time management otb?

Hi,

I'm about to take part in my first OTB tournament on Sunday. It's rapidplay, 30 minutes per player per game. I've never used a clock before and was wondering if anybody could offer any advice about time management and just general OTB guidelines.

Cheers,

lordgledhill

Originally posted by lordgledhill
Hi,

I'm about to take part in my first OTB tournament on Sunday. It's rapidplay, 30 minutes per player per game. I've never used a clock before and was wondering if anybody could offer any advice about time management and just general OTB guidelines.

Cheers,

lordgledhill

youre going to be blown away unless you get a perspective of what 30 minutes a side really means for how much time you have per in different stages of the game. after a while of playing with a clock youll subconsciously be able to play with it without hindering your game. you should play some 30 minute blitz on here. after the game look how much time is left. ask: did i play a quality game? was this a long or short game? how much extra time did i have, did i get into time trouble?

It seems like really fast controlls, but 30 minutes is actually a long time. Try to use most of your time, but don't let your clock get under 5 minutes for most of the game, because it can really cause problems. Know your opening, and you should be able to play the first 10 moves in 5 to 10 minutes.

Originally posted by clandarkfire
It seems like really fast controlls, but 30 minutes is actually a long time. Try to use most of your time, but don't let your clock get under 5 minutes for most of the game, because it can really cause problems. Know your opening, and you should be able to play the first 10 moves in 5 to 10 minutes.

very true. i played some quality games last week at 15 min, as long as you do well opening and dont waste time there 30 minutes should be ok.

Try reading some of Dan Heisman's Novice Nook column (Google it). He has a lot to say about time management.

One example:

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman40.pdf

Originally posted by lordgledhill
Hi,

I'm about to take part in my first OTB tournament on Sunday. It's rapidplay, 30 minutes per player per game. I've never used a clock before and was wondering if anybody could offer any advice about time management and just general OTB guidelines.

Cheers,

lordgledhill

Eat Hunter's breakfast after your games, not before. The drinks will slow you down otherwise.

Pretty simple think about your moves don't rush if you see a good mave look for a better one, you should start being cautious at about 6 minutes on your clock and try to stay within 5 minutes of you oponent.good luck on your tournement tell us your result and if you want some of your games😀

Forget the clock - you have plenty of time.
5 minutes is ages - hold your breath for 5 minutes to see how long it is.

I'm sorry Thud but the advice about staying within 5 minutes of your
opponents clock is not sound. You are placing the clock first and giving
the lad something to worry about.

Position first - clock second.

If the position demands you jump into the think tank - then off you go.
And stay in till your are sure you have the best move.

Don't come back here on Monday morning posting.

"I lost all my games but I was 15 minutes ahead of everyone on my clock!"

If your opponent is in major Time Trouble do not speed up.
Play the board not the clock.

The wise guys will NOT resign. They will let their clock run down to
see if you are going to get caught in the blitz trap. Don't.

Don't write down the moves of your game - but after the game
record them. (you should record every game - even friendlies).

You can have some great fun in allegro's.
Here is one of my games from Grangemouth 1990(ish).

A nice opening trap which I have caught a few people with on here.

(Look - if ever I'm Black and I leave my e-pawn hanging - don't take it),

I remember the young lad saying he was told to play 2.Bc4 to
avoid my Latvian. (it was a team event - I was in the same team as
GM Jonathan Parker. I remember him frowning at a few of my moves.)

I'm Black - can't recall the lads name - he is most likely a top player now.



Good Luck mate and if you see a sacrifice but cannot work out if it's
good or bad. Play it.

Eat some Tuna fish (good brain food), stick to drinking coffee, if your first game is against a 10 year old girl (genrally it's the first game of the Tourney) forget the person just look at the board,if your going to lose it's better to lose the first game...all the best.

Originally posted by Hells Caretaker
if your going to lose it's better to lose the first game...

why? wouldnt that mentally worsen you for the next game, meaning the last game is better to lose? am i missing something?

"I'm sorry Thud but the advice about staying within 5 minutes of your
opponents clock is not sound. You are placing the clock first and giving
the lad something to worry about.

Position first - clock second."greenpawn34

I completly agree with that but he didn't ask for advise on his game just on the clock.

High quality chess can be played in 30 min games, definitely. That being said, 30 minutes is short enough to put pressure in the opening stage if you've never seen an opening before so be prepared as much as possible. No time to plunge into deep thought on move 3. You need playable lines against all major openings.

Whatever you do, don't ever lose a game in 25 moves but with 26 minutes left on your clock (in 30/game) like my opponent did in a club match. He practically blitzed it being so afraid of running out of time that the quality of his play was terrible.

Critical junctures in the game require thought so whether it's 5 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever, SPEND IT. Your decision here will affect the outcome for the rest of the game. Move times are not meant to be evenly proportioned. Middlegames are complex, spend the time.

May be obvious but remember to think during the entire game, i.e. when it's your opponent's move. No washroom breaks, looking at other games etc. I like to find counterplay ideas that could be used against me if I was my opponent.

Lastly, just because your opponent is moving fast doesn't mean you have to. It is a mistake to try and look like you know what you're doing by moving as fast as your opponent. Bluffing rarely works.

In case you didn't already know, the hand that moves the piece is also the hand the touches the clock after you move. So you can't move with one hand and hit the clock with the other to try and save time. Black chooses the side where the clock sits (unless tourney director says otherwise). The game starts when black hits the clock, white then proceeds with move 1. Sorry if you knew all this already, but many players do not. Oh, and touch move is in full effect.

Oh and if it's really your first OTB tourney, be prepared to be extremely nervous. 🙂

GOOD LUCK!

I played my first otb tourney in august 08, here are some observations. Some of which have already been noted.

1.The players who performed well, concentrated. Intensely. No doubt they were analysing the positons. All the GM's were like this. I found this difficult in 'live' chess, where people watch you and look at you sadly when you hang a piece. It's alot different from sitting at your computer.

2.Even middle and low rated players know their openings, I was talking to a group of 1500-2000 elo rated players who could give any where from 10-20 moves of theory. Where as I hadn't prepared at all.

3.Stress. I played classic time controls and it can be intense to sit for 5 hours with a worse position, or even with a better one.

Originally posted by irontigran
why? wouldnt that mentally worsen you for the next game, meaning the last game is better to lose? am i missing something?

Speaking from my experience after the first round all those that won play each other, all those who drew play each other and those that lost play each other in the next round.Confidence is everything.Besides you got to wait for the Tuna and coffee to kick-in.😛

There is a lot of good advice here, but also some very bad advice regarding clock handling!

Far too often I see players using 40-50 minutes trying to 'solve' a middlegame problem, and then having to play their last 10 or 15 moves in as many minutes-more often than not blundering in the process. This is a nonsensical approach to the game.

In the specific question here - a 30 minute game - you have to get into a rhythm of playing reasonably quickly every move. You CANNOT spend 10 minutes on 1 move (unless you are sure there is a guaranteed easy win/mate at the end of it!). In general, trying to stay within 5 minutes of your opponent IS a good approach in quickplay chess.

For longer games, it depends on the time control. But the average club game is played at something like 36 moves in 1 and a half hours, and again you can't use up 30% of your time on 3 moves (8% or so of your required moves!)

Please look at this game if you require further proof that clock- handling is EXTREMELY important - almost as important as the actual moves sometimes!!

http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-psychology-101