I know a lot of RHP'rs do blitz also, to balance their game. I use three mostly, ICC, Playchess.com (the chessbase site), and very recently started with FICS. I was surprised to learn that FICS (free internet chess site) gave me the lowest rating (low 1400's). ICC about 1500, and Playchess.com about 1500+. These are all averages, of course. But they suggest that the players on FICS are stronger. The players on Playchess (mainly european) play a very standard repertoire, ICC players, a little more varied, and the FICS players play out of book most of the time. A lot of bad Philidors and they love to push rook pawns to stop pins, thus wasting a lot of time. Than having been said, once they got into the middle game, the FICS players made the strongest moves. I was even having trouble with 1200 players, something that rarely happens on ICC. Actually, I rarely meet up with 1200 players on ICC. I don't choose my opponents, I let the computer do that. These are my personal observations. To some other players it might be different. Of all three, ICC has the most opponents, and is generally quicker delivering up someone to play. FICS is the slowest, but as I said, it's free and I use the Babbas Interface, which is just as good as the other two. I save all my games to Fritz 9 if I want to analyze later, although analyzing blitz games is sometimes self-humiliating, so many tactical opportunities missed, you could cry.
Originally posted by Jusuhyou can premove in fics also if your client supports it. for example babaschess has premove. probably most clients have it too.
yeah. I prefer playchess to fics because playchess has premove-feature...
ICC was disappointment for me.
And yes, I have highest ratings at playchess too.
I played at ICC 1998-2004, and now play at playchess, FICS, and USCL. My FICS blitz rating tends to be lowest, USCL the highest. Most often, it is easier to get a game on playchess. I run into a lot of lag problems with my opponents on FICS, and suspect that computer abuse is more common there (perhaps such abuse contributes to the lower ratings).
BabasChess is an excellent interface.
Originally posted by WulebgrIt's interesting; I've played 50 some odd timed games (30-90 minutes) on both playchess.com and FICS and my rating at playchess is about a 100 points higher (high 1800's to high 1700's). I've never seen any good evidence of computer abuse on either in my analysis of my games. I don't have that many games on USCL (less than 20 and I'm rating low 1800's) but my impression from playing 1800's at all three sites is that the USCL ratings are probably 100-200 points overrated.
I played at ICC 1998-2004, and now play at playchess, FICS, and USCL. My FICS blitz rating tends to be lowest, USCL the highest. Most often, it is easier to get a game on playchess. I run into a lot of lag problems with my opponents on FICS, and suspect that computer abuse is more common there (perhaps such abuse contributes to the lower ratings).
BabasChess is an excellent interface.
I found that there were too many nutcases on ICC, who'd unleash a tirade of abuse when you beat them, or mess about with daft messages during a 3 0 game.
I used playchess for a while, and their coverage of major tournaments was very good. I generally found the people on playchess a lot more sensible and civil. I'll probably resubscribe, if I ever have the time....
Originally posted by Oddjob291YES. there is no doubt about it. Not only it forces you to calculate crucial lines faster, but it also helps you to deal with time pressure. Also, you can easily familiarize yourself with new openings by playing blitz.
Just wondering, do these blitz/bullet games actually benefit you besides calculating quickly.