Originally posted by azalin76Depends on the tournaments you play in. If you happen to play blitz or fast play tournaments then no, it will do you a power of good! If you play more normal time controls in tournaments then it probably won't help except if you are prone to getting into time trouble. I don't suppose it will do your play any harm provided you don't only play blitz.
Does it really hurt your tournament play?
I just watched gm danielssen's blitz games, and he says in the beginning of this game that blitz is a good way to stay sharp.
"a live blitz game #29-31"
http://simnet.is/hdanielsen/liveblitz/live_blitz29_31.html
there's a lot more of these on his site, under the 'live blitz games' link (you'll have to scroll down the left frame):
http://www.videochess.net/
I think it's all about discipline. Many say that blitz chess ruins your tournament play because it makes you play too fast. You have to control that urge to blitz moves and force yourself to think longer and more in-depth about your moves. I also believe that blitz chess helps you because you are more used to the time pressure so being low on time in a tournament game won't hurt you as much.
Blitz is like everything else in chess - take everything in moderation. For example Playchess offers :-
-bullet
-blitz
-slowchess
Each of those complements the other. Unless you are the type who play 1,000 bullet games, you should be well rounded in your approach. There is no difference to the guy who plays 1000 bullet games with the CC player who plays 300 games and "blitzes" each move.
Why not play less CC games at more thought but then supplement with blitz chess on the side?