I remember one GM saying even if he's in preparation sometimes he's taking some time to kind of warm up his mind. Going over different variations he'd studied, remembering the different ramifications of the middlegames they lead to.
Sometimes they comment that they'd forgotten their preparation and are trying to remember the game(s) they've memorized to be sure. Sometimes the position seems simple, but players like us probably know better than anyone how moves that seem obvious are sometimes bad. They probably saw the move right away, but they may be doing calculation to make sure it's the best.
Why do Super GM's waste time after move 10 or less?
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I remember reading once about Fischer being late for a game. He had white. Nevertheless, he thought about his first move for 5 minutes before playing the shocking 1.e4.
i think its just to get the mind ready to slow down and think.
i think fischer was a show off thats no excuse!
That's nothing. Botvinnik wan notorious for spending huge amounts of time in the opening (even though he was also known for enormous opening preparation). I believe he once spent 30 minutes on the first move!
Don't ask me why... pretty bizarre to me.
this irritates me while watching them play at around move 10 or so, they suddenly stop and grind about 15 minutes to make their next move. Even when the move was obvious!! What is it that they think about during that long period? Am i missing an important stage of the game?