Tips and tricks for blitz chess (5 min or 10 min)

How long should one take when calculating? Should I play aggresive or positional?

A good rule of thumb is you should rarely (only once or twice a game) exceed 10% of your time for a single move. So in a 10 minute game that'd be 1 minute. Most of your "long" thinks will probably be more like 5%. In a 10 minute game that'd be 30 seconds.

In blitz especially you want to know your openings well enough to play them quickly. That way when the position gets tough you can actually afford to spend those 10% thinks in the middlegame without much to worry about.

In normal games it's good to have a position you're comfortable playing (your moves are easy to find) but in speed games it's even more important. Things like the initiative and easy plans are worth a lot. So sometimes that means playing aggressively (if you can keep the initiative) and sometimes that means playing positionally (when you understand the plans well and your opponent's position isn't as easy to improve).

And then in the endgame, ideally you know your endgames well enough to play them pretty quickly (like the opening).

Basically to be good at blitz you have to be good at chess in general... but since it's low time the different elements are things like easy of play which includes the initiative.

Other little tricks.

Especially at lower ratings people tend to capture whenever it's possible. So it's a good habit to premove recaptures. After your move if your opponent can trade knights, just premove the recapture right away.

And then for yourself, don't be afraid of declining trades. A lot of times people will offer a trade because they don't know what else to do, and because they're lower rated the only thing they calculated was you capturing it. If you retreat or defend instead, sometimes it proves their move was just bad, and they can become confused, and when they're the one always initiating the trade by capturing first it just brings your pieces out to better squares when you recapture (not only in the opening but all game long).

Of course chess isn't so simple that you can win by following a rule like never initiate trades, but I think it's useful general practice to keep the position complicated and avoid trades. When your opponent is uncomfortable it burns their time.

Thanks for all your tips! These tips will help me a lot in my future games!

Thanks!

Play aggressive. It's easier to find good moves quickly because of momentum. Another reason playing aggressive is better is opponents at U1800 can't play defence, thw majority can't. Attack!

thanks all including Jmack

New to chess, any tips?

Prioritize time management. Divide your time wisely for different phases of the game. Save more time for critical moments and tactical opportunities.