Time Management In Chess

in this video i am covering a subject which  so many of you have requested and one that is   extremely important for getting better at the  game of chess and that is time management the   video is split into two parts the first we will  look at three examples of people playing too fast   and how to improve that skill and then we will  take a look at playing two slowly time stamps   are in the video player and at the beginning of  each section i will give you my general advice   before we look at specific examples so we're gonna  kick things off with playing two quickly now here   we're looking at three things number one playing  too quickly in the opening just disregarding what   the opponent is doing and just going for our  own setup or just blindly playing random moves   then we will take a look at quickly capturing  like capturing too fast in situations you don't   need to which happens a lot and then speed  when you're converting and slowing it down   when you already have an advantage and a cushion  of time and actually winning the game so let's go   uh this first game actually we can even look  at it from black's perspective because the   subscriber sending in the game was playing with  the black pieces this is a 15 10 game 15 minute   10 second bonus and it's a queen's gambit declined  and white plays c5 again it's it's 790 versus 800   the players playing the theory are not uh  are not extremely well versed per se but   so far so good so far black has done  everything right black has developed   uh white has spent a tiny bit more time but notice  that black is not even dipping for a second below   15 minutes and now blank plays the move queen  to a5 now if you notice this is 10 second bonus   which means black played this move in 8 seconds  this is a 15 minute game you've spent 8 seconds   and you've played a move that isn't even that  good i mean why are we getting our queen out   it's not a bad move according to the engine i  mean but the best move in this position you don't   even have to think about it go castle your king  and then figure out what you want to do come up   with a plan maybe you want to do this you know  maybe you want to play b6 to target the pawn   maybe you want to finish your development and then  break in the center with e5 or play h6 there is so   much you can do in a 15-minute game and then the  queen pops out and the reason i'm showing this to   you is you know white ends up with tunnel vision  first of all uh black ends up with tunnel vision   white spends like 40 seconds and plays this  i don't even i don't know what that move is   black here goes bishop e4 kind of continuing  with this idea takes on f6 takes a3   black still doesn't have any less than 15 minutes  and then you know white's got 12 minutes at this   point and here black plays queen b5 black thinks  for 50 seconds and hangs the queen in one move and you say well levy i mean he spent the most  amount of time that move and he still blundered   but none of this would have happened if this  random queen maneuver didn't even happen in the   first place right chess is not a game where you  need to think for 20 minutes on the eighth move   but keep it simple and come up with a few ideas  the move queen a5 does not strike me as a move   that was thought over for too long right  and when you rush the opening you can land   yourself in a position that's troublesome and a  few moves later try to get tunnel vision making   something happen here and blunder and you just  immediately wonder i mean the point of this move   was to attack this pawn and black just forgot  the queen was hanging so don't rush the opening   slow it down in the opening do a good job in  the opening okay for this next example uh this   is again an example of playing too quickly this  was a karo khan which started out more or less   normal right c3 e6 another 15 minute game and now  black plays the move c5 so the c5 is a mistake   black should just continue to develop you know but  black plays c5 very quickly i might add uh white   plays immediately immediately bishop to b5 check  which is not a bad move um notice how little time   white spent on that like bishop b5 without even  any hesitation um knight to c6 and now white plays   a decent looking move knight to e5 uh trying to  put some pressure here and black just takes on d4   and black spent 10 seconds on that move  like 15 seconds on that move completely   disregarding this and white just takes back what  just takes back also a move played in 15 seconds   what wasn't your whole idea to just go here  slow it down you've got 16 minutes on the clock   punish your opponent especially the  more time on the on the clock you have   don't make these healing mistakes because  look what happens now queen i5 check boom   queen f5 check boom and that's it  now you've you've lost the bishop   and actually a few moves later white was  so frustrated white just resigned the game   uh white just straight up resigned the game  down a piece you cannot have a 15 minute game   decided with both players over 15 minutes on the  clock this is too fast you are playing too quickly   slow it down in the opening slow it down  if you're going to play a 15-minute game   it is your responsibility to study and be a  diligent 15-minute player if you want to go   play quick games play bullet play blitz but  minute deserves your full undivided attention   and you know just because a pawn is taken does not  mean you have to take back that's just the truth   there is a knight here visualize that be like wait  a second that's just winning the game that is how   you climb the rating ladder right you don't  just snap snap just too quickly slow it down   and you'll be good now for this last example um i  have to like there we go so for this last example   oh whoops there we go this last example i've  said that three times it feels like a glitch   in the matrix at this point uh so for this last  exam okay i'm gonna stop uh white is completely   winning here and has 134 on the clock versus 35  okay one extra minute on the clock in a blitz game   uh which is three minute with no with no bonus at  all now when you have a one minute lead and you're   converting a position you need to number one  stop your opponent from taking any of your stuff   stabilize your position and continue to create  threats be focused don't just try to run them out   on the clock combine good play with actually  trying to beat them okay knight takes a7 was   played in this game which is a mistake because  it allows black to take the pawn and activate the   rook what you should have done is you should have  wanted this move to happen by protecting your pawn   first and then threatening knight takes a7 and  promoting your pawn forward watch what white ends   up doing watch white's clock white just starts  to take three to four seconds every single move   and basically just try to flag black black marches  the king down the board because what else is black   gonna do right and then king goes to b2 black has  16 seconds on the clock what do you do in this   situation don't trade the pieces keep your pieces  on the board don't go here first of all you just   hung a rook number one black can play rook takes  g2 check then pick up your rook black is panicking   though so black just plays knight takes e3 because  at this point black is just preparing moves when   there's only 15 seconds on the clock it's like bam  bam bam bam bam bam okay i'm trying to make these   moves happen fast and white meanwhile takes the  rook knight takes g2 king takes you two and rook   to d8 black is in panic mode and doesn't see that  the rook is hanging so we get rook to d8 now rook   to d1 king to c2 okay i got to get my rook to  safety rook takes d2 eight seconds on the clock   and white plays a drastic error in this position  white needs to move the king out keep the rook and   black's got eight seconds shuffle back and forth  you're gonna win the game but white goes here   horrible blunder because now black just  brings the king and this doesn't take a lot   of moves at all and look black just starts  pushing and pre-moves the rest of the game   and and mate mate with one second on the clock  white played too fast that is what happened   white just played too fast white ends the game  with the time advantage but loses the game   because white just didn't convert the game  properly white just played a bunch of random   moves trying to beat their opponent on the clock  so this kind of sums up playing too quickly okay   like playing too quickly in the opening not  realizing that your opponents are blundering   slow it down okay now in three minute games and  five minute games we looked at 15 minute games   you need to set yourself little barriers of time  and what i mean by that is you need to not think   longer than a certain amount of seconds a certain  amount of times a game so in a three minute game   if you spend 15 seconds on one move three  times that's 45 seconds that is a lot of time   you should be averaging five seconds a move  seven seconds a move but in these longer games   man y'all gotta slow it down now we move to  the section of playing too slowly most of you   are guilty of this we will start with this um you  play too slowly for a couple of reasons number one   you don't know the plans of the positions as well  as you should okay that is just the truth uh you   don't have enough experience with an opening where  any position you can go this is the best plan this   is the best plan you are still thinking a lot  in positions where as you build your experience   you will have the upper hand now this one set  benchmarks okay if you're playing a 10 minute game   i'm not gonna be more than two minutes away from  my opponent 90 seconds away from my opponent   refuse refuse make a move even if you're  unsure maybe i'm not going to think longer   than 40 seconds three times okay i need to think  a lot for this move but now for this next like   rest of the game i won't do that anymore  set benchmarks for yourself like that   that will help okay that will speed you up whether  you like it or not simplify positions and know how   to convert positions okay we have an example  here for the next examples a 646 versus 1073.   this game was a fantastic game it was  a london versus kind of a king's indian   and um okay we have a position here where  white is 257 this is a three minute and   two second bonus game and black has 237 down a  little bit of time black now spends 27 seconds   well 25 i guess because of the time bonus on this  move this is not a move that requires 27 seconds   of thought in a game right that's not a super  complicated idea with the idea of long castle   white plays c5 white's still playing very quickly  knight b3 g5 okay g5 what is the idea of g5 of   course you are trying to start a kingside attack  white plays knight ft2 watch black's time 206   156 10 seconds i mean it doesn't seem like a lot  but it will start adding up a4 white spends eight   seconds black plays h4 okay e4 now black has a big  decision to make here do i take or do i push now   watch black spends nearly 30 more seconds on the  move h3 as the time goes to 124 and it's not even   the best move that's the thing you don't know so  just decide just go because you won't win or lose   the game based on the move h3 go force yourself  keep this in a three minute game you should never   be more than a minute behind your opponent ever  ever so g takes h3 rook h3 and by the way it was   better to take because you wanted to open up your  rook now watch what happens as black continues   just pummeling white so 400 points but you've got  18 seconds on the clock look at this beautiful   conversion queen is perfect f5 excellent move  but white consolidates watch what white does i   mean this is fine for blitz white consolidates the  king now black is like what the hell do i do i got   15 seconds queen g5 okay okay bishop behind the  queen okay okay okay rook c2 let me bring my queen   in here attacking the bishop rook d2 it's mate  black did everything right and black misses it   black played queen e3 with the idea to take  one of these things and now king c2 queen to   f3 missing that this can take black is in full  panic mode here with eight seconds on the clock   rookie two g3 e5 g2 you win this black  has seven seconds and black loses on time   in this position doesn't find a move when you  have three seconds on the clock first of all you   should never have five seconds on the clock or  less especially if there's bonus time make that   a goal for yourself you just check you do not  think you just check you have a huge material   advantage like this find a check give a check  slide the king over one square win time you have   two seconds bonus every time you make a move win  some time give a check give a check give a check   stop the king's escape knowing how to weave a  mating net with this little time on the clock   will take experience but that is how you stop  playing so slowly a couple of decisions in this   game you do not need to spend 30 seconds on  the move queen to e7 i just want a castle   right a little bit later like 35 seconds on on the  decision of whether or not you should take or push   just take it you know what i mean i know you  might not feel like it's the best move but you   thought for 35 seconds and h3 wasn't the best  move so if there is no obvious blunder just go   trust me because what's going to happen is way  later you're not going to have 14 seconds you're   going to have 35 and that's going to be what you  need to win the game trust me forcing yourself to   make a move will be much better for your long-term  development than getting into positions where one   guy has 138 and you have 16 because it doesn't  matter whether or not you were winning you lost   because you didn't manage your time effectively  which is why you're watching my video right   so that is how you need to think about blitz  games now there's a couple of other examples okay   uh this game that i pulled up is a five minute  game and this is actually very balanced white is   130 black is 142 white is completely winning  and here white spends 32 seconds on the move   what you got a minute and 30 left you just spent  33 percent of your time i mean i don't know maybe   you dropped your phone in the toilet and you had  to get it out i i don't know maybe your you know   your baby woke up from a nap and you have to you  know we have responsibilities but if we're just   talking specifically this is not a move you need  this what you didn't need to spend 30 seconds on   this move and now watch what happens black spends  30 seconds too both these guys driving me insane   and what ends up happening is we get a rook end  game 45 versus a minute and four when you have   an end game especially one like this find a way  to maximize your advantage you have four pawns   find a way to push them you want to push  this this is not guarded defend it defend   it push it right but watch what white does  white starts going for random rook maneuvers and then black in in disastrous fashion it's the  same mistake that we saw in the earlier part of   the video trades the rooks this is so simple now  snap snap of course right now you're pushing the   wrong pawn what are we doing here you got all  that you got an ocean of pawns push the pawn to   become a queen focusing your mind right by the way  eight seconds on rook takes rook uh uh we can't   have that not eight seconds 32 to 24 and rook  takes work just take it don't even think take it   and set these benchmarks for yourself so you  don't even end up in these situations right   if it's an obvious move just go force yourself to  do it don't you sit there like i'm not sure you're   up like a million pawns here if that's a number  and you have to push on the right side of the   board notice now white's got 15 seconds and white  doesn't even know what they're doing anymore and   now black takes pawns and checks you see what  black is doing to win on time black is checking   black is attacking the king and now white is  only up to four seconds and even here at the   very very end with four seconds on the clock  white could have tried to win the game like by   bringing the queen in the rook but it's not easy  and uh well black ends up just winning on time   white ends up losing on time a few moves later  white totally deserving here but played the game   a little bit too slowly now here's an example of a  game uh where white just played like utter garbage   i mean i don't even know what white is doing  here with the queen but if i get to move 10 do   you notice the time situation this is a 10 minute  game and black has spent half the time on move 10.   no no we can't have that you cannot be down nearly  3 minutes on time and as this game goes longer why   it doesn't matter that white is completely losing  we are just spending too much time look at this we   are now down more than three minutes we just spent  look at this we spent 25 seconds on queen takes   knight we just can't do that force yourself to be  faster set these little benchmarks for yourself   guys 242 on the 15th move of a 10-minute game  nah you got to play 15-10 if you if you're that   if you're struggling that much you got to play  15-10 because now what ends up look at this 209   122. no guys no no we can't do this this game  i really wanted to show because bl white played   like they literally learned chess two days ago  and black played like they were reading you know   the iliad while they were playing chess i mean  a lot of things get missed as your time gets low   and it's basically just forcing your brain to  scan for the most important stuff for example   in this position the first thing that you should  scan for in any position do i have any checks   yeah knight c2 that's a fork a triple  fork right a triple fork a black place c5   right so it it it's it's just that's it it's  just that simple forcing yourself to get in the   right mindset for this kind of stuff and you  know for again um for these last two examples   i wanted to show you how to convert positions very  quickly low on time to checkmate your opponents   okay so here's a game where soft maybe's got 17  seconds and black has 113 but white is completely   winning so white plays a5 now if you want to make  this even easier you can just do something called   cutting the king off right away just play rook to  e1 but you'll notice that white is able to promote   a queen relatively easily now black plays d3 queen  to e4 check beautiful move as close as you can get   excuse me as close as you can get to the enemy  king the better king to d2 now 14 seconds on the   clock this is difficult you basically at this  point have to laser focus where can the king   move these two squares okay can i bring my queen  back here can i bring my queen back here if check   here mate easy follow the queen's path king is  right up in your face you gotta beat the king   however white goes here sacrificing the queen  which is actually not the worst idea in the world   because then you are going to go for  this but you have 11 seconds here how   do you win a position like this rook  behind the pawn rook behind the pawn   camp out so the pawn cannot become a queen i don't  like this you will not win this with 10 seconds on   the clock white went for simplification white  should have stayed focused rook behind the pawn   and then promote and if the king gets closer to  you you slide back if the king goes too far you   take the pawn and then when let's say like c4  f4 you know uh king b6 oh boom king b5 distance   push push oh the king is coming closer oh i'm  going to the other side and then you can pre-move   these moves you've got about four seconds here and  that's made rather than losing on time and what   happens in the game is well white just in a time  trouble goes a little bit crazy ends up pushing   the pawns and losing the pawns and games like this  happen all the time dick games you deserve to win   so it's about finding and focusing on the  checkmating pattern and bringing your queen   and rook or whatever you have closer together in a  time time scramble or simplifying as white did in   this game but the right way rook behind the pawn  cut off the king promote the pawn and uh and then   end up getting a ladder checkmate for this last  game oh this game broke my heart and i saved it   for last because there was so much stuff here  my goodness so this was a subscriber who played   kind of a french defense right it's a 10  minute game and um obviously the person   playing with the black pieces i mean so far  they're kind of all look at this queen c4   how much time was spent on that move by white i  don't know if that was a slip but white played   queen c4 and black just didn't even you know why  because black is like i know in the french defense   i need to play queen b6 my bishop's under  attack look 28 seconds on the move queen b6 knight b5 bishop takes f2 and now the  queen has been captured alright take what what okay whatever fine anyway 758 versus  754 now you're up a queen simplify the game down   simplify the game down 47 seconds on knight d4 is  a travesty no that move could have been played in   two seconds why you're up a queen i mean in this  position you look if this is possible it's not   so you just go knight d4 maybe you play rook  g8 that's another option maybe bishop e3 maybe   bring the king and then bring the rook but fifth  but we just for this too much bishop g5 king c8   20 seconds on king c8 too slow that's that's not  that's not a hard move force yourself to move   faster queen b2 and now knight takes f3 black  is completely winning but black hangs the queen   and can take the knight and then gets closer  and hangs the queen anyway and now white is   completely winning and white is up a minute black  immediately rattled by these developments has to   start scrambling is down on time and continues  to burn clock time because they are losing   and is now at is down two minutes on the clock  but now black immediately invests in where they   are stronger which is the queen side they start  speeding up look at this they start speeding up   white immediately blunders we get a4 wait can  i just 20 seconds on this look at this 358   20 seconds on this but still they're too slow play  the obvious move just do it and then figure it out   right bishop takes the eighth three and a half  minutes a4 right b3 bishop e4 and b takes a2 and   rook a1 okay now officially black is completely  winning because black has pushed this pawn all   the way through i have no idea what happened  in this game but black is still down nearly   two minutes on the clock rook b2 checked king  e1 and black got tunnel vision here thinking   that this x-ray was going to lead to this scan  for a check this check just wins look at this   15 seconds on this move 14 seconds but this check  right but the time keeps ticking and here another   perfect example look how much time gets spent on  this move 24 seconds on rook to h1 x-ray check   just too much is that a good check king moves  i say oh boom got it easy i'm gonna go for it   can play that move give yourself some extra  time because what ends up happening in this   game is white sets a trap with bishop to  f6 a nasty trap you queen and then discover   check and you lose your queen and the game is back  on somehow some miracle so now it's rook pon pon   two minutes per player so what is the best way  to win this white actually finds it i mean i'm   sorry black actual white actually finds it black  actually finds it but look at what black is doing   black is getting very passive here with the rook  do you notice how much time look 202 on move 46   and just a few moves later on move 40 49 a  full minute burned no this is too this too slow   two minutes you gotta move c6 okay i can't get  close rook to rook to g2 oh the pawn's moving   i'll let me slide my king back because now  we get this and this not even rook c8 which   i thought was the idea black goes here g4 a2 and  then we get this now it's 50 seconds versus 140.   still totally winning if you stay focused if  you're playing against the knight make sure it   cannot fork you make sure there are no checks go  get the pawn and promote but black just gives away   the knight i mean white just gives away the night  45 seconds on the clock now the absolute easiest   way to win this cut the king off cut the king  off go win the pawn queen mate cut the king off   but that doesn't happen we get rook to g8 takes  38 seconds cut the king off just cut the king off   okay slip push push push push so far so good  now oh my god please cut the king off 37   seconds but black has had a whirlwind of a game  emotionally and starts chasing the king around   and this is what happens sometimes you just  go oh my god how do i mate how do i mate oh   my god what do i do oh my god there were so many  there was a lot of mates missed here there were   a lot of mates missed i can't lie i don't know if  there was a mate in one missed there probably was   but black was just too slow the queen and rook  you just need one to capture one row and the other   to capture the other queen h5 check check check  check premove from this game from this position   you can win in less than one second if you  pre-move it if you go check knowing the king is   going to have to go back to this row check check  check actually technically that would be less than   half a second so this game black spent a little  bit too much time in the opening even on the   obvious move because they had tunnel vision with  their opening preparation then they spent a little   bit too long converting they ultimately ended up  blundering into a position where they were now   losing and down on time they made a comeback but  in making that comeback still had a three-minute   gap between themselves and their opponent by  the time they reached the winning position they   were still in panic mode because they had two  minutes left and then they spent a full minute   for three moves in a position where they have  no pieces on the board so these little things   opening middle game end game forcing yourself to  play the obvious looking moves and not falling   behind too much on the clock if you are playing  these games too slowly set those benchmarks for   yourself whatever it is you play three minute five  minute 10 minute 15 minute i will not spend more   than x amount of time on x amount per moves every  single game i will not be within three minutes uh   or or or more with my opponent i will always keep  it within three minutes or two minutes now one   more thing if you play really slowly try bullet  bullet you have to play fast one minute per player   you got got nowhere to go you gotta move quick and  that will train your first instinct if you want to   try to solve puzzles within a minute as well laser  focus you might get a lot of puzzles wrong but   when i was training for tournaments i would  find a tactical solution to a position in 30   seconds i would force myself to play a move  whether it was right or not i had no idea   but that is how i did my practice hopefully this  helps if you have any more questions uh put them   in the comments below i will take a look as always  if there's any topics that i haven't covered   please put them in the comments below you can i  would really appreciate if you thumbs up the video   left a comment just in general love reading  the comments as always and i think that's it   i think that's it this is just about  willpower hopefully this pointed you   in the right direction made you think about  a few things a little bit differently best of   luck hope we can all improve on this journey  together and i'll see you in the next video

Channel: GothamChess

Views: 272,154

Keywords: Gotham Chess gives lessons, Gothamchess lessons, gothamchess openings, gothamchess caro kann, gothamchess guide, gothamchess e4, gothamchess, gothamchess rating climb, chess time management, time management chess, chess time management tips, chess lessons, chess lessons for beginners, chess lessons for intermediate, chess strategy, chess middlegame, speed chess, beginner chess strategy, beginner chess lessons, intermediate chess lessons, chess strategy for beginner

Id: d_K8Xe3obMM

Length: 27min 24sec (1644 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 13 2021