Speed Chess

There are few things as intellectually exciting as sitting across the table from a chess player who you match in ability, making that first move and then hitting the button on the chess clock. It is over the board with the clock counting down and all the potential moves before you that the true dynamics of chess reveal itself.  A quick search of the Internet will allow you to find, tournament speed chess, with a commentators talking like every move they made is a knock out punch to the opponent and an excitement as if they are at a horse race.  In speed chess your position on the board matters, but time is always a factor.  Playing over the board you are very aware that no matter how far ahead you get in material, the clock can cause you to lose a game as quickly as a missed check mate opportunity.  The rules of speed chess are extremely simple; if you touch a piece you must move it.  You must stop the clock with the same hand you use to move the piece. As soon as your opponent hits the clock to stop the time, your time begins to count down. If your time runs out, no matter how far ahead you think you are in the game, you lose. With speed chess you always feel pressure to get your move completed as soon as you can.  Even a ten second pause to calculate a move can feel like a huge time difference if you have twenty seconds left and your opponent has thirty.  You constantly feel the tension building as you come closer and closer to running out of time. To be proficient in speed chess you must have a plan and be always thinking. You need to know what you are doing, what your opponent is doing and always have an understanding that if you aren’t focused at all times your plan will become flawed or you will miss a better opening. Speed chess is strange that it more is your overall chess understanding ability and instincts compared to the original slow game where someone can spend however long they want thinking over every possible move. Chess over the Internet offers everyone a chance to increase his or her abilities by offering quality chess game whenever and wherever a person wants to play, any missed moves I learn from and can increase my understand that will benefit me in the more advanced speed chess. Speed chess played over the board is personal, you shake hands with your opponent all quick thinking an quick action, if your lose your concentration for a second it can throw your whole game off. Speed chess also offers the chance to have the pressure relieved as soon as the final move is made.  Speed chess is a sprint not a marathon, but the rules remain the same and you can have a 50 plus move game in less than three minutes. Winning this is fun and rewarding, playing it is stressful and exciting, but losing speed chess is just the worst. You can’t think back very clearly and go over every move you made you just have to know that the person in front of you beat you because he or she were able to make less mistakes and capitalize on openings in a crunch. Speed chess is very fun and a big part of why I love chess.

1 Comment on Speed Chess

  1. ncy5014
    November 6, 2015 at 11:40 am (8 years ago)

    Shane
    I have only played in a few speed chess tournaments when I was probably in about 4th grade. I do remember how fast paced it was and being stressed out by the time ticking down. As a result I’m pretty sure I lost almost all of my games. I’m sure I would enjoy it a lot more now, especially if I’m not playing in a tournament. A few days ago I was playing pool, and getting annoyed that people were taking too long, playing it like chess, trying to set up where the cue ball would go, what they could hit next and what they could hit after that. My style of play is usually more instinctual, as in “this angle looks good let me try that” or “those two balls are next to each other, I can hit both at once!” So maybe creating speed pool would solve that for me. Great blog post!
    Noah

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