Gaining a psychological advantage in a blitz chess game

A blitz (or lightning/fast chess) is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under normal tournament time controls of 60-150 minutes per player. This article will refer to gaining a psychological advantage in a blitz chess game, in witch each side is given between 3-5 minutes, usually without increasement (when a player gets extra seconds added to his clock after each move).

A psychological strategy to winning in a blitz chess game is based on the fact that statistically, a blitz game usually ends not by one of the sides checkmated, but rather by one of the players running out of time. There for, the supreme objective in a blitz chess game is in fact, to make the opponent lose valuable time thinkung of the next move, rather than gain the superior position on the board. This makes time pressure an advantage, and not an obstacle.
Here are a few ways to make the opponent lose as much time as possible:

Playing an unusual opening: Most average players play the kings pawn gambit (e4), witch they know best. Playing an unusual opening like the English opening (c4) or even the more known queen's gambit (d4) may be both confusing and demoralizing for the opponent. In fact, playing an inferior but little known opening may gain a critical advantage even against a better and more experienced player.

Complicate rather than simplify: Most beginner players will try to simplify the situation on the board by swapping as many pieces as possible, thus "opening" and simplifying the situation. In addition, a swap is an easy move to spot, and the decision is made fast. But in fact, rather than simplifying the situation, one would rather make obscure moves, thus complicating the situation and making the opponent think of an original move, rather than a fast response move to the swipe.

Threat to capture as much as possible. When a player threatens to capture an opponent piece, even when it is easily defended, the opponent must waste time to think of ways to protect it, thus loosing precious seconds. A threat to capture is both a simple move that doesn't require much thought, and an aggressive move that pressurizes the opponent.

It is important to remember that chess strategy changes while playing a blitz game. The aim is not to win on the board (most players that achieve a supreme position on the board- lose because of lack of time), but rather to complicate the position as much as possible, thus forcing the opponent to lose by running out of time.

Winning chess games using psychology- how it all began

I've been playing chess since I was 5 years old. I've learned hundreds of openings by heart, I've studied strategy and tactics, I've participated (and won) non-professional tournaments and got high ratings in various online chess communities. But over the years I've learned that I would never be even half as good as professional chess players. No matter what I did, I just couldn't advance beyond my level, not because I was not capable of doing that, but simply because I could not afford the time it took to keep developing my skill.

Since I am very competitive by nature, I was completely demoralized by constantly loosing to high level chess players, and eventually I stopped playing chess all together. I hid away my chess books, signed out of internet chess sites, and went on to study psychology in the university. In about a year I almost managed to forget my chess obsession. Almost, but not quite.

Once, while preparing for a test in cognitive-behavioral psychology, I've decided to take a break and surfed the net. For some unknown reason, I've reopened my old chess account on Yahoo, and decided- after more than a year's pause- to play a game for fun, just to see if I remember anything about the game.

Since I didn't care weather I win or lose, rather than trying to win the blitz game I've started- I've decided to use my knowledge on psychology in order to stress out my opponent. Objectively, I've played a bad game. I made stupid moves, scarified pieces for no good reason, and moved way to fast. The condition on the chess board was hopeless, but I won because my opponent ran out of time, as I knew he would- when I noticed that my higher ranked opponent is taking to much time to think. He tried to beat me on the board, while I beat him outside of it.
Then it hit me: I can use my knowledge in psychology in order to develop a winning strategy for beating opponents, especially while playing rapid chess.

Over the next two years it became my new obsession, learning and testing more and more psychological strategies, ranging from simple tricks to profound and complicated psychological methods for beating higher ranked opponents. I've played thousands of games in order to explore my new skill, treating it as a learning experience, rather than trying to win the game. The results stunned me, and I've been perfecting my psychological strategies ever since.

Through this blog I want to share my tactics, and hopefully get new ideas from people that love the game as much as I do.

Good game to us all!