Blitz Chess: How To Improve Fast!

Blitz chess. It can be exciting, devastating, and even addictive to play. If you have ever played online or in person with a clock, you have probably played a game with a three-to-five-minute set on the clock. It’s just enough time, especially over the board where it takes time to move the pieces, to play an exhilarating game, without the longer, more boring moments of sitting and thinking that chess can sometimes be known for. Is it bad for your chess? How can you get better at blitz chess? Let's take a look at what it means to play blitz, as opposed to bullet, rapid, or classical chess, and the ways that we can improve.

Understanding Blitz Chess and Fast Time Controls

Some beginners may not understand the difference between time controls, and that is entirely understandable. In chess, we have names for the different time controls that are used during a chess game. To understand blitz, let's examine the various types and their differences. There are strict rules for what constitutes different time controls for official over the board tournaments, which can be seen here for the USCF, but for our purposes we will be looking at the more colloquial ways these terms are used and how they are played online on websites like Lichess and chess.com, as well as casually played at chess clubs around the world.

Intuition vs Calculation

Before we delve into the types of time controls in chess, it is helpful to understand the distinction between using calculation and relying solely on intuition. 

Intuition

Playing with intuition is when you quickly play a move that feels right to you based on your past play and experience. Your intuition will improve as you play more games, especially as you play longer games, so you can understand your own moves. Just playing fast chess will not necessarily help you improve at chess; you might just get better at other parts of the game, like managing your time, playing quickly, and not running out of time.

Calculation

Calculation is when you actually dig in and think through the moves that will be played. “If I play this, then what will my opponent play, and how will I respond?” This is how your thinking should go. In blitz chess, you don’t always have time for this kind of in-depth thinking, but in a longer game, you should be considering all forcing moves and responses.

Classical Chess: The Long Game

Classical chess tends to be anything 30 minutes or longer. This is serious chess. You take your time, you calculate, and you find the best moves. Beginners can sometimes struggle in this time format because they play far too quickly, leaving time on the clock that they could have utilized in their game. Classical time control doesn’t mean you want to fall into time trouble, but at least you have more opportunity to think through everything you are learning and put it to use. Classical chess is traditionally regarded as the “real” form of chess, as most legitimate chess players focus on this format, leading to great classical chess matches, including the games between world champions like Magnus Carlsen. You can play classical chess in official tournaments, or online on websites like Lichess, where it has its own separate time control and rating.

Rapid Chess: The Middle Ground

Rapid chess is a common online time control, as well as being used in rapid and blitz tournaments at events and the World Chess Championship. It typically refers to games that last between ten and thirty minutes. In terms of online chess, this typically offers similar benefits to playing classical chess. Compared to blitz or bullet chess, rapid gives you more time to calculate and consider your moves. You have time to calculate, but may still have to rely on intuition if the games get close to running out of time. If you want to improve while playing online, rapid chess is the best method.

Blitz Chess: Fast and Furious

Blitz is the topic of discussion, and is generally considered to be games from 3-5 minutes. On the spectrum of intuition to calculation, we are fully into the realm of intuition, with maybe one or two moments you have time to actually calculate. Play fast or you will lose.

Bullet Games: Only Speed

Bullet chess, as the name would indicate, is as fast as it gets, with the subset of “hyperbullet” being even faster. A bullet is generally one to two minutes. Hyperbullet is thirty seconds or less per side for the whole game. In over-the-board chess, bullet is wild. Pieces go flying, and digital clocks are hit fast. Online, it's all about mouse skills, measuring your success and accuracy with the mouse. The bullet player, when they play, is fully relying on intuition and playing faster than their opponent, compared to slower time controls. Due to time trouble, speed often prevails at the expense of accuracy in bullet chess and fast chess in general.

What Makes Blitz Chess Unique and Beneficial

Some chess players and chess coaches will say that blitz chess has no place in the training plan of a player who wants to improve. There are, however, some benefits to playing blitz chess

First of all, the sheer number of games you are able to play, especially compared to classical time controls, means that you simply get more practice playing chess. You will experience more openings and opening variations. You are more likely to reach varied middle games and endgames. Also, you will have the opportunity to practice various checkmate strategies.

Also, blitz chess is fun! Often at chess clubs or chess socials, blitz is what most players want to play. In a casual setting, because it is less stressful, more casual, and you can play with more of your friends. Also, there is an added element of fun from the clock ticking down. So, if you want to be a better player in these casual formats, or even participate in a rapid and blitz tournament or a blitz championship of some kind, it can be completely understandable to study blitz chess.

Strategy and Mindset for Blitz Improvement

How can you improve at blitz chess? Well, the secret to improving at blitz chess is that you have to improve at chess! Think of playing a game of chess like playing a piece of music. If you are just beginning, should you be playing the song you are learning on piano as fast as you can? It might be fun to play Flight of the Bumblebee as fast as possible, but if you are still learning, you need to slow it down and learn the piece first. Then, later, you could try to speed it up. Chess is very similar. Most beginners struggle with blitz because they lack intuition for the game. They haven’t learned where their fingers should be resting on the piano keys.

Improve Your Intuition

To improve at blitz chess, you need to improve your intuition, and there are a couple of solid ways to achieve this. 

First, you should learn good principles. These are things you can fall back on when you're not sure which move to play. We often discuss this idea in terms of the game's opening. In the opening, you should control the center, develop your pieces, and castle. These are principles that eventually will become intuition. We have other principles in other parts of chess as well, such as how rooks prefer open files and bishops like to be on open diagonals. Additionally, it is important not to weaken your king unnecessarily. Learning these kinds of principles will help you improve your intuition and find a good move quickly. 

Learn What Type of Blitz Player You Are

The second way to improve your blitz chess is to learn what kind of blitz player you are. For instance, when I play faster time controls, I tend to overthink positions and run low on time. I fall into what I call the “overthinker” category. This player ends up losing a blitz game, even if they have a winning position, because they failed to manage their time, despite managing their pieces effectively. The other type of blitz player is an “underthinker.” This is a blitz player who uses blitz as an excuse to not think about any of their moves in the entire game.

They may play their moves immediately and never run out of time, but they will often lose on the board because they blunder their pieces. The best blitz players strike a balance between overthinking and underthinking and possess good intuition about when to slow down and utilize their limited time effectively. 

Handling Time Trouble

Most players who really struggle in blitz struggle with their time management. Either you use too much time, not allocating the resource of time correctly, or they even play too fast, and forget to use their time when they really should. Using the clock as a weapon in a game of blitz is a huge part of becoming a better blitz player. Forcing yourself to make a move, even if you're not sure it's the best, can be an important skill. Playing quickly while avoiding blunders is the true skill and benefit of good chess intuition.

How can I improve at blitz?

The best way to get better at blitz chess is to do your best to get better at chess in general. Additionally, if you frequently find yourself running out of time, focus on improving your time management to enhance your ability to do your best to get better at chess in general. Improving your intuition by learning patterns and strategies will help you play those faster. Additionally, if you frequently find yourself running out of time, focus on improving your time management to enhance your results.

Frequently Asked Questions