I Need Clock Management!

I've been wanting to see a discussion on clock/time management in standard tourney time settings. For example, I play in a tournament once a month with 40/80 and 15/30 repeating time controls and still find myself under time pressure 90% of the time. This past Saturday, in game 1 I made my 40th move with 14 seconds left and went on to win in another 10 moves. In game 3, I ran out of time on my 33rd move but I spent a lot of time in the last couple of moves defending a terrible lost position.

Do any of you have tried and true tips and strategies for managing time in OTB games - specifically in tournament settings and non-blitz games?

Originally posted by 93confirmed
I've been wanting to see a discussion on clock/time management in standard tourney time settings. For example, I play in a tournament once a month with 40/80 and 15/30 repeating time controls and still find myself under time pressure 90% of the time. This past Saturday, in game 1 I made my 40th move with 14 seconds left and went on to win in another 10 ...[text shortened]... egies for managing time in OTB games - specifically in tournament settings and non-blitz games?

I tend to only play correspondence chess and full time controls.
In full time controls (2 hours for 40 moves), a good rule of thumb is to start pushing yourself after 3 minutes of thinking. If you don't need it don't take it.

problem: you are damn slow.
solution: start playing 1min bullet. play 1000 bullet games daily. this will sharpen your tactical vision + make you damn fast.

and thats damn fast. damn.

Originally posted by Jusuh
problem: you are damn slow.
solution: start playing 1min bullet. play 1000 bullet games daily. this will sharpen your tactical vision + make you damn fast.

and thats damn fast. damn.

I don't know if I agree with that. Blitz and bullet chess is a lot different than 'real' chess. Blunders shouldn't have to decide games to speed someone up.

Originally posted by Jusuh
problem: you are damn slow.
solution: start playing 1min bullet. play 1000 bullet games daily. this will sharpen your tactical vision + make you damn fast.

and thats damn fast. damn.

Do NOT play Bullet. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT!

It will make you play too fast if you make a habit of playing it. So if you do, do NOT play a lot - esp. 1,000 daily lol.

Play blitz - 15 min. That'll help some. 5, 10 or 15 min. But bullet is like playin' the lottery.

See http://chess.about.com/cs/reference/g/bldeftmp.htm

Originally posted by 93confirmed
I've been wanting to see a discussion on clock/time management in standard tourney time settings. For example, I play in a tournament once a month with 40/80 and 15/30 repeating time controls and still find myself under time pressure 90% of the time. This past Saturday, in game 1 I made my 40th move with 14 seconds left and went on to win in another 10 ...[text shortened]... egies for managing time in OTB games - specifically in tournament settings and non-blitz games?

I think you must try to look at the positions where you were thinking so long. What was the reason? Too long calculation? Problems finding a plan? Variation problems? Remember that the clock is a part of the game, so if your opponent can find equally strong moves as yours but on lesser time, he is better. "Clock management" is IMHO much a matter of becoming a stronger player. However, when you are still an amateur you still lack some aspects of the basics which sometimes drains your time unproportionally.

Each player has their own specific problems which need specific solutions, so you must find the answer in your own games. Playing blitz can also get you bad habits, and even *if* it was the best way to practice tactics, it might not be what you need. Take it to the bottom, why you were thinking so much on a specific move (I hope you already take note of your time at each move).

You say you defended a terribly lost position. That is a good start for looking at where you went wrong. If you get into huge problems, you made a mistake.. and I would guess it might have had something to do with moving too fast. Not thinking everything over clearly and calculating the necessary variations usually equals bad positions. However, that's just a guess, but I do that sometimes myself. Either way, find out why you got that poor position.

I do not think there is some kind of "time management" except from becoming a stronger player. A grandmaster could probably beat me with 5 minutes vs 50 with no sweat. If such techniques exist and how well they work I do not know, but I am convinced better players can simply solve problems faster - and vice versa. A time management technique you might find could perhaps only increase your time consumption marginally, relative to your playing strength.

Thanks for the detailed reply Golub - that was good food for thought.

All 3 games that I played should have been wins so it's really not a matter of these opponents being stronger than I am. One of the main issues for me is that I'm so used to playing CC that I catch myself playing OTB with the wrong mindset. I find my mind wandering, looking at too many 'what if' threats that really don't exist, and I get so paranoid about clock management that I actually end up using time thinking about the clock (sounds silly but it's true).

Originally posted by 93confirmed
I've been wanting to see a discussion on clock/time management in standard tourney time settings. For example, I play in a tournament once a month with 40/80 and 15/30 repeating time controls and still find myself under time pressure 90% of the time. This past Saturday, in game 1 I made my 40th move with 14 seconds left and went on to win in another 10 ...[text shortened]... egies for managing time in OTB games - specifically in tournament settings and non-blitz games?

There's some good suggestions, particulary by Wulebgr and Dave Tebb, here: http://www.timeforchess.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=50788&page=1

Originally posted by Ramned


But bullet is like playin' the lottery.

yes. lottery where good player ALWAYS beats bad player.

Originally posted by 93confirmed
I've been wanting to see a discussion on clock/time management in standard tourney time settings. For example, I play in a tournament once a month with 40/80 and 15/30 repeating time controls and still find myself under time pressure 90% of the time. This past Saturday, in game 1 I made my 40th move with 14 seconds left and went on to win in another 10 ...[text shortened]... egies for managing time in OTB games - specifically in tournament settings and non-blitz games?

Try playing on this site...

http://chess.emrald.net

Not only will this site sharpen your tactics, It will help you speed up your thought process. You must solve the puzzles quickly as the rating you receive is time based. You can give the correct answer but lose grade by answering too slowly.

Originally posted by 93confirmed
I've been wanting to see a discussion on clock/time management in standard tourney time settings. For example, I play in a tournament once a month with 40/80 and 15/30 repeating time controls and still find myself under time pressure 90% of the time. This past Saturday, in game 1 I made my 40th move with 14 seconds left and went on to win in another 10 ...[text shortened]... egies for managing time in OTB games - specifically in tournament settings and non-blitz games?

just refine the way you think. Kotov addressed the same problem in his book "Think Like a Grandmaster"...I can't word it as good as him, you shoud check it out