I have ADHD lol
What's your time usage like in your games?
Overcoming ADHD in chess…
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Mar 28, 2026
0
#3
chesssblackbelt wrote:
I have ADHD lol
What's your time usage like in your games?
Varies tbh, probably faster than it should be? But I don’t think the speed of the individual moves is the fundamental challenge, as it tends to come down to one moment of distraction and then I actually blunder in classical chess…
Have you found classical tougher as a result of ADHD, too?
Mar 28, 2026
0
#4
DoYouLikeCurry wrote:
chesssblackbelt wrote:
I have ADHD lol
What's your time usage like in your games?
Varies tbh, probably faster than it should be? But I don’t think the speed of the individual moves is the fundamental challenge, as it tends to come down to one moment of distraction and then I actually blunder in classical chess…
Have you found classical tougher as a result of ADHD, too?
Yeah, I'm way better at short tcs I don't think there's many 2500 cc blitz people at my rating OTB 😭
Whenever I see a move OTB I wanna play it instantly. I have to force myself to look at other lines. I also get to a stage where I stop caring about the game and then make some inaccurate moves and then suddenly start caring again when my position starts collapsing lmao
I don't think there's much to do about it. I just walk around a lot, look out for anyone who's in an endgame and analyse that, buy some tea if they have it etc
Mar 28, 2026
0
#5
chesssblackbelt wrote:
DoYouLikeCurry wrote:
chesssblackbelt wrote:
I have ADHD lol
What's your time usage like in your games?
Varies tbh, probably faster than it should be? But I don’t think the speed of the individual moves is the fundamental challenge, as it tends to come down to one moment of distraction and then I actually blunder in classical chess…
Have you found classical tougher as a result of ADHD, too?
Yeah, I'm way better at short tcs I don't think there's many 2500 cc blitz people at my rating OTB 😭
Whenever I see a move OTB I wanna play it instantly. I have to force myself to look at other lines. I also get to a stage where I stop caring about the game and then make some inaccurate moves and then suddenly start caring again when my position starts collapsing lmao
I don't think there's much to do about it. I just walk around a lot, look out for anyone who's in an endgame and analyse that, buy some tea if they have it etc
Same man 
DoYouLikeCurry wrote:
Hey all! Some of you may know I recently attended an OTB chess tournament. I’ve played quite a few over the last few years (playing my second ever in 2023, my first being in 2014 so not really counting!), and in that time my chess has improved markedly.
Online, at the time of my first tournament in 2023, I was rated around 1600 rapid. In 2026, I’ve today reached a new peak of 2130. That improvement is consistent and relatively impressive.
However, my provisional ECF rating after that tournament in 2023 was an embarrassing 1511, and, following a not-so-successful tournament this year where I scored just 1.5/5, my rating is once again 1511.
I struggle immensely with classical chess, and find it particularly challenging when my opponent arrives late (which has happened multiple times, each instance being directly responsible for an uncharacteristic opening blunder that I wouldn’t even make in blitz!).
My concentration, particularly after 2 hours ish, is in the trash. My mind wanders, I get songs stuck in my head, and I consistently fumble drawn or even winning positions.
I’m desperate for tips on how to help avoid this, preferably from strong players who also have challenges with ADHD (yes, I’m medicated, too). A coach would be even better!
I need to fix my classical chess in order to stay enjoying this game, as every time I go to these tournaments it massively rocks my confidence.
**Note** before anyone suggests it’s just that I can’t play OTB, I go to my local chess club most weeks, and consistently at least achieve a positive score against club players, so I’m very sure it’s a time control issue.
- I myself do not have ADHD so perhaps not everything I will suggest would be applicable to you. However, it really can be a struggle to focus on the game for such a long time.
- I'll begin with things that probably would help anyone regardless: an OTB rating is very fluid when it comes to the performance by a player of that rating. There is no need to be ashamed of whatever rating you have currently, even if you believe you must be higher rated. Thinking about elo during the game just adds to the list of things which can cloud your thinking. So regardless of who your opponent is, treat them as if they are just as strong as you are.
- My next suggestion is to think carefully about which moves actually deserve more time and energy. Yes, it is classical chess and it may seem like you have all the time in the world, but I actually tell some people that even if they had unlimited time vs very strong opponents, they would still lose! It's counterintuitive because you'd think you'd be able to solve each position given as much time as you want, but at the end of the day, we are human, not machines. Wasting time on really easy moves because you're looking through a sacrificial line which doesn't seem to work at all can be costly. You may have more time, but you certainly won't have any more energy than you would for a rapid game. So think carefully if some moves actually deserve as much time as you want to put into them. That isn't to say you should blitz through every move, but if you're spending more than 30s for obvious moves, you might be spending too long.
- (On this, you should use maybe 30s to 1 min to double check a handful of moves to make sure you are not blundering anything, but if it's obvious, then you shouldn't need to spend extra time after this blunder-check and waste your energy on it)
- Do a few puzzles before your games. Don't overdo it either, like 5-10 should be enough. This is just so that you get a bit of a warmup so that you're a bit more alert.
- For the next bits of advice, as I don't have ADHD myself, I may not know what is better for you, but here are my suggestions:
- Get up from the board every few moves. It's not at all disrespectful and it's just very hard to sit down for so long. It also gives a bit of time to stretch a bit and clear your mind. Idk how effective it would be, but I myself do that a lot.
- Listen to the song you want to get "stuck in your head" just before the tournament. Perhaps you have these songs which make you "lock-in". Sometimes it doesn't quite work and the same distracting songs still get stuck somehow, but it does usually help slightly, even if you listen to it the day before.
- Don't analyse your game right after you've played it. This is probably the most controversial thing I can say, but in a tournament, you really just have to move on and be as stoic as possible. You don't want to get upset over mistakes you've just made and dread over them for the next hour or two before the next game begins. You could analyse them at the end of the day or after the tourney, but I wouldn't recommend analysing games while you still have a few rounds to go.
Mar 28, 2026
0
#7
Is there otb tournaments that are shorter per day over multiple days? I've never played an OTB tournament, so I might be wrong.
Mar 28, 2026
0
#8
There's quite a few 60+30 tourneys that's pretty much the shortest you'll find
They start on Saturday and end Sunday. 5 rounders
Mar 28, 2026
0
#9
I have ADHD too, but I am not that strong at classical unfortunately. I better use this forum to get advice for myself too. My time management was definitely too fast and I calculated too less with my used time.
Mar 28, 2026
0
#10
chesssblackbelt hat geschrieben:
DoYouLikeCurry wrote:
chesssblackbelt wrote:
I have ADHD lol
What's your time usage like in your games?
Varies tbh, probably faster than it should be? But I don’t think the speed of the individual moves is the fundamental challenge, as it tends to come down to one moment of distraction and then I actually blunder in classical chess…
Have you found classical tougher as a result of ADHD, too?
Yeah, I'm way better at short tcs I don't think there's many 2500 cc blitz people at my rating OTB 😭
Whenever I see a move OTB I wanna play it instantly. I have to force myself to look at other lines. I also get to a stage where I stop caring about the game and then make some inaccurate moves and then suddenly start caring again when my position starts collapsing lmao
I don't think there's much to do about it. I just walk around a lot, look out for anyone who's in an endgame and analyse that, buy some tea if they have it etc
I can 100% relate to this. 😂
Mar 29, 2026
0
#11
rook_fianchetto_37 wrote:
DoYouLikeCurry wrote:
Hey all! Some of you may know I recently attended an OTB chess tournament. I’ve played quite a few over the last few years (playing my second ever in 2023, my first being in 2014 so not really counting!), and in that time my chess has improved markedly.
Online, at the time of my first tournament in 2023, I was rated around 1600 rapid. In 2026, I’ve today reached a new peak of 2130. That improvement is consistent and relatively impressive.
However, my provisional ECF rating after that tournament in 2023 was an embarrassing 1511, and, following a not-so-successful tournament this year where I scored just 1.5/5, my rating is once again 1511.
I struggle immensely with classical chess, and find it particularly challenging when my opponent arrives late (which has happened multiple times, each instance being directly responsible for an uncharacteristic opening blunder that I wouldn’t even make in blitz!).
My concentration, particularly after 2 hours ish, is in the trash. My mind wanders, I get songs stuck in my head, and I consistently fumble drawn or even winning positions.
I’m desperate for tips on how to help avoid this, preferably from strong players who also have challenges with ADHD (yes, I’m medicated, too). A coach would be even better!
I need to fix my classical chess in order to stay enjoying this game, as every time I go to these tournaments it massively rocks my confidence.
**Note** before anyone suggests it’s just that I can’t play OTB, I go to my local chess club most weeks, and consistently at least achieve a positive score against club players, so I’m very sure it’s a time control issue.
- I myself do not have ADHD so perhaps not everything I will suggest would be applicable to you. However, it really can be a struggle to focus on the game for such a long time.
- I'll begin with things that probably would help anyone regardless: an OTB rating is very fluid when it comes to the performance by a player of that rating. There is no need to be ashamed of whatever rating you have currently, even if you believe you must be higher rated. Thinking about elo during the game just adds to the list of things which can cloud your thinking. So regardless of who your opponent is, treat them as if they are just as strong as you are.
- My next suggestion is to think carefully about which moves actually deserve more time and energy. Yes, it is classical chess and it may seem like you have all the time in the world, but I actually tell some people that even if they had unlimited time vs very strong opponents, they would still lose! It's counterintuitive because you'd think you'd be able to solve each position given as much time as you want, but at the end of the day, we are human, not machines. Wasting time on really easy moves because you're looking through a sacrificial line which doesn't seem to work at all can be costly. You may have more time, but you certainly won't have any more energy than you would for a rapid game. So think carefully if some moves actually deserve as much time as you want to put into them. That isn't to say you should blitz through every move, but if you're spending more than 30s for obvious moves, you might be spending too long.
- (On this, you should use maybe 30s to 1 min to double check a handful of moves to make sure you are not blundering anything, but if it's obvious, then you shouldn't need to spend extra time after this blunder-check and waste your energy on it)
- Do a few puzzles before your games. Don't overdo it either, like 5-10 should be enough. This is just so that you get a bit of a warmup so that you're a bit more alert.
- For the next bits of advice, as I don't have ADHD myself, I may not know what is better for you, but here are my suggestions:
- Get up from the board every few moves. It's not at all disrespectful and it's just very hard to sit down for so long. It also gives a bit of time to stretch a bit and clear your mind. Idk how effective it would be, but I myself do that a lot.
- Listen to the song you want to get "stuck in your head" just before the tournament. Perhaps you have these songs which make you "lock-in". Sometimes it doesn't quite work and the same distracting songs still get stuck somehow, but it does usually help slightly, even if you listen to it the day before.
- Don't analyse your game right after you've played it. This is probably the most controversial thing I can say, but in a tournament, you really just have to move on and be as stoic as possible. You don't want to get upset over mistakes you've just made and dread over them for the next hour or two before the next game begins. You could analyse them at the end of the day or after the tourney, but I wouldn't recommend analysing games while you still have a few rounds to go.
Thank you for this, much of it I already try to implement, but there’s some nuggets to help here I hope! You’ve been such a great help to me in the time I’ve known you, so thank you.
Hey all! Some of you may know I recently attended an OTB chess tournament. I’ve played quite a few over the last few years (playing my second ever in 2023, my first being in 2014 so not really counting!), and in that time my chess has improved markedly.
Online, at the time of my first tournament in 2023, I was rated around 1600 rapid. In 2026, I’ve today reached a new peak of 2130. That improvement is consistent and relatively impressive.
However, my provisional ECF rating after that tournament in 2023 was an embarrassing 1511, and, following a not-so-successful tournament this year where I scored just 1.5/5, my rating is once again 1511.
I struggle immensely with classical chess, and find it particularly challenging when my opponent arrives late (which has happened multiple times, each instance being directly responsible for an uncharacteristic opening blunder that I wouldn’t even make in blitz!).
My concentration, particularly after 2 hours ish, is in the trash. My mind wanders, I get songs stuck in my head, and I consistently fumble drawn or even winning positions.
I’m desperate for tips on how to help avoid this, preferably from strong players who also have challenges with ADHD (yes, I’m medicated, too). A coach would be even better!
I need to fix my classical chess in order to stay enjoying this game, as every time I go to these tournaments it massively rocks my confidence.
**Note** before anyone suggests it’s just that I can’t play OTB, I go to my local chess club most weeks, and consistently at least achieve a positive score against club players, so I’m very sure it’s a time control issue.