Best chess tips.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

A good tip for those who get into time trouble: move faster!! (not that it ever sinks in)

[Stewart Reuben]

Remember the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

DON'T PANIC

[Brian Towers]

A good tip for those who get into time trouble: move faster!! (not that it ever sinks in)

I used to have regular time trouble problems even after the introduction of the increment. I did two things which have helped me cure the problem.

1) I started writing the times down on my scoresheet for both me and my opponent. Then I looked at games where I got into time trouble to see where the time was going and what kind of moves came out of the long thinks. They weren't blockbusters, more like indifferent indecisive moves.

2) I started writing the moves down in rapids. This is a kind of variation on Christopher's "Move faster!" injunction. Strange as it may sound it's doing the training to move faster. To begin with I allowed myself to stop writing with 2 minutes left on the clock. Once I could cope calmly with that I made myself write all the way down to the end. The result was of secondary importance. What counted was continuing to write the moves. Of course I didn't force myself to write after every move. There is no rule in rapid chess requiring this. If there was a flurry of blitzed moves then I caught up when I needed a short think. Remarkably I started getting better results at rapid! This practice improved my composure under pressure. Now that I don't have time trouble I've stopped doing this but thinking about it I'm tempted to resume.

[Clive Blackburn]

1) I started writing the times down on my scoresheet for both me and my opponent. Then I looked at games where I got into time trouble to see where the time was going and what kind of moves came out of the long thinks. They weren't blockbusters, more like indifferent indecisive moves.

I can remember a time when a lot of players used to write the move times on the score sheet. I believe though that this is now contrary to the rules to make notes of this kind.

My own time trouble consists of moving far too quickly and it is exacerbated if my opponent also moves quickly. Some games are worse than others but I very rarely approach the time limit in a slow game. It does win me some games when my opponent gets into serious time trouble but I am sure that it would improve my chess to play more slowly, if I could manage it. The longer I think and the more moves I analyse, the more likely I am to lose the thread of the game and play aimlessly.

[Roger de Coverly]

I can remember a time when a lot of players used to write the move times on the score sheet. I believe though that this is now contrary to the rules to make notes of this kind.

Recording of times remains legal.

http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html? ... ew=article

Section 8.1 b

8.1
The scoresheet shall be used only for recording the moves, the times of the clocks, offers of a draw, matters relating to a claim and other relevant data.

It's not that well worded, as the name of the event, the date, the board and round numbers, the names of the players, the time control would all fall under "other relevant data". Arbiters can be notoriously pedantic, but the only thing a UK based arbiter might object to is if you started annotating your moves or your opponent's moves with ! or ? whilst the game was in progress.

[Francis Fields]

I think that if you are concerned with your opponents grade then you need more than beginners tips. Psychology often comes into play: overconfidence, playing for a win or draw, etc..