My opinion it is bad for a beginner to play blitz chess. One way to improve is to learn from your mistakes and playing blitz chess produces terrible games for a beginner.
Play slow games and then try and figure out your mistakes and have a high rated player help you find your mistakes. If you know your mistakes you can correct them and thus improve your play.
Depends what your goals are. Blitz is a lot of fun for players of all levels. If you want to have a lot of fun like this and see small improvement here or there without really caring about how good you'll eventually get then keep playing blitz.
When I decided I was interested in chess, I wanted to play every day. For the first three years I played chess I played blitz probably 340 or so days out of the year. I saw very little improvement but it was a lot of fun :) I improved maybe 50-100 points a year (not much for all those hours!).
Later when I decided I wanted to improve and go to tournaments it was difficult breaking some of the bad habits I'd learned. Mental errors like assuming a capture or re-capture or making one move threats, and a general inability to assess the position as a whole (you never stop to assess a position in blitz!).
A few years and books later I think I've broken a lot of them, but overall it definitely slows your progress in my experience. That said, you have to balance enjoyment and work. You don't have to quit blitz entirely. Mix in long games (maybe G/30, although tournament games are over an hour for each player). With "turn-based chess" first find your move without an analysis board. You can use it to double check after you're "sure" of your choice.
Intresting responses, I really do enjoyed reading your response wafflemaster. Ill follow on it.
Depends what your goals are. Blitz is a lot of fun for players of all levels. If you want to have a lot of fun like this and see small improvement here or there without really caring about how good you'll eventually get then keep playing blitz.
When I decided I was interested in chess, I wanted to play every day. For the first three years I played chess I played blitz probably 340 or so days out of the year. I saw very little improvement but it was a lot of fun :) I improved maybe 50-100 points a year (not much for all those hours!).
Later when I decided I wanted to improve and go to tournaments it was difficult breaking some of the bad habits I'd learned. Mental errors like assuming a capture or re-capture or making one move threats, and a general inability to assess the position as a whole (you never stop to assess a position in blitz!).
A few years and books later I think I've broken a lot of them, but overall it definitely slows your progress in my experience. That said, you have to balance enjoyment and work. You don't have to quit blitz entirely. Mix in long games (maybe G/30, although tournament games are over an hour for each player). With "turn-based chess" first find your move without an analysis board. You can use it to double check after you're "sure" of your choice.
I think that's why I'm so bad at blitz and bullet. My bullet thought process:
-And here I think that white is bet- wait! I only have 2 seconds left!
Wafflemaster's post basically says this: If you want to improve, yes.
Play more cc games, lupe, if you are focused on improving.
playing only blitz wont help you improve a lot, but theres nothing wrong with some. After all playing any chess will help you improve, just some more than others.
Hah, yeah. If I'm not switched all the way into blitz mode I'll sometimes get caught with an interesting position where I'll stop and find a plan I'm comfortable with... a very fine plan too if I say so myself, I think I have good winning chances!... only to notice I have 20 seconds left now, and my opponent can literally play anything and win, crap lol.
Yeah blitz is bad for beginner. Aside from you will developing bad habits, you will not be able to develop your tecqnique that much because of its shortness..
I agree with Becky....blitz for fun and standard games to learn and improve....well said
Play Game in 10/5 up to Game in 60/5 for practice. That kind of "practice" will eventually allow you to reach USCF 1800, or at least 1600, OTB.
And when you have lots of time on your hands, play OTB, where games take about 5 to 6 hours, when evenly fought to the end.
Both "Blitz" (with no time bonus) and CC chess are another kettle of fish. Funny how this site seems to have so much of each.
A good library of 15 to 20 books is perhaps your best foundation for improving quickly, along with the suggestions above. And if you're really serious, hire a coach.
CT-ART has been strongly suggested (by many folks) for training purposes.
This site also has many other software options, especially if you're willing to pay a little for their use.
Well bobyyyy I usually finish my five minute games, usually the only time I don't finish my games are usually people rated 100-150 points more then me.
Thanks guys for the tips.
I believe that playing blitz games is really harmul for beginners. You will only play superficially and you will make simple mistakes, blunders. Do not forget that chess essentially is a game for thinking people. You will develop your understanding and thinking with thorough and solid working at useful resources and books on a daily basis. You should stick to playing chess games with long time control. You will definitely improve your skills this way. Making a progress is a great stimulus to study chess. I never recommend my students who are beginners to play blitz games, because it usually creates superficial style and low level of understanding.
...And yet, it gives the person a way to explore an opening, and, in most cases, try out many middle game strategies in a short period of time.
If the five minute games are played for several hours, you begin to see what your ideas look like quickly, and can adjust them to areas that improve their play. But. I am not saying to not also play longer timed games. These do help in formalising a long term strategy, and also link up an end game as well.
If you don't mind my opinion. You do have a higher rating, to be sure. It's only that I had a chance to play long days of five minute chess, BUT without study in the first place, it was not always helpful. That might be the key, I suppose. With study.
Even long time control is worthless without study, I suppose.
My opinion is to improve you must be able to "see" what you are doing wrong.
You cannot really see what you are doing wrong by playing a lot of 5 minute games. You may "see" some very basics where you could improve but you will not be able to improve beyond a very low point and that very low point would be about 100 ratings points above wherever you are now.
Playing too many 5 minute games puts a "cap" on your possible improvement.
It is ok to play 5 minute games for fun but to me--how can it be fun when you are playing rather bad chess and not really improving very much?
You have a new opening that you are trying to "claim", and you want many responses quickly.
You jot down the lines that are of impotance.
It is good for that.
Another, warming up for a tournament. I saw a fellow, early like me, at a tournament and he set the clock for a minute him, five minutes me. He won. He won again. and agaion. and again. He liked the variety I was throwing at him, but he always reset me to five minutes, yet never did reset his. In something shy of a dozen games, he thanked me (his opponent showed up) and he had a great warm up, I had a nice ego thrashing.
ouch
But still, thare's one more, and that's for fun.
Capablanca line to remember. He wrote, "Never leave a move unplayed for fear of losing. If you think a move is good, it's best to play it, no matter what the results." That sounds very much like have fun when playing, and enjoy the game.
How much fun is playing a long game poorly? About the same as playing a fast game poorly?
That's why I ended last time with it's the amount of study you intend on putting into it. Doesn't matter which you think toplay is better for deeper understanding of the position or for a wide variety of anwers to a system. It DOES matter how much you come back and study what you did wrong.
Or, hopefully, what your opponent did wrong, eh?
d=^))
Capablanca line to remember. He wrote, "Never leave a move unplayed for fear of losing. If you think a move is good, it's best to play it, no matter what the results." That sounds very much like have fun when playing, and enjoy the game.
Capablanca's thoughts had an absolutely another meaning. He meant that it was much better to play logically according to your positional ideas and calculation if you thought that it was right. It is important to trust yourself in any case, becauase then you will be afraid of many things without any evidences, you will be always uncertain. A chessplayer with hesitating style will not make any significant progress.
I quit playing it because I felt it was hurting my long game.
and I keep playing blitz because I lack both the talent and ambition to be really good... so I play just to have fun.
Well I've recently started playing for chess and I've honestly improved alot, Im still a reltavily low level player but I not as bad as I used to been. Though almost all the games I've been playing now have been nothing but blitz and Im quite scared if my devoplment may been hindered due to the blunders and mistakes I make due to the quickness of blitz. My question is, is it a good or bad thing for a beginner to continue playing blitz chess.