Whenever faced with higher rated players, I either blunder in winning positions or lose on time.. how to handle time pressure??!!!
Increments. Example (10+7seconds)
one ay to do it is to stop and study the board a little while like in like the middle games and devise an attacking plan then you can make your moves in fast succession i di dont see ho the on t kno w how to nandle a bullet game myself really if someone tells you let me know... in like ultra bullet you could maybe try for luck and just make any ol reasonable move to beat the clock i ve played higher rated and beat them really good hen i never looked at his rating until the end of the game so some of it is intimidation...... you expect them to relaly have some good moves so you pressure yourself into thinking hard hen lots of time its not really needed i mess up a lot too.... ive taken to checking my moves really good.... especially if under a lot of pressure if its a long game take a few seconds break and like smoke a cigarette or something then come back and relook at the board ........you could try to out pressure him and keep him burning up his time trying figure out hat you re up to once you re getting him on time then you can relax and be leisurely figuring out your next moves i always try to stay a head on time... unless youre stopped to formulate an intelligent strategy try not to get behind on time very far i always play my same opening or defense so i already know my moves to both the scandinavian and silican anyway im hoping im hoping some one has really good advise because my nerves are probally just as bad as yours and i d like to know myself
wow i just looked at your ratings and maybe you should send me some advise
"Whenever faced with higher rated players, I either blunder in winning positions or lose on time.. how to handle time pressure??!!!"
Blundering is always bad, even more in winning positions. Always check that your intended move is no blunder before you play it.
If you lose on time, is it in a lost position or in a won position?
If you lose on time in a lost position, it is no big deal: you gave it your best effort and your opponent playued better. Aanlyse your game and learn from your mistakes.
If you lose on time in a won position, then look which moves cost you most time and find out why it took you so long so as to make the same move faster in the future.
Blundering is always bad, even more in winning positions. Always check that your intended move is no blunder before you play it.
If you lose on time, is it in a lost position or in a won position?
If you lose on time in a lost position, it is no big deal: you gave it your best effort and your opponent playued better. Aanlyse your game and learn from your mistakes.
If you lose on time in a won position, then look which moves cost you most time and find out why it took you so long so as to make the same move faster in the future.
Hey @atharv_2006!
Thanks for the question - very good one - I just wonder whether you are asking about bullet/blitz or about rapid/classical?!
The answer for the fast ones is simple: those time controls are made for fun, to flag and to be flagged; you are permanently under time pressure there - it is always your turn, just keep on (pre)moving. :-)
There are several tricks on how to play the clock and not the board with totally unexpected moves, random checks, not recapturing back or similar in bullet.
Time management in rapid or clasical is the hardest part, I will try to respond to it based on my OTB-experience.
1) Ignore (!) or forget their rating. Dont think during the game how it would be to beat a higher rated player - thoughts like this during the game will lead straightforward to a loss! Play the position and not your opponents rating!
2) Increase your concentration and keep thinking even if it is your opponents move.
3) Analyse the time taken on the moves after the game and try to improve it. Consider afterwards: was it necessary there? It is even tracked for you online: you dont even have to write down the remaining time for each player after every move. :)
4) Dont try to find the perfect moves - often is a second best one more than enough.
5) Learn to understand where the critical moments in the game are (trades/pawn structure changes etc.) - those are where you take your time.
6) Dont doubt your every move and try not to go over the same variation again and again. If you have to do this - then please, on your opponents time :)
7) Dont live in the past and regret the moves you have not played. Only the current situation on the board counts.
Last but not least:
The clock is as much a part of the game as the board and pieces and losing because of time-trouble is no different than losing because of weak play or simple blunders.
Never, please never, use time trouble as an excuse for your losses! :0
Enjoy! :)
Thanks for the question - very good one - I just wonder whether you are asking about bullet/blitz or about rapid/classical?!
The answer for the fast ones is simple: those time controls are made for fun, to flag and to be flagged; you are permanently under time pressure there - it is always your turn, just keep on (pre)moving. :-)
There are several tricks on how to play the clock and not the board with totally unexpected moves, random checks, not recapturing back or similar in bullet.
Time management in rapid or clasical is the hardest part, I will try to respond to it based on my OTB-experience.
1) Ignore (!) or forget their rating. Dont think during the game how it would be to beat a higher rated player - thoughts like this during the game will lead straightforward to a loss! Play the position and not your opponents rating!
2) Increase your concentration and keep thinking even if it is your opponents move.
3) Analyse the time taken on the moves after the game and try to improve it. Consider afterwards: was it necessary there? It is even tracked for you online: you dont even have to write down the remaining time for each player after every move. :)
4) Dont try to find the perfect moves - often is a second best one more than enough.
5) Learn to understand where the critical moments in the game are (trades/pawn structure changes etc.) - those are where you take your time.
6) Dont doubt your every move and try not to go over the same variation again and again. If you have to do this - then please, on your opponents time :)
7) Dont live in the past and regret the moves you have not played. Only the current situation on the board counts.
Last but not least:
The clock is as much a part of the game as the board and pieces and losing because of time-trouble is no different than losing because of weak play or simple blunders.
Never, please never, use time trouble as an excuse for your losses! :0
Enjoy! :)
#6
Nice post, please allow me to comment on some parts of it. I only address the "hardest part": rapid & classical as blitz and bullet are different indeed.
1) Agree
2) Agree, but do not calculate on opponent's turn: instead think about general strategic considerations: which pawn to advance or not, which trades to aim for or to avoid, what squares to occupy with which pieces. Calculating during opponent's turn gets you tired, it is a waste as you do not know his move, and it leads to mistakes as you have to calculate 1 ply deeper.
3) Fully agree. Bronstein said analysis of time taken reveals most information about strength and weakness of a player.
4) There is no best move. However, if the second best move is a mistake, then it is no good enough. In some positions there is only a single correct move. The whole aim of chess is to avoid mistakes and prey on mistakes by your opponent. Compare it to tennis: if you can return every ball over the net and inside the court, then you are unbeatable.
5) This is a very important one, also pointed out by Dorfman. You should spend more time on the critical moments. Now what are critical moments? An easy but not fully accurate definition is all pawn moves and all captures, as these are irreversible: pawns cannot move backwards and captured pieces are gone forever.
6) Kotov taught us to go through a variation once and only once. As said under 2) it is strongly adviced not to calculate on opponent's turn.
7) Very true. You have to adapt after some mistake. It is like in life: dwelling on past happenings is of no use.
Nice post, please allow me to comment on some parts of it. I only address the "hardest part": rapid & classical as blitz and bullet are different indeed.
1) Agree
2) Agree, but do not calculate on opponent's turn: instead think about general strategic considerations: which pawn to advance or not, which trades to aim for or to avoid, what squares to occupy with which pieces. Calculating during opponent's turn gets you tired, it is a waste as you do not know his move, and it leads to mistakes as you have to calculate 1 ply deeper.
3) Fully agree. Bronstein said analysis of time taken reveals most information about strength and weakness of a player.
4) There is no best move. However, if the second best move is a mistake, then it is no good enough. In some positions there is only a single correct move. The whole aim of chess is to avoid mistakes and prey on mistakes by your opponent. Compare it to tennis: if you can return every ball over the net and inside the court, then you are unbeatable.
5) This is a very important one, also pointed out by Dorfman. You should spend more time on the critical moments. Now what are critical moments? An easy but not fully accurate definition is all pawn moves and all captures, as these are irreversible: pawns cannot move backwards and captured pieces are gone forever.
6) Kotov taught us to go through a variation once and only once. As said under 2) it is strongly adviced not to calculate on opponent's turn.
7) Very true. You have to adapt after some mistake. It is like in life: dwelling on past happenings is of no use.
"5) Learn to understand where the critical moments in the game are (trades/pawn structure changes etc.) - those are where you take your time."
^This. There are moments to spend your time and moments where spending it is probably wasting it.
^This. There are moments to spend your time and moments where spending it is probably wasting it.
@Funkmaus I use time trouble as an excuse for my losses because I am of the opinion that chess should take as long as it takes and not be bound to any time limit. Of course it is my fault because of bad time management and incapability to use my time but if I make mistakes because of time PRESSURE I do take it as an excuse at least for myself. Of course not in blitz but in classical. I think it should always be a draw if one side is completely winning and lost on time and not a loss. But that is only my stand of view.
Last time I played a training match OTB my opponent blundered a knight but I said he should take it back because he was in a winning position (space advantage) there and I didn't want to win that way. Of course in a tournament I wouldn't do that but I would still think of my opponent being the real winner and not me if such a mistake happens out of distraction; time pressure or whatever. This is just my way of thinking about it. And as I think about others this way the same rules apply to me thinking about myself when I lose on time.
When someone thinks twice as long it's of course an advantage that needs to be punished by time pressure. But time pressure is such a huge punishment because it activates our basic instincts like fear that it's just imo too much of a punishment for some people and therefore the way I think about it is that it is okay too silently take it as an excuse for ones mistakes.
Yours chessy :p
and btw thank you for all the other tips I fully agree with them :D
I would add: Think about the right king move; it's important! xD
Last time I played a training match OTB my opponent blundered a knight but I said he should take it back because he was in a winning position (space advantage) there and I didn't want to win that way. Of course in a tournament I wouldn't do that but I would still think of my opponent being the real winner and not me if such a mistake happens out of distraction; time pressure or whatever. This is just my way of thinking about it. And as I think about others this way the same rules apply to me thinking about myself when I lose on time.
When someone thinks twice as long it's of course an advantage that needs to be punished by time pressure. But time pressure is such a huge punishment because it activates our basic instincts like fear that it's just imo too much of a punishment for some people and therefore the way I think about it is that it is okay too silently take it as an excuse for ones mistakes.
Yours chessy :p
and btw thank you for all the other tips I fully agree with them :D
I would add: Think about the right king move; it's important! xD
Great advice above.
There is an interesting book "Chess Master ... at any age" by Rolf Wetzell, where he presents much detail on time pressure and what to do about it. Wetzell's main point is to have some sort of schedule in mind to stay out of time trouble. I give an example from his book in a chapter in the following study. Also there I compiled from a number of books, tips on time pressure. Though some of that is very general I found the advice from the book "Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player" by Sam Palatnik, Lev Alburt to do a prelim-calculation and pruning, saves time.
There is an interesting book "Chess Master ... at any age" by Rolf Wetzell, where he presents much detail on time pressure and what to do about it. Wetzell's main point is to have some sort of schedule in mind to stay out of time trouble. I give an example from his book in a chapter in the following study. Also there I compiled from a number of books, tips on time pressure. Though some of that is very general I found the advice from the book "Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player" by Sam Palatnik, Lev Alburt to do a prelim-calculation and pruning, saves time.
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