Originally posted by DivGradCurl
Sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities. Next time I say something controversial I will intersperse my paragraphs with links to kittens.
I mean, it's not like I'm asking for moderation or anything...
It's just that if you look through the threads on the first page here there's like 10+ topics on blitz games. None of them have analysis. Most ...[text shortened]... s just the OP posting a pgn and waiting for flattery.
http://tinyurl.com/4oh4rl
I actually don't spend that much time on these games anymore. A lot of them have been played in the period of 1 day lately, and I only accept 1/0 challenges now.
When I play a nice blitz game though, it is usually something that has either a nice tactic or unusual position.
If you think about it, RHP games take weeks or months to complete (usually).
I can (and have) play literally a hundred blitz or bullet games in a single day.
By seeing that many more positions in a short period of time, you will have access to that many more unusual, tactical, or just plain entertaining positions.
It's not that blitz is better or even especially great. It just gives you a chance to experience a lot more chess (positions) in a shorter period of time.
Going over one's blitz games can improve one's play as well.
I have a friend that I gave personal over the board lessons too.
We only looked at blitz games. That's all he plays.
I wasn't able to teach him about all the exact weak points in his game, but occasionally, a reoccuring them would come up.
For example, he would make bad minor piece trades or recaptures.
In one instance, he had two captures of a bishop, one with a bishop and one with a knight. The opponent could recapture once only. Therefore, the first capture decides which minor piece he would have left on the board. He chose the bishop on general principles. He should have left the knight on the board instead because the future play was going to allow the knight to be a super strong piece (hopping from color to color). There was even a direct route on the board.
Having the bishop limited his play severely.
A few weeks later, he made the wrong decision again.
This time though, he said he thought about what I had told him AFTER he made his move. It hadn't sunk in yet.
A few weeks later, another situation came up, and he made the right decision.
He began to consider minor piece exchanges more important to the overall strategy of the game, and he began to look at each individual postion first.
Not just standardly recapturing helped make him better all around.
Other situations like this came up. Another example is that he would give up a strong initiative just for small material gain.
We worked on that too.
I made him a better all around player just from going over BLITZ games and seeing patterns in his play. Studying blitz can help you improve.
After a year and a half of these lessons, his ICC rating went up over 200 points.
I should mention one other thing that he was doing wrong.
He was also analyzing his blitz games with an engine in blunder check.
I don't think this is the way to go.
You should go move by move with infinite analysis and play out the obvious moves to see why they don't work.
The positional move that the computer doesn't pick usually has a neat tactical shot 2 or 3 moves down the line.
Blitz is good chess practice.
You get experience that used to take 10 or 20 years of OTB play in a matter of months.
I do think it has it's minuses too.
For one thing, endings will suffer in blitz games.
You learn the obvious and general endings down pat over time, but the technical ones will elude you.
There simply isn't enough time to put the necessary deep thought into coverting an ending in a blitz game.
One reason is because by the time you reach an ending there are only seconds left.
After it's over though, you can study these endings just like you would a tactic.
Blitz can also develop bad habits.
Sometimes I move too fast or make an automatic recapture.
You have to mentally gear yourself down for slower games.
As for posting these blitz games here:
Sometimes there is something instructional to be learned.
Also, a lot of chessplayers need the ego boost from showing off one of their recent blitz wins. It gives them confidence and restores the desire to play. (I must confess that I have needed this boost to keep me motivated in the past.)
Some of us will never reach 2200, 2000, 1800, 1600, or even 1400. The real trick is to enjoy yourself. That's why we all took up the game in the first place.
Showing off a nice win can really bring a smile to the players face.
Just for fun, go to a local club and have a low rated player go over a game with you. Watch the sparkle in their eye as they show you how they pulled off the upset and won the game. That's what chess is really about.
No one cares about your lame blitz games
23 Sep '10 22:49
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