Castle's Chessboard

Blitz Chess

By popular request (though if I am being really honest It was bound to happen eventually)... Today's post is a Chess Themed Post!!!!!

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A Game of Blitz

Speed Chess aka Blitz Chess is a version of chess where everything is sped up. It is played like normal chess except the time each player is allowed is extremely limited. In a normal chess tournament players' clocks are given a time limit of 30 minutes to several hours of playing time. For Blitz each player's clock is set to 5 minutes or in extreme cases 1 minute. The clock count down whenever it is a player's turn and is paused once a player makes their move. When a player's time expires, they lose the match. As a result, the pace of the game is frantic as players struggle to hold onto the time they have remaining. Every second becomes precious as they quickly help determine the difference between winning and losing.

I'm the type of person that likes to plan and strategize carefully so I struggle at Speed Chess quite a bit. However there are certain strategies that players can use to survive a Blitz Chess game:

1) You have to think at lightning speed so often you are making the best move you can think of in the moment. You are going to be using your intuition a lot.

2) Get into the habit of pausing your clock as soon as you make your move. The quicker you do this the more time you can save.

3) There needs to be at least a little bit of thought involved. You might be tempted to just move any piece you see and hope you can beat your opponent on time. However, experienced chess players will destroy you with that strategy and you could wind up checkmated even before your clock runs out.

4) Since there is very limited time to think, make sure to use the time your opponent is making their move to analyze the board and strategize as much as possible. It will help speed up your game when your turn comes.

If you are able to think on your feet and have the chess skills for an intense fast paced challenge... give Blitz chess a shot!