How do I get better at blitz?

What does it mean to study the endgame? I know there are things like K+P vs K, Lucena Position, and Philidor position that everyone should know. But what is there after that? Do you just pick random endgame positions and try to solve them, sort of like tactic problems? Or does study endgame mostly refer to just practicing the long calculations involved in figuring out the endgame? 

Well, first of all you can break them into categories.  Rook vs Rook, Bishop vs Bishop etc.  Then each of those contain technical positions with 1 pawn, a few pawns, pawns on one side, and pawns on both sides.  After that there are more complex endings where it's not a specific winning technique but proper application of calculation and principals.  And those are just the endings with one piece each.  You can move on to rook and bishop vs rook and knight etc.

There are also pawnless endgames and of course king and pawn endgames.  Also imbalanced endgames such as rook vs knight or queen vs rook.

As with chess itself they range from simple to unsolvably complex.  Even with the comparatively simple technical positions move the pieces one rank up, down, left, or right, and it can change from a draw, to a win and you would want to know the proper technique for each.

You could spend your whole life on only endgames.

In blitz, or even bullet, until you get better at them, I suggest you try to not panic when you don't have lots of time. Just try to utililize your time wisely and think over your moves. Don't hurry. True, you might lose on time, but at least you will have gotten a better position (probably). Once you get winning positions all the time, THEN try playing quicker. Also, you should try using all of the learning things on chess.com. If you try them out, they will teach you more and you will get better. I guarantee it!

If you have (reasonable) endgame knowledge, and a 5 second bonus built into whatever time control you use, it's relatively easy to convert winning endgames, without running out of time.

That's the easiest way (I know of) for getting better at Blitz on this site.

Play at whatever Blitz speed you can handle -- anywhere from Game in 3/5 up, to Game in 10/5.  Very simple.  Try it.

You will have to wait a few extra minutes to get an opponent on your "open seek."  But so what.  That's the easy part.

Do you want to improve your game, or do you prefer to play mindlessly (with lots of inaccuracies, and outright blunders), and where someone almost always wins on the clock, instead of on the board?

Your choice. 

+10  Q.E.D.

See also --  http://chess-team-viking-swe.blogspot.se/2012/11/begin-from-end.html

I think playing with increment is a very good idea. Thanks for the advice!

Play Space Invaders, it can really improve your blitz. To me, blitz chess is more like a fun variant.

Exactly the same problem I face. I get superior positions in most of my games from opening and even in middlegame. But these online players plays so fast, I just crumble under time pressure and lose all my advantage, I either blunder something big from completely winning position or I lose on time, I just don't get better at blitz. I train tactics, analyse GM games, study openings as well, still it doesn't help me in games.

Even in long time controls, I am always low on time.  

Many would disagree, I suggest playing against engines at blitz time control. Review every game Flipping the 2D board is useful. The more games you played against engines, the better you become. Just review every game. 

I just wrote a blog with eight relatively straightforward ideas for improving blitz results and recorded some videos with some more detail:

Improve your blitz results in eight steps - Chess.com

Improve your blitz chess - YouTube