B-B-B-BLitzing!

With all the discussion happening on BDK's site about the benefits ( or perils) of Blitzing, I've been blitzing. My rating is not stable on ICC ( username...like my blog... blunderprone ..in case you want to find me). I went through this phase a while back and felt it was affecting my slow games.

What was happening was I was playign as wreckless as a blitz game. I've since learned to "dial it back" when playing at slower time controls and found blitzing to be a good alternative to tactical training.

My reasons ( justifcations) are as follows:

1) Its fun. ( period... I don't care if I go blind... or my spin curves... or hair grows on my ... wait that was a different myth)

2) I was board with CT-ART... on the 11 th circle of hell... I wanted to practice tactical vision training in a pseudo real game. .. This is working.

3) I've had more practice playing against d4 and honing my defense ... At the club I get a lot of 1.e4 and when I go to a tournament, I'm like " Crap... how does the slav go again?" So the need to review my opening repertoire books wains as I get more practical and varried responses.

4) Its a training tool. I'd rather play an opponent 100+ points higher. I lose more games ( Like DK-Transformations. I practice with the bots... play the bot over and over until my win ratio starts to improve and my rating climbs back up. The I jump to the next higher rated bot and do it all over. As a result, my rating fluctuates 100-200 points on a given weekend.

5) Its a measured improvement as I work on tactics.

6) Many tournaments in the area are 1-day four round grinders. I used to avoid them because I was an "old timer" meaning I used to only want to play "slow". Now I have a sense of more confidence... play in G60, G30 and G10 events with new sense of passion.

7) I play slow games and my worries about time preasure have subsided. Blitzing has helped me think quickly on my feet.

8) I play at work over lunch. I play G5 games with some folks who pose some challenge. So far I am undefeated and I never lost on time.

I will get back to tactical training regimine eventually. I am going over whole games ... and will continue. For now, I will Blitz to my hearts content...because I can... and its a free country... Huzzah!

Have a good day and be kind to yourself... and let others own thier opinions free of charge!