Too thoughtful for blitz

Hi. I like blitz when I can get "in the zone" and respond to my opponent's moves instinctively, but I often lose on time because I get caught up in thought and frozen for maybe a minute at a time.

What should I do to remedy this problem? Anyone else have this issue?

I prefer playing many blitz games in a row against the same opponent. That way, similar games are played, and I can solve a problem in a previous game that I had trouble solving because of time.

I had the same problem when I started playing 5/0 game.(still do a bit)

I ended up reducing my list of things to think about. I still time out, of course, but when I do, I am often in a position that could be winning in a longer time control.

1. Check for obvious tactics. Obvious means something you 'd have to be blind to miss like capturing a hanging piece or some common tactics like forks an the such.

2. Don't let your opponents moves distract you too much. Many players seem to have this strategy where they will make a seemingly random move or 2 to make you stop and think. (Don't resort to this yourself. It is a bad habit and will stunt your chess growth). When they do this, refer to #1. If they do it enough times, you will begin finding more targets.

3. Don't play for checkmate unless it presents itself. Trying to calculate mate attacking lines takes a lot of time. Finding weaknesses board wide is much faster.

4. Don't be afraid to stop and think once in a while. I play 5/0 games and can spend 30 - 60 seconds in a difficult position. It takes a lot of self control because you see the time ticking away. But, it can really pay off. If you take a short pause and think about everything and formulate a plan, your opponent, unless they are a lot better than you, may have to make a series of pauses to try and sort out what is going on.

Of course, as you become more experienced, this list can grow as some of it will become automatic.

Also, you might consider playing long games too. It really gives you an opportunity to learn how to think in a chess game. Something that is VERY VERY difficult in blitz games.

I had this problem at first. You just have to swallw the fact that time is part of the game. Learn a couple of openings well so you get some time in the bag in the first few moves.