Bullet Chess - Pros & Cons

""Speed Kills But It Thrills"

Hello Chess lovers,

Yesterday, I slept off trying to convince @edicted to play standard chess with me. I offered to play with one minute against his ten minutes. He declined and said that he would struggle against me even with that time odds. The truth is, I think he would struggle, Not because I'm a stronger chess player, but also because I play very fast.

There are players stronger than me that can't play very fast. I used to know a guy that can't play speed chess but would comfortably beat players without a chess clock.

Tomorrow Friday, We would play another round of Hivechess organized by @stayoutoftherz and it would be a bullet time control (2+1). You can check and join the event here. In this short article, I've chosen to write on "Bullet Chess" The Pros and the Cons.

_{Image by ClipArt From Pixabay}

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Bullet Chess?

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The first question I'd like to answer is the definition of bullet chess. Bullet chess involves games played with time controls shorter than 3 minutes per player. In my opinion, I think this whole bullet chess started as a fun style. In the ancient chess beginnings, there were no chess computers or chess clocks. Games were played for days. In world championships then, games were adjourned. Now, It's all different, speed chess is the order of the day, and there are speed chess tiebreakers although not in bullet formats.

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Cons Of Bullet chess

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Hehehe, Let's start with the cons first. Why do people say Bullet chess is bad for you?

• Bad thinking habits: A common believe is that bullet chess helps you develop a bad way of thinking. It is often said that since you have to make moves very quickly.

In standard chess, before you make a move, we are advised to consider our options, that is CANDIDATE MOVES before we decide which is better.

A chess master once said. "If you find a good move, look for a better one!"

Eish! In bullet chess, no time for candidates moves, You have to play immediately.

• Hard To Find A Balance With Classical Chess:

Most times, I get really tired during classical games. I play so much bullet and it affects my deep thoughts process. It's hard to find a balance. Bullet is fine as long as you're not trying to improve at your Classical chess game because you will always need to remember when it's a fast game or a slow game. Adjusting can be difficult sometimes.

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Why You Should Play Bullet Chess

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I wanted to get here so quickly. I believe most chess players on Hive are not professionals but want to improve their game notwithstanding. Truth is , Bullet chess is for you. And here are reasons why I think you need to play more fast chess.

• It Is Fun...

One reason I enjoy playing bullet is because it is fun. You can play it at any point and enjoy it. We don't play play bullet games to avoid losses. We play to improve and have fun.

Truth is you can play alot of games without even knowing how many you've won or lost. Unlike playing a long time control when winning matters a lot, bullet isn't about perfection, it is fun.

• Sharpen Your Opening Skills:

Do you feel a bit predictable and you want to change your openings before the next Hivechess event? Well you can watch and learn other openings and try them out in bullet games!

I learned almost every gambit in chess and I kept trying them on 1+0 games till I mastered the openings. Once you lose, find out why, then go again in another bullet game. It's one sure way of reaching mastery.

Remember the Bruce lee quote?

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

Well, with Bullet chess, that's easy.

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In Conclusion...

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There are different perspectives to Bullet chess, I just thought to drop mine. Feel free to comment below and tell me what you think.

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Thanks For Reading! Gifs via tenor