks to get a rush, while long tournament games are for serious chessplayers who want to improve their level of chess and enjoy all that it has to offer.  Whatever floats your boat, I guess.  It's like comparing gambling on No-limit Texas Hold'em to playing the stock market with knowledge of finances and technical patterns.  One is gambling and the other is smart investing.  Same with blitz vs real chess.  :) 

I've given this question a lot of thought over the years.  I needed to know why I was so much better at OTB tournament length games than I was at online speed chess, so I took everything into account.  I just wish that there were time controls over g/30 available on here and that more people preferred longer time controls.  I can't play at my local chess club at 3am.  lol  The only reason I even play online chess is for the convenience.  I can get a game 24/7 on here.  Although, since it's always g/30 or quicker and is played online, I tend to lose quite a bit.  :/

You can do custom time controls if you find someone to play.

Convenience and learning. I would like to get better in this area of speed too. Still trying to get to know the principles.

Would a marathon runner say that the 100 meters is not running?  Bullet is different than regular time controls but it IS chess. It is fascinating to be:

Ahead on the board, behind on the clock.  Checkmate him, or at least take all his pieces.

Behind on the board, ahead on the clock.  Stay alive for awhile, and win on time.  Or find a cheap checkmate threat, or complications that make him burn time.  

I think the verdict overall has been pretty clear so far..