Chess anxiety

OP is 99% wrong.

Source: it's statistical

While the "2+2 theory" is highly indicative, it's possible that stronger players know many more factors you should take into account in a particular position than others (so a position someone would play in 0.5 seconds isn't actually as simple as 2+2) so they tend to make a better move with more time to think.

For me it looks roughly 40-60 minutes for the entire game that makes it possible to bring my best and I feel like it never really improves so much if I get an extra hour or two. But Super-GMs regularly play with the time control of more than 3 hours in total and their level of play improves significantly compared to 25+10 rapid. I guess even 10-20 minutes is enough for some players, but imao virtually everyone should use like at least 80-90% of his time in blitz, which somehow most of my opponents don't.

When I see "2 plus 2" I think about Quantum theory and that in another Universe it might be 2-2 or 2 divided by 2 or 2/2 and then I think about cookies......

i am very bad at blitz but i'm pretty old and just figure it's because i'm old and my mind is getting weaker. But I like blitz, and even more so under Anonymous with zero pressure.

i'll say it again...if you want to get serious, PAY for a flight to a tournament, book a room, and sit down next to other players. That's real competition if you haven't done that before. I'll play online for years, try to think I'm getting better, and maybe never do an OTB tournament, but I've competed for decades and it's WAAAAAY different after you pay more and make a real commitment.

If online creates anxiety...... well, i'm sure OTB is a lot more

Most of the time I dont use all my chess time. And while I agree that taking fast moves could and does cause you to make blunders, I also think that overthinking a move is pointless. So when one considers what to do on the board, he would make a assumtions: If I do this, my oponent would do that or that or that.... the thing is that a move might be game winning and game losing depending on the reaction of your opponent, and one can never be certain what the guy over the board will do.

I'm not sure how time management and anxiety are related. can you elucidate?

I used to get a lot more anxious playing chess than I currently do. Like if I didn't see a check was possible and my opponent put me in check, I would race to get out of check. I don't know why but I felt anxious being in check and had to get out of check asap to stop the pain. So a quick move without thinking and a loss soon after was likely.

@jonesmh @MoistChess @hurryupdude

The answer is always in the statistics, not in the individual. Considering only the 10 players who participated in this discussion and who play in different time modes, 7 of them have the highest score in the slowest game mode, 2 in an intermediate mode, only 1 in the fastest one. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the only two people who are very strong in the fast disciplines, are also those in absolute with the highest scores. So, don't consider my reasoning in an individualistic way, but as an average of all players. Maybe it won't be 99% more-I-think-better-i-play, but the direction is that.

@Faccintopa
I did speak in the aggregate while stating that, as post #4 implied, that using time just to use time is a waste of time. I also agreed with you that on average the more time, within reason, spent thinking the better the result will be. However I also noted that most mistakes would be made due to skill level and no amount of thinking would have changed the outcome.

BTW, of the 12 people who participated in this thread, some have to be rejected due to not playing in all the sections. Some should be disqualified, as in my case, due to the data being out-of-date. Another consideration is the seriousness of the game. During a longer game, I get bored, and often do other things. So my longer games are, in effect, played at a faster rate, but I lose more often due to my opponents playing with more time.

I think this game is a good example of how UNimportant is to take all your time in a chess game sometimes. The guy who I faced was with better ratings than me and used 30 of his 45 minutes, while I only needed 11 min. Also I tryed putting him into traps several times and twice he fell into them ( at move 25 and at 53).

I totally agree with @V_fan6110 .There are many positions in which time is essential: there might be several lines that are good at first sight and apparently equal, but most of the time among them there is one only that leads to victory. The only way to be sure which one is the best is by calculating precisely your candidate moves and, in order to do so, you need as much time as possible. How can people say that having more time to think is futile? @gogoLSFC One case doesn't make a rule.

OP is wrong....... moving too quickly (using only a small portion of your time for your moves) is simply impatience and/or impulsive. people are used to simply doing EVERYTHING too fast. in fact, i think moving slower is more anxiety producing... you've got to measure everything, take everything into account, and come up with your plan, and stick to it.

much much simpler to simply move too fast. but you won't improve as a player this way. pretty simple.

as an example, i played an otb game against a guy. he saw what looked like the classic freebie: Q check on me, he grabs my minor piece which is hanging. alas, he didn't see the OTHER minor piece that could step in. he made his move in about a minute or two. i thought i lost a piece ---- oops, my other piece is right there! i double check. then i triple check. then i check for other moves.... all this took at least twice as long as he took to move.

he was simply impulsive. i carefully planned my move. it's harder for many to be patient.