Fast chess

Blitz or short flash is a form of chess in which each player for the entire game a cooling off period of less than fifteen minutes available, usual five minutes. If a player exceeds the time limit, he shall lose the game, unless the opponent has at this time no longer enough material to checkmate. In this case, the game ends in a draw.

Blitz is the speed between rapid chess ( with cooling off periods between 15 and 60 minutes) and Bullet Chess ( with less than 3 minutes ), which is often played on the Internet.

Importance

Blitz was not seriously recognized for a long time as a mold for competitions by the World Chess Federation FIDE and is also among the most grandmasters (GM ) rather than entertaining pastime popular, we allow ourselves in tournament breaks. Flash intensity is generally not as a measure of playing strength in tournament chess; some grand master ( for example, ex world champion Anatoly Karpov ) go so far as to classify blitz harmful for your play. Popular is blitz chess as enjoyable, entertaining form of chess, which is (often money ) played mostly on game nights in chess clubs or pubs in check. Blitz chess is played today exclusively with a chess clock. Mainly in the 19th century but was also "Announcement flash " common in the every 5 or 10 seconds was given a Zugkommando by an arbitrator.

Special Rules

A deviating from the normal tournament chess rule is that a non- rule- compliant train may only be corrected if the player in question has not yet pressed his clock; then it leads to the immediate loss of the game, if noticed by the enemy, and before he has his hand touched a figure with intention to consider this, is a complaint or a draw if your opponent with no sequence of legal moves, even with worst counterplay still can achieve a checkmate. It should be noted that the usual rules of movement must also be considered in correcting the irregular train. For example, the piece touched may only be placed on a different field, if that is possible according to the rules. However, most also applies the rule that an irregular train " legalized " is when the opponent then makes its own train and its clock operated. If a chess commandment is not observed, the beating of the king is not allowed in the following train must, instead, the player at the train claim the game winning without running its train. He still beats the opponent's king and complained thereby winning the game, the player is cautioned by the referee because of the infraction ( Beat of the King), the profit - complaint but accepted.

When deciding to win or draw after a complaint of an illegal train or a leaflet case is important to note that the game for the opponent of the player whose flag has fallen or has performed an illegal train, should be seen as a victory, as soon as it for him with any of a series of legal Zügem is possible to bring about a checkmate. A final example of King and minor piece against King and minor piece or pawn is therefore to be regarded as a victory, if it is not in the two minor pieces to gleichfärbige runners, as a helpmate is still possible; Positions are dead draw, no matter how much material is still 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 Robert James Fischer. 1988 Mikhail Tal won a $ 50,000 doped ( for the winner ) world championship in blitz chess. A particular challenge for the mind and body are 12 - or even 24 -hour blitz tournaments ( regularly taking place in Kuppenheim and Dresden in Germany ) where possible by the short time limit, up to 120 games are played in a row without major interruptions. Since 2006, FIDE organized a yearly world championship in blitz chess. Previous titleholders were Alexander Grishchuk, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Leinier Domínguez and Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian is the current world champion.

Flash specialists

In Germany known flash player are FM Bernd Feustel, who wrote a book about speed chess, the chess legend GM Robert Hübner, IM Podzielny ( " Thunder and Lightning " ), GM Robert Rabiega, GM Klaus Bischoff and GM Roland " Hawkeye " Schmaltz.

Miscellaneous

Well known is the flash strength of the leading chess programs like Fritz and Shredder, against the players below the grandmaster strength have no chance. As early as 1994 Fritz won a strong blitz tournament in Munich occupied points with Garry Kasparov, which then prevailed in the tie-break.

By lightning on the popular chess servers Bullet Chess, in which each player has only 1 minute per batch is different.

Flash games are in the discharged after the knockout system tournaments often played as a tie-break, when the previous games have brought no decision. Here, the player usually gets with the white pieces six minutes thinking time for the entire game, but need to win, while the player with the black pieces has only four or five minutes to change your mind, but progresses in a draw.

In practice blitz tournaments are often played according to the so-called slip system.

If we take the flash a farmer on his conversion box and presses the clock, without replacing these farmers by another figure, this is considered as an illegal train, the opponent can now, before it has touched a figure on profit or draw, provided that no more mat material is present complaint. If he does not, so this farmer must remain on the eighth row and is therefore actually a dummy farmer who has been abolished for many years.