Time management 101
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Play your opening as quickly as is reasonable for you. This will give you time for planning and calculation when needed.
silentfilmstar13 wrote: Play your opening as quickly as is reasonable for you. This will give you time for planning and calculation when needed.
Play EVERY move as quickly as is reasonable for you. Once you get to a position where there are several different moves which are hard to decide on then you slow down. I played lots of blitz and it helped me to focus on the important parts. As I got stronger I just started to recognize when a move the opponent made didn't feel right. I would stop and look for a minute. If I something great if not I move on to what my previous plan was.
Everything in life is recognition of the important points. I play billiards a lot. If you don't recognize the "problem" balls (ie clusters and balls without a pocket to be made) then the game becomes very hard. Once you start RECOGNIZING these points the game becomes a LITTLE bit easier. Then you obviously have to figure out what to do with the problem balls. Once you figure out what to do the game becomes easy again- all you have to do is execute(ie stay focused, and pay attention to the details etc).
In the classroom your teacher spews out a load of info. Many people think you have to absorb all of the info. The key is figuring out what the most valuable information is.
The same goes on a chessboard. Recognize the defining points of the position. Sometimes there are 2 rooks a queen and 2 minors on both sides of the board. BUT, if someone is threatening mate in 1 then this obviously becomes a priority. This is a much more obvious example. But, there are others which can be less apparent to some players. Such as being up a couple of pawns. BUT, with opposite colored bishops and both having knights. Does the person with the extra pawns just trade down to an opposite colored bishop position? In some cases it might be possible. Obviously depends on the position. But, the idea is the fact that there are opposite coloreds should send off a flag in your mind. Start calculating. Just some random thoughts and I hope this was of some help.
Oh yes and one more thing. While problems are good I think there is a big limitation with them. They start out at a point and give you something to do. When you are playing a game there is nothing to signal when you have to calculate and when you should just play the natural move etc. I actually find that I do pretty badly with problems(even in some cases where I would easily see something in a game). Not sure what it is. Maybe a rhythm thing for myself. If I am in a game I am building to a point. Whereas in a problem I am going into the middle of a conversation without proper perspective as to what has happened previously.
When I try to solve problems I do pretty well. Problemsolving is an art in itself. "CCish" games tend to go decent. However, when I try to play more "OTBish" vs my fave silicon opponents I blunder myself into early death. I do not seem to spend the time wisely.
Is there any usefull guidelines on how much time to spend on different moves (I tend to play G/30)? I think I have read an article on Time Management somewhere but I cannot find it.