The Hard Truth about Time Trouble

Time time trouble in chess can be fun and give you the state of flow where your entire attention is focused on the board and nothing else matters. Your mind is on top of its game, and in this state of high concentration you are able to find moves that you normally would not see. But there are two very different scenarios here:

A) Mutual Time Trouble

Example: Both you and your opponent have about 3 minutes left in a sharp middlegame, with 30 second increment. With your opponent being in time trouble too, the outcome of the game could be either win,  loss or draw, the chances are the same as they were before time trouble.

B) Only one player is in time trouble – YOU

Example: You have 5 minutes vs. opponent's 1 hour, same increment and he is grinding you down in a long endgame. Time trouble where you have little time and your opponent has plenty, is very different. You'd also have to be glued to the board, but while your opponent is taking his time until he finds decisive simplification. A lot of suffering is in store, and you will likely lose. No state of flow will likely help you (although miracles do happen of course).

Time trouble can be created different indeed...

Chess Psychology - Prematurely Agreeing to a Draw

Jiganchine – Degtiarev, 1996

White to play.

Since I was not sure what I was supposed to do here, in this position I played 18. Ke2 and offered a draw, which was accepted.

Agreeing to a draw prematurely was a sin I was suffering from a lot during most of my years as an active chess player, especially in Junior tournaments back in Russia. How to do you assess the above position? I had just missed a winning line a few moves ago, and was disappointed by that. But looking at the position today, White still has several advantages:

• most importantly – White has extra space
• pawn tension on kingside is in his favour
• Black pieces on the kingside are dramatically tied up

Ironically, even today I did not think of it way it until I realized that a computer engine evaluates a position as +- without giving any direct winning ideas. I think White should:

• manoeuvre to improve placement of his pieces
• d5 is a potential weakness in Black’s camp
• prepare for either opening of the ‘h’ file, or opening the queenside with b2-b4 at the right moment
• transfer rooks and other pieces to wherever the play opens up. This transfer of pieces from one side of the board is what will give White and advantage since his pieces are more mobile than Black’s

I moved the pieces around, and arrived at this sample position:

White to move – b2-b4 opens up the game to White’s advantage in what is still a complicated position. If ‘b’ file opens up – White will be quick to double his rooks on it, and Black’s rooks will have a hard time defending ‘b7’.

In short, nothing is really indicating a draw here, White can play for a win without significant risk. Offering a draw can be explained by a combination of factors:

• chess factors – lack of understanding how White can play for a win
• psychological – disappointment after immediate break with h2-h4 failed to win
• outside influence – I was a tired kid, playing a game in the evening on the weekday after school

Persistence in Chess

When I started to study chess seriously,I would typically like the quality of my play in the beginning of a tournament – until losing a game to a stronger player, or making a blunder. Confidence in good preparation and ability to find reasonable moves is re-enforced by playing several decent games, but a loss would destroy this sense of control. As a result, during the rest of the tournament – I would be
- less thorough while looking for a move, since I have less faith in “my system” of logically evaluating the position to find the move
- getting into time trouble due to lack of confidence
- lose motivation, since the “good tournament” is ruined
- start to think how to prepare better for the “next tournament”

Some of these points, especially the first one, are typical for players with “analytical approach”, among which, according to Mark Dvoretsky, are such players as Rubinstein, Botvinnik and Kasparov. Once the analytical apparatus reveals a flaw, the perfect machine is no longer so perfect.

A different attitude is typical for players with the “intuitive, or practical approach”, such as Anatoly Karpov. For me one of the most useful ideas about tournament play came from Karpov’s book where he talks about how

“Some chess players, would give up after a loss or two, but a real player would realize that a series of defeats has to be followed by better luck, and wait for his chance”.

Anatoly Karpov – waiting for opponent’s mistakes

This patient waiting for your chance is what I consider persistence in chess. Even if you are not going to win a tournament – each game counts towards your ELO rating the same way, so previous losses should not affect one’s motivation, which I wrote about in an earlier post. Moreover – in the end of the tournament – your opponents get more tired and more likely to make a mistake!

Opening preparation – gaining advantage on the clock

When I play tournament games, I usually record the time I spent on critical moments of the game. Having the record of how much time I spent on individual moves helps later to understand why I made certain mistakes. Going through a set of my scoresheets from the past few years, I also realized that in a majority of games that I lost – I was behind on the clock after the opening. I may have come out of the opening with a decent position, but usually spending more time in the opening than your opponent puts your into an unfavourable psychological situation. The other player realizes that he is more familiar than you with a position, or is merely more confident in himself. Overcoming that type of disadvantage is difficult, and usually leads to mistakes later in the game and losses. Moral of the story –

1. If the position allows, sometimes instead of spending lots of time trying to find the absolutely best move early in the game – it is more prudent to confidently play good moves. You will need that time and energy later in the game. Once are behind your opponent on the clock, it takes extra effort to catch up.
2. Keep track of how much time you spend on every move. That can help to understand your strengths and weaknesses better when you analyze those games after the tournament, and give clues how to improve time management in your chess games.
3. In your opening preparation – ask yourself the question: if a given position arises during a tournament game – will you be able to easily remember the correct moves and find them on your own, or the position is too complicated, and it will take you a lot of time to play correct moves.