Blitz Harmful?

Hi all,

I love playing Blitz and have been playing many hours on-line.  But, I, also, love to play standard time control (i.e., 40 in 2,etc.) games.  Obviously, these two have differing temperament.  In a substantially faster time controls, time is of the essence.  Also, because in a shorter time game, such as Blitz, you don't have the luxury of thinking things through, (well, at least not like the regular games) and as a consequence, best moves are not made.  I tend to take more risks and play unconventional means, but it's kind of working out and I am holding my own.  Possibly developing bad chess habit.    

My question is: Do you think, faster time control games (i.e., Blitz, Bullet,etc.) is harmful to your regular game of chess? 

Yes.  I think it's a great tool to help learn and practice openings, and it's a ton of fun, but I've found it hard to shake the blitz mindset when I've been playing it a lot and my slow game has suffered for it.

I think blitz is harmful to your health.

Had a few of those type of relationships and the doctor told me that antibiotics will not cure everything... :-(

Every time you play chess for real you improve your chess skills, no matter what the time control is ..

Just dont get to used to just one type of game because you will find it very difficult to play with another time control ..

You have a blue licker, low rating and live in Portugal. Ask REB to slap you. OK?

I think it has really hurt my game personally, I used to be around 2100 standard on playchess, then i stopped for a while, started playing bullet, and now I'm struggling to maintain a 1900 rating.

blizt and quick is to reflex how imaginative you have in mind the opening you have learned and how much applying it in the game in chess com or in the other way you played ,, for me its good play a blizt or quick if you are learning the opening,but don't ever play quick or blizt if you are going ing the tournament play ,,read just read and apply concentrate have some yoga or medetation   

Yes, excessive 5 0 really hurt me too (anything less than that barely qualifies as chess and is quite boring to me). I dropped about 60 points OTB in just two weeks and nothing else was different. It trained my brain to think superficially and make aggressive looking silly moves or just decent moves instead of good ones. Moreover, a lot of the depth of the game became masked because really... I don't get many balanced endgames in blitz or deep strategy. Instinct ruled over deliberate thought. It didn't help that the time did not allow me or my opponents to punish gross mistakes. On the other hand, in moderation, it may be beneficial in some respects. For example, it can give you familiarity with a wide array of positions and help you see two move tactics faster. Anyway, my rating started to recover quickly once I stopped all blitz chess for a week. After that I decided to play 12 4 or 15 0 more often.

as long as you are able to switch from one to another easily then you're fine - if not, it might take the edge of your game.

i play loads of blitz here, but recently i an finding it hard to get into long games because of it :S

I found that correspondence games are much more useful than blitz and quit it. Then I realized that I still need that to not forget old/try new openings, to see some simple tactics and be able to play fast if necessary, so I play a few games per day not being obsessed as before with blitz play/blitz ratings/etc.

Blitz actually never hurt me, since I actually play exactly the same as I would in blitz as in normal chess. My rating actually went up from when I started playing a lot more blitz games for practice. It all matters for the player, some players learns and get better just by getting more chess experience and playing more games, while some rather study from books and going over games. Depends on how you "function", blitz can hurt or help you. Plus, blitz is fun =P.

I think playing Blitz really has a bad effect in your long game because you tend to be bored. I know this because Im suffering from it also. But, Boy I really love those adrenaline rush!!!

I think Blitz, in proper doses, can be helpful to your game.  You are forced to look for more tactics...and generally, I think it helps you to speed up your tactical thinking.  It's also great practice whenever you want to get ideas for openings. 

The only way it can hurt you is if you can't change your mindset from blitz to slow chess.  You have to make a conscious effort to do that.

Everything in moderation too much blitz hurts your long game, too many long games hurt ur blitz.

because the mindset for playing each is different. i play bullet  blitz and correspondence and if i spend too much time on 1 style i find it hard to jump to the other.

You're brain becomes acustomed to that thinking style if you stay on it too much, correspondence has hurt my blitz game alot.

How can playing chess be harmful in any way? Just because there is a time limit doesn't change the way you think. For how many blitz games you can play compared to just one correspondence game, not to mention the many different positions you encounter or all the different range of opponents makes blitz much more of a learning experience IMO and by blitz I mean 10 minute games. I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but to say that it is harmful to your overall game is silly

I pose this question, How many IM, FM, and GM players abstain from a time constraint of chess? Don't they alll play simul, blitz, bullet, and standard games? Is it not the ability to prepare and transpose into each differing play what separates the Masters from the merely annointed? You can learn from any play style, time constraint, and opponent. It is all dependant on your outlook and mindset that will determine if you will grow or stagnate.

I've definitely found in my experience that playing a lot of blitz caused my standard-speed chess skills to decline.  You get into bad habits, not thinking things through, playing sloppy.  To each his own, but that's my two cents.

Affirmative it's the equivalent of eating junk food for a Chess Player if you want to take matters seriously stay away from it.

Depends on the time controlls; I believe anything under 10 minutes is bad, because you begin to rush foward in positions that you shoulden't and most of all blitz completely destroys your endgame playing ability where chess players need paciene, precise and long calculation. Players that are serious about bettering their game should stay away from blitz, take it from WC Anand, that had to stop playing rapid chess by orders of his coach way back when, and as a result he rose to the top ten.

For me Blitz is really harmful for my long game thinking techniques and analytical skills. The only reason I may play it is to gain a flavour of a new opening.