![]() We play with a 10 second increment, and Shanjit finishes every game with more time left than he started with. And Shanjit, a quiet guy who speaks only to tell you you're mated in 5, is top dog. I run an informal chess club, the Tuesday Chess Club (which ironically runs on Monday or Wednesday but never Tuesday). Other people play chess differently, but equally badly. ![]() I then lose the game the easy way, because I'm watching the clock more than the board. I win the game the hard way, through calculation and planning. The more I've learned about chess the more there is to think about and the slower I’ve got. I get sucked in to all the possibilities, especially when any move will do. I checked Aimchess and I'm behind on the clock 90% of the time. This means I run out of time, all the time. Only I’m pretty sure it’s not what I’m doing: think an arbitrary amount of time until there's a move I reckon is best, or least bad, then play it. It’s not clear what playing chess even means. And, somehow, among the endless drift of chess content, it seems few have much to say about to actually practice using the right amount of time on the right things. I have no idea what I should be doing, let alone how long I should be doing it for. How could I? When I play chess, I just play. Unfortunately, after two years of maniacal chess playing, I do not have this skill. You might perfectly add, subtract, multiply, and divide, but if you do it in the wrong order you get the wrong answer. You’re like a mathematician who never learned BODMAS. You can improve your tactics, openings, and everything else, but if you don’t combine them in the right way, you’ll still lose. How many openings have you learned? How many strategies have you formulated? How many tactics have you solved? How many endgames have you studied? And yet, for better chess, the most valuable skill might be how you use your time. It's hard to think of anything that can affect your chess strength this much. Ben Johnson and Ken Regan go in to detail here. Put another way, the 3 minute version of you beats the 90 minute version of you roughly 2 in 300 games ( that’s what 700 points mean). If you have to play a game with only 3 minutes on your clock, you'll play about as well as someone 700 points lower rated than you would in a 90 minute game. Playing moves faster means you play worse moves. It's about playing good enough moves, quickly enough. ![]() ![]() That's because better chess is not about playing better moves. You can know more, think deeper, and play better moves, and still lose. But, after a while, you'll notice something weird. Any move but that move! How could I instantly find the one move that loses? Literally, I could have played anything el.Īt first, chess seems to be about the moves you play. But how do you have 10 minutes on your clock? Anyway, just play any move. But, I'm winning, right? I must be like +5 right now. My attack hurts like a school disco and I'm going to sac sac mate until. I don't want the piece, I want your soul. Your knight for my pawn, and you have to take it. ![]()
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