Blitz results - September 18

**Erwin Casareno** · Monday, 20th September, 2010, 02:40 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

Glad to have played with Erik Malmsten 9 points

**John Coleman** · Monday, 20th September, 2010, 03:12 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

Just as a matter of interest, are you playing 5 minutes each, or with an increment, something like 3 minutes + 2 seconds ?

**Erik Malmsten** · Monday, 20th September, 2010, 05:58 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

Originally posted by John Coleman View Post

Just as a matter of interest, are you playing 5 minutes each, or with an increment, something like 3 minutes + 2 seconds ?

That's quite a different game, giving less chance to win on time. It really chances the strategy. less point of playing on in a losing position. But also less damage to clocks and less disputes.

I would like to see tournaments of this type as well as trying the pre-clock blitz of a timekeeper yelling out "move" every ten seconds.

I explained to a slow newcomer that you don't have to find the best move, unless you're in a potential mating position, just as soon as you find a good move play it.

**John Coleman** · Monday, 20th September, 2010, 06:23 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

You didn't quite answer the question, but I gather you are playing straight 5 minute blitz.

The recent women's world blitz championship was 3 minutes + 2 seconds.

When I started playing chess in England in the fifties, once in a while we had a lightning tournament, I think that's what it was called, which featured a buzzer every 10 seconds... you had to move on the buzz.

**Hugh Brodie** · Monday, 20th September, 2010, 06:44 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

We used to play with one of those buzzers. On the one we used, you could change the interval setting to anything between 1 and (at least) 10 seconds. When I was running a tournament and games were dragging on, I would speed up the interval, and most players never knew the difference.

There were too many arguments as to whether a player had moved before/after the buzzer, and that variant lost popularity (in Montreal, at least) as chess clocks became more common.

(I think the proper term is "rapid transit" chess).

**Dave Southam** · Friday, 24th September, 2010, 12:32 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

I'll predict 10 for this Saturday.

**Jean Hébert** · Friday, 24th September, 2010, 04:17 PM

Re : Re: Blitz results - September 18

Originally posted by John Coleman View Post

You didn't quite answer the question, but I gather you are playing straight 5 minute blitz.

The recent women's world blitz championship was 3 minutes + 2 seconds.

Now that analog clocks are near extinction and even illegal in some places it makes even more sense to switch to increment blitz. But why is it that in Canada generally we are always among the last to do things right (if ever) and among the first to try the meaningless stuff such as the Bilbao scoring system: 3 pts for a win, etc. ? :) Of course with our impressive participation figure we should not risk doing things that may scare people away...

**John Coleman** · Friday, 24th September, 2010, 04:53 PM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

Jean, when digital clocks came in, all the local speed freaks... and we've got quite a few... went out and bought Chronos touch clocks. I was looking forward to an era of blitz with increments, but to my disappointment, the speed freaks just want 5 minutes even. They actually like the crazy time scrambles, down a queen, with two seconds on the clock.

No hope for increments any time soon, I'm afraid. As far as I can see, the upcoming generation also prefer straight 5-minute blitz, no increments.

**Jean Hébert** · Saturday, 25th September, 2010, 10:26 AM

Re : Re: Blitz results - September 18

Originally posted by John Coleman View Post

Jean, when digital clocks came in, all the local speed freaks... and we've got quite a few... went out and bought Chronos touch clocks. I was looking forward to an era of blitz with increments, but to my disappointment, the speed freaks just want 5 minutes even. They actually like the crazy time scrambles, down a queen, with two seconds on the clock.

No hope for increments any time soon, I'm afraid. As far as I can see, the upcoming generation also prefer straight 5-minute blitz, no increments.

As I said, with those impressive participation one digit figures to maintain (8, 9, 7...) there is no way we can afford to bring increments in and risk losing the speed freaks for those who want to play something that resembles chess.

Lack of leadership and vision. It has little to do with the players.

**Roger Patterson** · Sunday, 26th September, 2010, 12:28 AM

Re: Blitz results - September 18

Originally posted by John Coleman View Post

Jean, when digital clocks came in, all the local speed freaks... and we've got quite a few... went out and bought Chronos touch clocks. I was looking forward to an era of blitz with increments, but to my disappointment, the speed freaks just want 5 minutes even. They actually like the crazy time scrambles, down a queen, with two seconds on the clock.

No hope for increments any time soon, I'm afraid. As far as I can see, the upcoming generation also prefer straight 5-minute blitz, no increments.

Yeah - I tried for a while to get people to play 3+2 which I quite like. People would humor me but really, they wanted straight 5 minutes so I eventually gave up.

**Jean Hébert** · Monday, 27th September, 2010, 11:37 AM

Re : Re: Blitz results - September 18

Originally posted by Roger Patterson View Post

People would humor me but really, they wanted straight 5 minutes so I eventually gave up.

And for what ? To keep a handful of people happy. Its pretty much like the ban on smoking. Some people did not want to apply it so as not to lose customers. Now it is well accepted. We need pack leaders, not followers...

Blitz results - September 18

Blitz results - September 18

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