Blitz was the way I learned tactics back in the 70's ... however for the past 30 years I have played considerably less blitz than when I started, since I felt it lead to superficial tactical and positional analysis during standard games. There are others who can slow down during standard games and still play blitz well, unfortuately I am not one.
Blitz Harmful?
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rockettorque wrote:
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.
It's not silly at all and many GMs have actually noted this in their own game when they played excessively on ICC (5 0 mostly). There are numerous reasons why this might be the case in certain circumstances.
Hikaru Nakamura comes to mind as a strong blitz GM. There are many blitz tournements with the worlds best players, its just a matter of preference, with classical time controls the quality of the games are better.
Jan 14, 2009
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#25
Wow, what a response! Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts and from such a diverse international community; one more thing to love about this site!
It seems that the majority (so far) is of the opinion that faster time controls are harmful for your regular games, but that does not necessarily invalidate the other side; like someone mentioned, it is useful for instance, when experimenting openings, sharpening tactical speed,etc; also, it's also useful when play time is constrained. I suppose as long as you're aware how Blitz is affecting your regular games, you'll be fine. Like the late great Bruce Lee's fighting philosophy, Jeet Kune Do, everyone's unique - use what works for you and drop what doesn't.
In any case, I love Blitz and it's quite addictive. I certainly won't give it up; well, not until there's conclusive evidence.
But, I'm sure we all can agree that Chess is the most beautiful game in the universe; I don't know of a static game that's so dynamic!
I think that blitz is harmful to regular games only if you play it too much and you develop that habit of moving without thinking.
Blitz is good, but too much is bad...
i want to play 5 min. blitz game.
Who wants to play with me in blitz?
The problem with blitz is that you don't really learn how to play endgames well. Blitz games are absolutely fantastic for teaching you tactics and for getting familiar with openings. However, as I found, playing nothing else but blitz can do a lot of harm in terms of subtle strategic planning. So, if you are preparing for an OTB tournament or simply want to improve I offer 2 solutions:
1. Switch to 3/3 time control. That way you are forced to think hard throughout the entire game instead of just making silly moves waiting for your opponent to run out of time. However, your middlegames will still be quick, exciting and mostly intuitive.
2. Play at least one long game every day - G25, for example.
P.S. And one more important point, maybe the most important: whatever you do always strive to play against strong opposition! Playing "weakies" (that is, of course, a very relative concept, but people 100 points or more below you can be classified as such) will most certainly ruin your skills.
I think if you focus on 1 or 2 minute games, then perhaps it can hurt. I personally believe 3 days a move is much more harmful.