Is blitz bad for you?

Will playing a lot of speed chess hurt your slow game?

Originally posted by point
Will playing a lot of speed chess hurt your slow game?

of course. Speed is a killer of strategy. "The best blitz players, are the best slow players" -Dan Heisman

it can be, as with any drug

speed ain't chess

Originally posted by Grandmouster
of course. Speed is a killer of strategy. "The best blitz players, are the best slow players" -Dan Heisman

I can't believe Heisman actually said that.

I think it should be

The best slow players are good blitz players.

There are player who are great at blitz but suck at slow chess and there are players who are great at slow chess but, um... suck less at blitz.

I say blitz will come naturally to you after you become a great slow player since you know your opening better then, have experience in different positions, etc....

Originally posted by point
Will playing a lot of speed chess hurt your slow game?

Watch the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." That should explain how "blitz" can hurt your slow game. It stands to reason that if all you ever do is play blitz, will you ever see deep into the subtleties of a position? Solve a 10 move combination with a sacrifice and an x-ray thrown in? No! Not even grandmasters take less than 10 minutes in the really deep combinations. Botvinnik made dang sure his combinations had do refutations before playing them. You just can't play the artistic game of chess without time to sculpt a beautiful position. You're most beautiful combinations tend to come in slow game among the greatest players throughout history. Once in a blue moon, I've pulled soon wicked combinations in 5 minute blitz chess, but it's only because my mind was so trained to that position. Blitz chess is about grab the throat and run. If you come down to 20 seconds for your opponent and he has more material than you, who can't waste those 20 seconds if they are nimble and quick on the board? I've been known to waste those seconds and end up winning with just my king and my pawn against various white pieces scattered around me. But, the other play cries because the clock won for me! How is that skill? I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've known 1300 standard rated players who are 1800 blitz chess players. It's because they're good at intensifying the complexities, throwing opponents off balance, attacking when there's really no attack but it's just to psych their opponent out. It's cute. But, it does nothing for the player who truly wants to get under the fabric of chess - combinations, destructive combinations, combinations to achieve tempo... you'll find more well thought out crystal clear positions in slow games, and to me they are more beauteous in context.

After you gain a certain level of proficiency, playing a LOT of ten minute games will help you improve far more than playing one or two painfully long games at the local club each week.
Then, after you reach the next level, playing some slower games that you analyze deeper will be more beneficial. Postal chess is a good way to do this, or better yet, REDHOTPAWN.COM, combined with a lot of fast OTB play.

Originally posted by RahimK
I can't believe Heisman actually said that.

I think it should be

The best slow players are good blitz players.

There are player who are great at blitz but suck at slow chess and there are players who are great at slow chess but, um... suck less at blitz.

I say blitz will come naturally to you after you become a great slow player since you know your opening better then, have experience in different positions, etc....

Maybe you wernt listing to the same ChessFm broadcast, where he said pretty much those same words, as i was.
He said, kasparov, anand, krammink, etc, are the best blitzers around, because they developed their skill's by playing slow games in major tourneys

Blitz isn't neccasarily bad. The problem is that once you play blitz you get so invloved in the game you get addicted to it. Blitz can actually help you, but only in moderation. Blitz helps you in time pressure, and sharpens your intuition in chess positions. I say that play only one blitz game for every 9 slow games.

I love blitz, and have even played a simul where each of my opponents had five minutes to my two. Saturday I took 3 minutes to my opponent's 7 because I thought he was mouthy. He reported after being checkmated that I had used 85 seconds.

He had a superior position if he jhad simply noticed the mate threat, which was fairly obvious if he simply asked "why did Wulebgr move his rook there?"

I've played over 25,000 blitz games at ICC, FICS, playchess, Chessmaster online, Chess.net, Yahoo, US Chess Live, and probably other sites that I've forgotten. It has given me a database with hundreds of thousands of blunders to draw upon, has made it relatively likely that I cannot be surprised in the opening, and worn out a few rodents on my desk. But it has done almost nothing to improve my chess, and has eaten a lot of valuable time that might have been used productively.

Originally posted by chesskid001
Blitz isn't neccasarily bad. The problem is that once you play blitz you get so invloved in the game you get addicted to it. Blitz can actually help you, but only in moderation. Blitz helps you in time pressure, and sharpens your intuition in chess positions. I say that play only one blitz game for every 9 slow games.

Blitz can help your short term 1-2 move strategies, but kill long term thinking.
I see IM Jay Bonin play 3 min chess on ICC, and then he loses in tournament play, because he cant adjust his thinking.
This happens to me alot, and to other players i know who play OTB tourneys, and ICC blitz.

Can't you use blitz to get to try moves in 'tabiya' positions?!

I supervise the chess club at the high school I teach at, and I play nothing but speed before class, giving the n00b students odds of ONE MINUTE my time versus their unlimited time.
It's great.....I almost always win by checkmate, and even when I lose on time I have a crushing position. They think I'm a genious, even thout my chess skills are mediocre. ("a" player uscf)

short answer: yes
long answer: .................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
....................................................yes

I'll get my coat😞

blitz chess is great for your game, it gives you a lot of exercise and expands your quick "sight of board" capabilities.
anyone tells ya different is full of it. ALL the top players are speed demons, ain't no such thing as a speed chess master that sucks at slow chess.
There just ain't. Name one, please.

Originally posted by Grandmouster
Maybe you wernt listing to the same ChessFm broadcast, where he said pretty much those same words, as i was.
He said, kasparov, anand, krammink, etc, are the best blitzers around, because they developed their skill's by playing slow games in major tourneys

Exactly! best blitzer because they developed their skills by slow play!

Not the other way around.

Therefore, the best slow players are good blitz players but not the other way around.