peppe_l
♡ 254 ( +1 | -1 )
Bored of blitz I have played (internet) blitz few years. Despite of negatives, like cheaters, disconnectors and people who behave badly, there have been positives as well - good opponents from various countries etc. Not to forget good games!
However, I have lost my motivation to play blitz - completely. Why? Well, I like chess mainly because its depth. Here at GK I can use days for single move but still feel like I have only scratched the surface in my analysis. Or perhaps I have found a good move (in my opinion!), only to discover that my opponent has found even better one! But how about blitz? There is no time for decent planning - you pretty much rely on pattern recognition and use the strategies you have always used. Mechanical kingside attacks etc bring lots of points in 3-minute scrambles. If you try something new, once again lack of time prevents you from playing good chess. Most games are decided by blunders and Im sure swindlers feel like being in (chess) paradise. Try a cheapo after another until your opponent screws up :-) Try to play a good chess and you will notice that your small positional advantage has very little meaning when both players are low on time. Won a piece? Then you know your opponent will use the golden principle "always threaten" and the fun part of the game is over. Yes he may succeed sometimes, but the position is no longer interesting - its all about whether you see all his cheapos or not. Queen endgames...check, check, check until your opponent loses on time. Even if you are better and checks are objectively waste of time. I could give millions of similar examples but I leave that to another time...(I do acknowledge the fact that the better player you are, the better your blitz games are, but when you see grandmasters swindling succesfully a full piece down, you realize you will never be good enough).
Basically, Ive had to accept that blitz lacks most qualities I like about chess, and therefore I have decided its best to say stick to what I like - slow games. To avoid all sorts of debates about the value of blitz I want to say that I am not critisizing blitz or fans of speed chess. I am merely giving the reasons why I, personally, am bored of playing blitz.
For the record, I do enjoy OTB blitz games, so I am not dumping speed play completely. OTB is fun even if time controls suck...
Anyone feels or has felt the same way?
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clemens
♡ 87 ( +1 | -1 )
I agree I'm nowhere as good as you are, but I've made similar experiences. I used to play quite a bit of blitz on fics.org, but I got bored with it a while ago and haven't played a single game of blitz in quite some time now.
Also, I used to think that playing blitz would maybe help me in my "normal" chess somehow (like developing pattern recognition and "intuition"), but I don't anymore think that is true. I now think it only works in the other direction: you can apply what you have learnt in slow games to your blitz, but not the other way round. I don't think your chess will improve as much if you play just blitz. Even more since I've heard some grandmaster (can't recall who it was) say that blitz is "fun, but basically useless", I've stopped it since it wasn't even fun for me anymore.
Just my opinion on this....
Regards, Clemens
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brobishkin
♡ 19 ( +1 | -1 )
Stinky... I have felt the same way... Though I still play blitz, I do prefer the slower more thought out and calculating way... The victory of winning by the clock (timed out) is just not as sweet as a mate...
Bro...
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duffer
♡ 33 ( +1 | -1 )
blitz Peppe - more or less feel the same way, the sloppy nature of speed chess does seem unsatisfactory after playing a good game at Gameknot (although those are somewhat rare for me). Blitz has a place, its nice to get in a quick game once in a while, but not as fulfilling as these slower paced games are.
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aggropolis
♡ 29 ( +1 | -1 )
blitz Of course I agree to a whole thing said here but I do think that blitz should be used for beginners to practice the strategic part and for expert players for getting out emotions and enjoy some days when chess just takes over and is all you can think about.
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peppe_l
♡ 7 ( +1 | -1 )
Aggropolis "blitz should be used for beginners to practice the strategic part"
Hmm?
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aggropolis
♡ 10 ( +1 | -1 )
Of course I meant tactic, but that didn't need to be pointed out. We are good thinkers all aren't we?
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vaillancourt
♡ 33 ( +1 | -1 )
Blitz! I also played blitz on every good site, Icc, chess.net
I never really feel someone was cheating, how could this be possible on a 5 minute games??
I also need something else then blitz.
But here on website like gamesknot you will meet mostly advanced chess player ;)
premium_steve
♡ 57 ( +1 | -1 )
why is yahoo chess so unpopular? i play blitz a lot at yahoo chess (games.yahoo.com and then click the chess link), but i only know a few people personally who go there as well. why is icc or freechess.org more popular? there are so many strong players who play the advanced lounges at yahoo. anyone else play there?
i like blitz because it's fast and easy to play. but i prefer playing here.... because i can play fast when i want, or i can really look at a particular position for a long time and try my absolute best to find the right move or idea.
vaillancourt
♡ 7 ( +1 | -1 )
Playchess.com is a beautifull place to play...
try it and try to get back to yahoo after ;)
vaillancourt
♡ 15 ( +1 | -1 )
Icc Did you ever try a slowgame on icc? i played few time 1 hour mate or even slower, they also have tournament for slow chess player.
brobishkin
♡ 100 ( +1 | -1 )
Steve... The reason yahoo chess is so unpopular or people just dont want to play there... Is because the speed chess games played there are usually programs hooked up to cable modems... The speed games keep getting faster and faster as technology grows... I stated in another thread, I saw a game on yahoo chess where the player named "monte" played 110 moves in 50 seconds, while typing a few messages to the opponent he was playing at the same time... It was a 1 minute game and something to watch...
But you can tap into yahoo from a back door and just create your own rating without playing a single game... What do you want, 3000? 30,000? 3,000,000? but I dont think the rating system goes as high as 1 million... Its just the joke it's always been (yahoo chess)... That is why yahoo is so unpopular... I go there too, but find it harder and harder to get a unique game with someone tangible... And everyone there is so hung up on ratings instead of the game...
Bro...
peppe_l
♡ 38 ( +1 | -1 )
Another reason Why places like Yahoo, MSN and Pogo are so unpopular among hobby players is that the level of players is significantly lower than in ICC for example. Especially Pogo is ridiculous, ratings there can easily be 400-500 points higher compared to some chess-only sites. Also, these sites remind me of a zoo - lots of people who have bad manners, lots of disconnectors etc.
axedrez
♡ 10 ( +1 | -1 )
ICC is best for top-notch competition in blitz. So far I've played about 20 gM's (so obviously the competition is very good).
kahju
♡ 30 ( +1 | -1 )
Peppeeeee blitz bliih lets play bullet you speedster!! hundreds of games bullet... On some level if you actually do pay notice one may be able to understate key squares/plans in certain positions. The hazardous ones for sure. Blitz has helped me not to lose too many 2 hour games in time nomore.
peppe_l
♡ 181 ( +1 | -1 )
Well Naturally even in blitz strategy does play some part, even though tactics is far more important (especially compared to slow games). The strategy in blitz games is quite straight-forward, most often its mechanical thematic plans or simple strategy - control key squares and create threats...
About understating key squares/plans, for many reasons in blitz games I often make moves that I intuitively know to be bad. In certain positions there is no time for developing a good plan (something deeper than "move my night to a good square" etc), but you have to move...thats a bit frustrating, maybe the position is interesting but the time control doesnt allow you to enjoy it. I find it unpleasant to make some sort of "practical moves" that propably arent so good if you really analyze them. Whenever I make a positional suicide in a blitz game I can ask myself would I have made the same mistake in a slow game? If the answer is no, I dont really care :-)
Basically, IMO blitz is more a visual game. You have to see tactical threats, positional factors, plans immediately. In other words you have to see simple things fast, whereas in slow games you have to go beyond that to play well. And those things that are beyond pattern recognition and visual part of chess (things you can spot fast) are the main reason I like the entire game.
About losing 2 hour games on time, yeah I agree. Nowadays 90-120 min/game blitz time controls force one to practise playing in time trouble :-)
Ah well, I hope I made some sense...this is rather difficult subject to explain. Anyways time to go back to my games, see ya around :-)
desertfox
♡ 92 ( +1 | -1 )
Blitz and snail chess Snail chess is the real game of chess. Blitz is good to develop your functioning under stress. Many times I play an inferior move that I know will leave my opponent perplexed and "eat" away his time. This is good in blitz. In a snail game I play the objectively best move. The trouble with blitz sites is that many players disconnect, manipulate the clock or continue to play with king vs. king just because they have a few extra seconds. The best to go about it is to learn things slowly and only later try them in blitz games. Good blitzers play good games in spite of the speed. I made it to a little over 2000 rating points and will shortly quit blitz. I aimed at 2000. More than that is for much younger players I think.
Desert Fox
justawful
♡ 77 ( +1 | -1 )
Blitz Fanatic I'm a blitz fanatic. I'm also a serious chess player.
To me, these two statements are the same as saying... I'm a poker fanatic. I'm also a serious chess player.
The two games are not the same and they shouldn't be regarded as being so. I love blitz chess. 1 or 2 min time controls. It's a different game than real chess and has to be played that way. If you play 'real' chess you must keep the two games separated from one another. Playing a lot of blitz can hurt your 'real' game if you don't.
To me, blitz is fun. It's not 'real' chess, it's just a different game which is fun to play. Not everyone's cup of tea. I don't quite understand all the backlash I see from supposedly 'serious' chess players who disdain blitz. It's possible to be a 'real' or 'serious' chess player and still enjoy other games.