I’ve been playing on Lichess now for quite a few years. Initially I took the advice that playing slowly will enable you to develop your game more. Playing slow fits my natural inclination so it wasn’t hard to pick that style. I also found I could not play a fast (Blitz) game.
I could see that Blitz was very popular though, and I got some advice once about it, that you play more games so you get more practice.
By a couple years ago I did start playing Blitz because I was improving and could now just barely stay in a game. I still lost many on time though. As I played more Blitz I saw many different time combinations being used, and I noted when I did well on one. I experimented with all the combinations for the most time per side in a Blitz game.
I’ve pretty much determined the best time combination for me. It’s 3+7, there minute initial time plus a seven second increment. I think the way this helps me is that the 3 minutes give a fair amount of time to open and get into the middle game or even close to the end game most all of the time. At that point there are fewer pieces on the board and complexity is decreased. It’s easier to move quickly, and you can still play a thinking game without timing out.
Now, I can play Blitz pretty comfortably without losing won games on time and get more game in for practice. Any slow players out there like me I’d recommend giving this time combination at try. It might work for you too.
I could see that Blitz was very popular though, and I got some advice once about it, that you play more games so you get more practice.
By a couple years ago I did start playing Blitz because I was improving and could now just barely stay in a game. I still lost many on time though. As I played more Blitz I saw many different time combinations being used, and I noted when I did well on one. I experimented with all the combinations for the most time per side in a Blitz game.
I’ve pretty much determined the best time combination for me. It’s 3+7, there minute initial time plus a seven second increment. I think the way this helps me is that the 3 minutes give a fair amount of time to open and get into the middle game or even close to the end game most all of the time. At that point there are fewer pieces on the board and complexity is decreased. It’s easier to move quickly, and you can still play a thinking game without timing out.
Now, I can play Blitz pretty comfortably without losing won games on time and get more game in for practice. Any slow players out there like me I’d recommend giving this time combination at try. It might work for you too.