Do Blitz Games Actually Make You Worse at Chess?

classical play has gotten worse. I’m blundering pawns, missing simple tactics, and rushing positions that deserve

So here’s my question: does playing too much blitz actually damage your chess understanding

I think Blitz certainly doesn't help. Our club coach, told us as beginners not to play Blitz, so maybe that was good advice.

thanks

well 5 min blitz isnt that bad, 3 mins is quite bad

really!

ok

Blitz doesn't make you worse at chess, in the worst case scenario you don't learn anything.

Blitz and bullet can be good if you like fast games, but for learning play Rapid (especially with increments)

3 min or 5 min blitz doesn’t make a huge difference. Any blitz can be harmful to your chess if used incorrectly and most blitz players use it incorrectly; this is why many coaches recommend staying away from blitz entirely if you want to improve.

I mostly agree with that, but when used correctly, I believe blitz can be a great training tool and at the highest levels, sometimes even more effective than longer time controls. Here’s an article from a well-known National Master saying the same thing: https://www.chess.com/article/view/why-blitz-is-the-best-form-of-chess-training?ncc=1#first_new_comment

The main danger of blitz is conditioning yourself into moving "too quickly” and probably reinforcing you to neglect calculation. Both of these are dangerous to long-term improvement. Similarly, many blitz players just play a ton of games in a row and don’t analyze their games. If you play blitz and want to improve, then analysis is important; how much analysis is needed will depend on your current level of understanding, but that’s why most players are too low rated to benefit from blitz.

I’m not going to put a rating to when blitz becomes worth playing because I believe any level can play blitz on occasion, but if you want to improve, then it’s usually best to have a little extra time and not feel rushed during the game.

thanks can you teach me long chess to get to 200 please

You’re welcome. :)

I assume you meant 2000 and not 200 because you’re already in the 1300s. :D That’s pretty high compared to most chess players already. My YouTube channel has videos from beginners, intermediate, as well as advanced level players: https://www.youtube.com/@kesetokaiba/videos

Reaching 2000 is a high level, so it’s partly about learning your playstyle, what works for you, and working on your own strengths and weaknesses in chess. That being said, there’s some things 2000 level players do that other lower rated players typically don’t and several of my videos have me sharing my thought process, or teaching some of these advanced concepts; my free coaching playlist shares my ideas across many different levels of players: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTXwNMbhsy4tfNvpDrJfmeXbmrzpAt48K

but if you want one example of a 2000 level concept, then here’s one of several videos you could check out: https://youtu.be/XF134fzFcLI?si=bGaue9ZmNIc2xLf4

and this one was when I crossed 2100 https://youtu.be/Q7B8VuCBgGE?si=g2KNitZysWL1AgWX

thanks

IQ has nothing to do with this. You haven't even played chess a lot :/

@Shadowtheonly the main problem is in your bullet rather than blitz, but both can affect you

ah ok can i still play bullet!

if you want to improve, then it's better to just focus on rapid

if you're playing chess just for fun, then play whatever time control you like

In longer time controls, certainly.

No don’t play bullet specially the 30 seconds bullet that’s even worse.

I came back to chess last summer. I was around 1000 Blitz, 1200 for Rapid. I think I was around 1300 level at that time because I started playing more with froends irl. So I first got to 1300 Blitz, then I was a little stuck. Then I got 1500-1600 then got stuck again. So I started grinding rapid to match with my blitz, and I got to 1400-1500 too but could not go any higher. Then I came back to Blitz and managed to get to 2000. I started grinding rapid again, and got almost to 2000 too. So we can say I’ve improved solely because of blitz because I did rapid just to catch up to my blitz rating. I’ve only spammed games, and analysed some once in a while. I don't know if it was the right way or the most effective way to improve, but I was happy with how fast I improved, even though every one around me told me too play rapid to improve fast. So you can definitely get good at chess by playing only blitz, and improve at a good pace, but I don't think rapid can hurt either