I always panic because I'm always low on time especially in rapid and blitz games would you mind give some advice on how to manage the time correctly?
Play Classic
Play classical > rapid > blitz: first crawl, then walk, then run, then sprint
Play with increment: you always have time to finish te game
With increment you typically want to spend all your time by move 30 and finish the game with increment: most games are essentially decided by move 30
Without increment e.g. 10+0 you typically need to spend 10 seconds per move.
In the opening you can play slower: you can always speed up towards the end
If you lose on the board with useless time left on your clock, then you played too fast. You had better spend that time to avoid losing
If you lose on time in a lost position, then that is OK, you gave it your best effort. Learn from your mistakes.
If you lose on time in a won or drawn position, then you played too slowly. Look at which moves you spent most time and why.
Play with increment: you always have time to finish te game
With increment you typically want to spend all your time by move 30 and finish the game with increment: most games are essentially decided by move 30
Without increment e.g. 10+0 you typically need to spend 10 seconds per move.
In the opening you can play slower: you can always speed up towards the end
If you lose on the board with useless time left on your clock, then you played too fast. You had better spend that time to avoid losing
If you lose on time in a lost position, then that is OK, you gave it your best effort. Learn from your mistakes.
If you lose on time in a won or drawn position, then you played too slowly. Look at which moves you spent most time and why.
You know guys we all agree that it's fun to play speed chess right that's why I'm into it but I also like playing classical games
Btw thank you so much for the replies I guess I'm gonna play more classical thank you!
Btw thank you so much for the replies I guess I'm gonna play more classical thank you!
I think I can share my experience here. I can't manage my time, mainly because I forget about it. I get absorbed by the position and time is the last thing on my mind. However, I worked on that a lot and made a lot of progress, so I think, if your problème is the same as mine, I can be of some help.
My first advice would be to play faster time controls than the ones you want to play. For instance, my time management was terrible in slow over the bord games, so I played blitz. At first I was losing most of my games on time, but I improved. It helped for longer time control because I can take decisions much faster at all stage of the game. I'm not that much more aware of the time situation but my rythm is just faster. Also, the faster you play, the more reflexes you develop.
My second advice would be to study a lot. You should know your opening well enough so that you can play a lot of moves without taking any time and you can easily decide what to do when your oponent deviates. Endgames should be almost automatic even though it's usually when you don't have time left and it's insanely tricky. As for the middlegames, that is still the part of the game where I lose way too much time but I guess familiarity with tactical and strategical patterns is key.
Now, that being said, I still haven't found a way to be aware of the time but by getting an overall faster rythm I 'm just not as much in time trouble than I used too.
I hope this helps.
My first advice would be to play faster time controls than the ones you want to play. For instance, my time management was terrible in slow over the bord games, so I played blitz. At first I was losing most of my games on time, but I improved. It helped for longer time control because I can take decisions much faster at all stage of the game. I'm not that much more aware of the time situation but my rythm is just faster. Also, the faster you play, the more reflexes you develop.
My second advice would be to study a lot. You should know your opening well enough so that you can play a lot of moves without taking any time and you can easily decide what to do when your oponent deviates. Endgames should be almost automatic even though it's usually when you don't have time left and it's insanely tricky. As for the middlegames, that is still the part of the game where I lose way too much time but I guess familiarity with tactical and strategical patterns is key.
Now, that being said, I still haven't found a way to be aware of the time but by getting an overall faster rythm I 'm just not as much in time trouble than I used too.
I hope this helps.
#4 Nah, speed chess is painful and addictive. The best way to improve at time management is to understand your weaknesses and figure out how to allocate time to endgames, middlegames, and openings.
Speed chess is painful and addictive indeed (it can also be rewerding though), but that's not the point.
I agree with the rest but, as i said, all I can do is speak about my own experience. I don't know if his problem is the same as mine, but when you are not aware of the time, when you're so absorbed in the game that nothing around you exists, knowing how to manage your time is useless, because managing your time is a conscious thing. When you're not aware of the time, you don't manage it well or badly, you don't manage it at all.
The all point of my advices is not to improve time management but to internalize a faster rhythm of play. This is the only thing that helped me, but I know I didn't solve my problem at the core. I still lose on time and more often than not I don't realize I'm in time trouble. The last over the board game that I played was a slow time control with 30 seconds increments. I was crushing a guy 400 points higher rated than me. The endgame was easy, the guy couldn't move, I could have blitzed it, but I didn't, and then, out of the blue for me, I lost on time. And this was not the first time it happened to me. However, a few years ago, I was in severe time trouble every single game (except when it ended fast of course), but now it's maybe one game out of five, so I consider that a progress. I'm still not aware of the time, I'm just not as much in time trouble than I used to.
Anyway, I'm not even sure it applies to the OP's problem. But a few years ago I posted about my problem and got the same replies, and that didn't help me at all. All I can say is what helped me.
As for the addiction, it's a big problem and one I think is usually taken too lightly on this forum.
I agree with the rest but, as i said, all I can do is speak about my own experience. I don't know if his problem is the same as mine, but when you are not aware of the time, when you're so absorbed in the game that nothing around you exists, knowing how to manage your time is useless, because managing your time is a conscious thing. When you're not aware of the time, you don't manage it well or badly, you don't manage it at all.
The all point of my advices is not to improve time management but to internalize a faster rhythm of play. This is the only thing that helped me, but I know I didn't solve my problem at the core. I still lose on time and more often than not I don't realize I'm in time trouble. The last over the board game that I played was a slow time control with 30 seconds increments. I was crushing a guy 400 points higher rated than me. The endgame was easy, the guy couldn't move, I could have blitzed it, but I didn't, and then, out of the blue for me, I lost on time. And this was not the first time it happened to me. However, a few years ago, I was in severe time trouble every single game (except when it ended fast of course), but now it's maybe one game out of five, so I consider that a progress. I'm still not aware of the time, I'm just not as much in time trouble than I used to.
Anyway, I'm not even sure it applies to the OP's problem. But a few years ago I posted about my problem and got the same replies, and that didn't help me at all. All I can say is what helped me.
As for the addiction, it's a big problem and one I think is usually taken too lightly on this forum.
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