World Open 2010 Preparation Part 1

My main way of preparing for the World Open right now has been to play what I call marathon Blitz game sessions. I believe this benefits the following:

1) Openings

By playing Blitz games, I can fine tune my opening play, just by trying different things out and seeing what happens. I usually find that at tournament games, this is the best way to prepare the opening, as no matter what I study, I always end up facing new moves!

2) Tactics

A big part of Blitz chess is tactical awareness. By playing at faster time controls, I am ideally training myself to spot tactics faster. I also like this way of studying tactics, as opposed to doing problems, because you develop and finish off the tactics. The problem with studying tactical problems is that you dont get any practice developing those tactical positions. It is all well and good to find the winning move when the problem sets it up for you, but this can leave you a bit deficient while trying to find the moves that lead to the winning move.

I often find that when I do an excessive amount of tactical problem studying, I play in a very boxed in manner, trying to find winning combinations instead of trying to play solid positional attacking chess.

3) Attacking chess

Because a Blitz game is over quickly anyway, it is easy to sacrifice material and just try out different attacking ideas. This can be bad or good for a player, though. For me, I usually play very dry, conservative drawish chess, so pressing forward with attacking ideas is usually a good thing for me.

4) Concentration

This is where the marathon aspect comes in. Tournament chess is a lot about concentration, and continuously calculating lines and searching for new ideas. Playing a lot of chess games over a longer period of time helps develop a more constant concentration. Plus, with the Blitz nature of the games, a lapse in concentration usually leads quickly to a loss. This is not always the case in slower games, and is especially not the case in studying games from books. I may totally miss something in a slower game, and be fine because I find it before I move. Studying from a book, I may never know I missed something. With the Blitz games, you get fairly immediate negative feedback when your concentration lapses, and this is helpful.

5) Endurance

By the 5th or 6th game, I am usually fairly tired. This is a great time to study chess! From experience, I know that I will get tired during this tournament, especially by the later rounds, and the evening games. By playing Blitz marathons, I am ideally building up a bit of endurance, so that even if I get tired, I can still function reasonably well.

Here are the downsides:

1) Sloppy

Blitz games tend to be very sloppy, and a lot of times you get away with bad moves. This is not ideal, because you wont get away with these kinds of bad moves in a tournament game.

2) Excessive attack

In Blitz, the attacker usually wins. It is difficult for players to find key defensive moves when the clock is ticking. In a tournament game though, if there is a defense, you better bet your opponent will find it. Sure, maybe my Nxf7 idea works in Blitz a lot, but that doesnt mean it will work in a tournament game.

On top of this, knowing that various attacking chess works in Blitz but not tournaments can screw up my confidence and intuition. I dont want to be in tournament games saying to myself, sure that worked great in Blitz but here in the tournament it might not work! That kind of thinking may lead to even more conservative drawish chess than if I had never played these attacking Blitz games in the first place.

3) Positional considerations, especially pawn structure

In Blitz games, it is fairly rare for pawn structure to matter that much. Usually the open file or easy piece development is fine compensation for the doubled pawns or isolated pawns. In a tournament game, though, your opponent will be able to put up a solid defense, and carefully play the endgame. Your easy development and open file may not be nearly enough compensation for the doubled pawns.

4) Bad positions

In Blitz, come from behind wins are fairly easy to achieve. I can get a cramped, terrible position out of the opening, play a few active moves, sacrifice a pawn or three and win. This can end up hurting opening play, as I will think I get away with more than I actually can.


Weighing the Pros and Cons, it seems that the best way of using this sort of preparation is to do one or three Blitz marathons a week. At the same time, make sure to do careful study of Master games, or even just play slow games as well. Variety really is key here.

As far as making these Blitz Marathons as valuable as possible, here are some ideas:

1) Set ratings goals, but ignore the ratings completely. This may seem like a paradox, but I think it is the mind frame that is necessary. It is very easy, on the one hand, to not value a win in a Blitz game very highly, and even if you try consciously to play as hard as you can, your subconscious is not going along for the ride. On the other hand, it is very easy to focus solely on getting that rating up, and trying to win over trying to play good chess. A way to handle these competing things is to set a rating goal for the end of the Marathon, and thus putting a little bit of long term goals into it. While playing the Marathon, though, avoid looking at the rating as much as possible. Just focus on the chess.

2) Play Openings you never usually play. This can actually work really well, as you get that overall opening experience, without picking up bad habits in the openings you normally play.

3) Focus your games on a few ideas.

This is a little difficult to do in chess, as your opponent's moves are going to heavily dictate what you should do, but it may be a good idea to set little themes for yourself for a couple of games. For instance, you can play a bunch of games where you try and go for as early an attack as possible, and see how things go with that. Then play a bunch of games where you really focus on completing your development as harmoniously as possible and come up with solid positional mid game plans. Then, play some games where you are just trying to get a good endgame. Coming up with these different themes can help you get a handle on the different sort of ideas associated with these types of play. This will also give you a nice handle on what works and what doesnt.

4) Play when you are tired

This is probably the hardest thing to do, but it may very well be the best. When your mind is slipping, it is very easy to not want to play any more games. But at the same time, really trying to consciously get yourself back on gear can be a very helpful thing to be able to do.

Well, I am going to try and go for another one of these Blitz Marathons right now.