Improve My Chess: Time Management Continued (4 Tips To Deal With The Ticking Clock)

(NOTE: Have you read part 1 of this series? If you haven't I strongly urge you to check it out - Improve My Chess: Introduction To Time Management)

Time management in chess - we have truckloads of books, courses, video lessons, etc. teaching us what to do against an isolated d pawn, how to conduct an attack against the castled or uncastled King, how to sharpen our tactical vision, BUT only a handful of books give you serious advice on how to deal with the ticking clock!

Think about it, all of those tactical and strategic knowledge, brilliant opening ideas, etc. won't help if you are always losing on time. While the stuff I have mentioned are all important, PROPER time management is a facet of chess improvement that should NOT be neglected.

And that's what this article is all about: 4 tips that will help you deal with the clock and improve your chess game:

Chess Time Management Tip 1: Play Relatively Quickly In The Opening
Compared to other phases of the game (middlegame and endgame), the opening is the easiest stage of the game. Primarily, you need to bring out your pieces and get them primed up for action. There are 3 main tasks in the opening that you should realize. GM Igor Sminov explains this in great detail in his course - The Grandmaster's Secrets.

In light of that, you should play the opening faster than you would when game has reached the middlegame or endgame where a single move can change the tides. While we strive for perfection on the chessboard, it is better to make superficial moves in the opening than to blunder a piece later in the game due to time trouble.

Chess Time Management Tip 2: After The Opening, Take Your Time And Compose A Plan
I'm pretty sure you have heard this at some point BUT very few players follow this advice. After the opening, they play 'good looking' moves without any plan in mind. Until they reach a point where they are clueless about what to do. Bottom line, they spend more time than they should.

Think about this: which is better spending 3 minutes every move for the next 10 moves or spending 15 minutes for planning and 10 minutes for playing out the next 10 moves? I'm sure you will agree that the latter is better.

On the next installment of this series, I will be showing some concrete examples.

(Composing a plan in an efficient way is one of the IMPORTANT topics covered by GM Smirnov in The Grandmaster's Secrets. If this is something you need help in, check out the course!)

Chess Time Management Tip 3: Calculate In Tactical Positions And Think In General Terms In Strategic Positions
This is the advice modern chess players take for granted. Modern chess players always calculate variations even if it's NOT called for. It takes a lot of time and drains a lot of energy, which could've been spent on more crucial positions. Unless you are a Super Grandmaster who can calculate like a machine (which I assume you are NOT), this will only land you in time trouble most of the time.

BUT how do you determine when a position is tactical or strategical? Well, there is no clear cut way of finding out but there are a couple of guidelines that can help:

- When the pieces are clashing, there is a good chance there are tactical shots available.

- When the center is wide open - bishops are slicing through the board, rooks are on central open files, etc. tactics could be lying around...waiting to be made.

- Look for forcing moves - checks, captures, threats, etc., when there are a lot of them, there is a good chance the position is rich in tactics. 

Chess Time Management Tip 4: Take Your Time In Crucial Positions
So you have reached a crucial position? When you feel that you have reached a cross road - when one move can take you to the winning or losing side, take as much time as you can.

Again, the clock is an essential factor in competitive chess games. Ignore them and it can spell doom for you. Next time you sit and play chess, keep these chess time management tips in mind and steer clear from time trouble!

Oh! By the way, on the next issue, I will be showing you concrete examples on how to apply the tips above. So stay tuned!

(Need more chess improvement tips? Want a chess course that will show you how to manage your time, think like the PROs, how to prepare for tournaments, and more? The Grandmaster's Secrets by GM Igor Smirnov has it all!)