Improving against "junk" openings

As a player who likes to play slower games (multiple hours) or 20-30 minute rapid games. I analysed the last 100 games with 5 minutes time control. Of the hundred games about 75-80% of all the openings i played against players with 1800-1950 rating are eather junk or sidelines avoiding theory in the first 6 moves. Some of the sidelines are sound and sometimes quite dangerous but most opponents i played just avoided theory whatever the cost.

I`m not very good at very fast chess games. 5 minutes really is a bit against my nature but i do like to get better at it.

What are the best ways to combat these kind of players? Without having to study more openings. I currently play main line openings and rather not spend more time studying new openings at the moment. In a lot of games i get behind in time when we reach the middle game and get frustrated when i lose a better position. Fighting against the clock 

This is the main reason you need to know the *ideas* behind the openings--to know what to do when a player varies from book. If you know *why* the best moves are best, then you can usually figure out over-the-board how to refute anything that isn't a top book move. Sometimes the problem is an upcoming lost tempo, sometimes an upcoming doubled pawn, sometimes an upcoming inability to castle, sometimes a lost pawn, sometimes a unit placed where it has little scope, sometimes a poisoned pawn, sometimes a piece placement that allows that piece to be pinned against the king and lost, etc.

----------

(p. 1)

   An apt illustration occurs in

deviations from "book". A game

begins with 1 e4 f6. The reply is

bad, so bad in fact that it will

not be found in any collection of

standard opening moves. What to

do about it? The man who has

memorized oodles and oodles of

moves without understanding

them is at a loss; he will not even

be able to give a good reason why

the move is bad. But the man who

knows that Black has neglected

the centre, deprived his KN of its

best square, and weakened his

King position will find it a simple

matter to refute his opponent's

faulty play.

Fine, Reuben. 1989. The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, Algebraic Edition. New York: Random House, Inc.

You (should) know the drill. Control the center, develop the pieces, make a pawn break.

It's best not to worry about an opening advantage in blitz... at least not like you would in a regular game. Just try to get a position where you're comfortable.

If your opponent isn't playing total junk though, then you'll just have to learn it as you go. Look up the opening after the game, that sort of thing.

My position is better out of the opening most of the time. And i dont study openings just by memorising the moves. I have a good understanding of playing outside my opening book or if my opponent gets out of my repertoire. I regularly outplay 1800 players against their own opening book from playing openings i never played before or studied.

I just spend to much time playing my moves. Or feel i am rushed and play moves without much thought behind it due to the time control. Is there a way to get better at fast time controls?

I do know that if i play without music and only 5 games or so a day with some excersive in basic tactics befor i start playing. My rating goes up by about 100 points. If i take my games more seriously i do get at about my player strenght which is roughly 1950. Right now i feel like playing superficial chess at fast time controls.

Yeah, if I'm serious about a blitz session, I do some warmup tactics and play a few unrated games. Of course I'll also lose to players who are going really fast and are 100% focused on tactics even if their position is objectively pretty bad most of the game.

It may sound crazy, but try to budget your time. Perhaps aim for winning as often from a worse position (with a win on time) as a checkmate or resignation (but you're down on time). Too much one or the other and you're probably playing too slowly or too quickly.

The only way to combat them is to just play faster and better... It sounds like horrible advice but honestly it's the only way. When you play blitz you just have to live with the fact that some positions are going to be difficult to play with little time regardless of whether they are winning for you or not. 

Tbh I think blitz is mostly just being good at finding those tactical patterns fast. I've never been any good at that and need a lot of time to see simple things so blitz doesn't really go well for me these days. In some of your games you seem to be doing fine and then some random tactic just messes everything up. I really think it's just a tactical issue and not seeing them fast enough.

Whether their pace is fast or slow, trying to match (or beat) the opponent's pace is a mistake IMO. I think it's better to stick to a personal standard of time vs quality, whatever that may be.

penandpaper0089,

I agree with you. I might be more focussed on strategy then tactics. Always looking for that long time edge as i do on the slow games i play. I`ll do the 2400 puzzle chess workout again and some rated puzzles sessions on this site. I think this is were i go wrong on most of my games. My theoretical knowledge is more then good enough at my level. While tactics are lacking.

Switching to 5 minute games and 3 seconds fisher time should be better for now then 5 minutes. I find that i dont run into time trouble as much on 7m games at my local chessclub.

For me, playing bullets kind of worked to improve my blitz. It learned me quite a few things :

1. Think fast. Pretty much the same way you think faster after a tactic session warmup.
2. Be satisfied by a good move, even when there is a best one. I'm all for thinking a lot right from move 1, but in blitz, a decent portion of the time has to be allocated to the middle game, and it's often possible to rushplay a not so good but still decent opening.
3. Play at the same level of my opponent. If my opponent plays super fast, he is likely playing for the timeout, and I can generally beat them by paying the minimal caution to avoid obvious blunders and play almost as fast.
4. Watch the clock. A generalization of the former point. It's bad to constantly watch the clock, but I find it usefull when about to take time for a move. The rule of thumb is the obivous : try to have approximately as much time on your clock as your opponent.
5. Simplify. Obviously when you are leading on the board, but also during the opening, maybe choosing moves that makes the position secure, strategical rather than tactical (eg letting your pieces hanging because some tactics allows you to do so; these are the positions I love the most, but they may sometimes be time consuming). But also if you're trailing on time and can jump into a simple endgame (especially with time increment)
6. Complexify. Obviously when you're losing on board, but also when you are losing on time. If you got two possible moves, one that you need to check, one that your opponent has to be carefull about, chosse the second one, and think about the first one while your opponent think with his time runing down.

Also, you got to accept that your games are not going to be as well played on shorter time controls, and that blitz are intense games that pump much energy, if you want to play them the best you can.

As for sideline, I'm not sure I will be much relevant, relative to your playing level, but at mines, I just don't learn lines, or more precisely, I learn them over time as I play them and analyse them afterward. I always try to find what my opponent has in mind, and sometimes, a bad move can be decent if it forces your opponent to change plan and have him think. For example here is an answer to the Halloween's Gambit, immediatly giving the knight back :

https://www.chess.com/analysis-board-editor?diagram_id=3224596

It surely is not the best line for black, but if you don't know how to defend against this gambit, you are likely to lose either on time or on board.

Possibly helpful:

Beating Unusual Openings by Richard Palliser (2006)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627072813/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen107.pdf

Grandmaster Repertoire 19 - Beating Minor Openings by Victor Mikhalevski

http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/BeatingMinorOpenings-excerpt.pdf

http://www.davidsmerdon.com/?p=1888

Thank you 4xel for your detailed bullet guide. I`ll give it a try. Bullet wont damage my blitz rating anyways. I thought choosing a bit longer time controls might be helpfull. But havent thought about bullet.

Kindaspongey,

I`ve added Grandmaster Repertoire to my wishlist a month ago  I`m relaying on fritz powerbook 14 at the moment for these minor openings.