Blitz chess

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Modern tournament chess clock according to FIDE standard, DGT 2010

Blitzschess, or Blitz for short, is a form of chess game in which each player has less than ten to fifteen minutes to think about the entire game . Most often blitz games are played over five minutes. If a player exceeds the cooling-off time, he loses the game, unless the opponent at this point no longer has the opportunity to checkmate by a legal sequence of moves , or he has exceeded the cooling-off time himself. In this case the game ends in a draw . Blitz chess is played with a chess clock and its speed is between rapid chess (with time between 10 and 60 minutes) and bullet chess (with less than 3 minutes), which is popular on the Internet.

meaning

In the 19th century before the chess clock, “announcement blitz” was played, in which a move command was given by a referee every five or ten seconds . For a long time, blitz chess was not seriously recognized by the world chess federation FIDE as a form for competitions and was also popular with most grandmasters (GM) as an entertaining pastime that one indulged in during tournament breaks. Lightning strength was generally not used as a measure of skill level in tournament chess; some grandmasters (for example ex-world champion Anatoli Karpow ) even went so far as to classify blitz chess as harmful to their own playing strength.

This negative attitude towards blitz chess has changed since the emergence of internet chess platforms and since FIDE has been organizing blitz chess tournaments regularly from around 2006, including at grandmaster level. There are now highly endowed pure blitz and rapid chess tournaments. There are also forms of tournaments in which classic chess is combined with blitz and rapid chess, for example at the FIDE Grand Prix or the Grand Chess Tour . In addition, rapid and blitz chess is used as a tie- breaker in many classic chess tournaments . The 2016 World Chess Championship was only decided in rapid chess.

In addition, blitz chess is popular as an entertaining and entertaining form of chess, which is played mainly on game evenings in chess clubs or in chess bars (often for money).

Special rules

Mechanical (analog) chess clock

In contrast to normal tournament chess, the moves do not have to be noted in blitz chess .

In the FIDE rules up to 2017, another special feature was that a non-compliant move could only be corrected if the player in question had not yet operated his clock. After pressing the clock, it led to the immediate loss of the game, provided that the opponent noticed and complained about it. Since January 1, 2018, FIDE rules provide for a time penalty for the first illegal move. This change is controversial among players. In amateur tournaments without an Elo evaluation, many organizers continue to use the old standard version.

An illegal move must be observed by the referee or a complaint by the opponent before the opponent has touched a piece in order to move it. The rule applies that an illegal move is “legalized” if the opponent then makes his own move and operates his clock. An exception are positions in which both kings are in check or a pawn is on the opposing back row. Such positions are drawn by the referee at the end of the next move.

If a chess command is not observed, it was also customary in very old versions of the rules to beat the king. In the meantime, capturing the king is no longer permitted on the following move. Instead, the player on the move must claim the game win without making his move. If he still beats the opponent's king and claims that the game has been won, the referee should warn the player for violating the rules (hitting the king), but accept the claim for winning.

When deciding on a win or a draw after a complaint about an illegal move or a fall of paper, it should be noted that the game can only be considered a victory for the opponent of the player whose flag fell or who made an illegal move, if it is possible for him to make a checkmate with any series of legal moves . An endgame of, for example, a king and a minor against a king and a minor or a pawn is to be counted as a victory, provided that the two minor characters are not bishops of the same color, since an auxiliary mate is still possible. Dead positions are drawn, no matter how much material is left on the board.

Blitz tournaments

One of the most famous blitz tournaments of all time took place in Belgrade in 1970 and was won by Bobby Fischer . In 1988 Mikhail Tal won a $ 50,000 (for the winner) world championship in blitz chess . A special challenge for body and mind are 12- or even 24-hour blitz tournaments ( which take place regularly in Kuppenheim and Dresden in Germany ), in which up to 120 games are played in a row without major interruptions due to the short thinking time. Since 2006 FIDE has organized an annual world championship in blitz chess. Previous title holders have been Alexander Grishchuk , Wassyl Iwantschuk , Leinier Domínguez , Magnus Carlsen , Lewon Aronjan , Lê Quang Liêm and Sergei Karjakin , the reigning world champion is Carlsen.

Lightning specialists

In Germany known blitz players are or were FM Bernd Feustel , who wrote a book about blitz chess, GM Robert Huebner , IM Podzielny ("Potz-Blitz"), GM Robert Rabiega , GM Klaus Bischoff and GM Roland "Hawkeye" Schmaltz .

The three-time Swiss champion Hans Jürg Känel set a world record in continuous blitz chess in March 1981.

various

The lightning strength of the leading chess programs such as Fritz and Shredder is well known , against which players below the grandmaster strength no longer stand a chance. In 1994 Fritz won a strong blitz tournament in Munich, tied with Garri Kasparow , who was then able to prevail in the playoff.

In practice, blitz tournaments are often held according to the so-called slide system .

Blitz games are often played as a playoff in tournaments that are played according to the knockout system and in competitions if the previous games have not brought a decision. Often a predetermined, even number of blitz games with changing colors is played. If this tie-break also delivers an even result, the decision is often made through a so-called Sudden Death or Armageddon game : The player with the white pieces must win, but has a longer time to think about it than the player with the black pieces, the a draw is enough to advance or to win the competition.

Bullet chess , popular on chess servers, differs from Blitz , in which each player has less than three minutes, usually one minute per game.

An increasingly popular form on chess servers is Banter Blitz (in German also Geschwätzblitz ). A strong, mostly prominent player plays against weaker opponents and comments on the games live. Since it is attractive for many amateurs to compete against professionals and thereby learn, Banter Blitz is used by several chess servers as an incentive to purchase premium accounts for a fee.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ At FIDE 10 minutes, according to the FIDE Chess Rules of July 1, 2014, Appendix B1, p. 23, German translation on the DSB website, pdf (5.5 MB). At many online chess portals 15 minutes, for example at chess.com.
  2. ↑ FIDE rules, Appendix B4, A2.
  3. ↑ Rule interpretation of the DSB Referees Committee (February 2006)
  4. ↑ Chess-Press: Hans Jürg Känel new world record holder in permanent blitz chess . Schach-Echo 1981, issue 8, title page (17,386 moves in 2.5 days).
  5. ↑ Regulations for the Chess World Championship 2016, Section 3.7.3: pdf , accessed on January 8, 2017.

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