Why do people play blitz even on longer time settings?

[hyperpape]

I agree that it's best not to get upset. But the idea behind a time limit is that both players will take the time to think and play a good game. One player is not doing that, so why shouldn't the other play think that it's a little disappointing?

[PeterHB]

Bantari nailed it.

I play around 95% of my moves at under 10 secs a move, but play 5% at 3 to 5 minutes a move, i.e. the ones where I can't read it nearly immediately. I have no idea what people are thinking about when they take 2 or 3 minutes for every move. I wish I knew what they think about, but whatever it is, many people clearly place a lot of importance on the options they are considering. I can't see those options. I can only see 3 or 4 reasonable moves, and choose one, pretty much to see what happens. The longer I wait after having come up with a satisfactory move, the more time I give myself to come up with an off the wall, totally silly move. The line between finding the perfect move and idiocy is very fine. Satisfactory is often good enough.

Crucially, if the next 5 moves the opponent plays are the ones I predicted in my intial reading, then I don't re-read, I just play the moves. I see it as important to have the confidence to play out the moves that I had already judged as being good for me. i.e. the opponent is playing into my planned line, so why should I object? So no need to think, just play, until we get to the end of sequence I had read out. That's the time to stop and consider.

I don't do much reading out of possibilities, but if I do, it is generally on the opponent's clock time, as I have to wait anyway.

Its just a different way of playing, and it does have limitations for improving, but its fun. I prefer to look at the result afterwards to learn. If my moves are terrible, my opponent will demonstrate it by handing out a crushing defeat. If not, I have to think whether I just won by unpunished overplay, or by good moves. That is difficult. Much easier to learn by the opponent demonstrating my errors.

I don't like being in time trouble and then need to take 5 minutes to look at a difficult situation, so I play medium time settings, even though many moves are near instant. Just a different way of looking at the problem of managing time in a way that allows the game to be enjoyable. I don't want to be under the cosh of time pressure.

The strengths of this way of playing are: it makes you strong at the opening, at reading the life and death, and invasions. The comment about going for the kill, and thus finishing the game long before yose is apt.

The weakness of this way of playing is: judging competing moyo situations, counting, and judgement of miai yose. So if you want to create a nightmare for my kind of play, just create a moyo that is only 10 points larger than my territory possibilities, with no obvious invasion point. Nothing too greedy, and intend to win in the yose. You are likely to trigger a rash invasion, as fine counting is impossible at reflex speed. Then cooly use your time and patience to respond appropriately to the invasion, and you take control of the game.

[gowan]

If you are a slow player then from your perspective an opponent who plays at a ten seconds per move pace robs you of thinking time, assuming that you do think while awaiting your opponent's move. During your opponent's thinking time you can do many things: count the balance of territory, assess the value of thickness, make overall strategic plans, decide for sure whether some stones are alive as they stand or need to make life if surrounded, visualize in a general way how the game might go for several moves, look for weaknesses in your opponent's positions, evaluate the size of endgame moves, decide whether moves are sente or not, etc. Thus, for example, if you set the game up as having 30 minutes main time you might expect actually to have more like 45 minutes to an hour of main thinking time. But if your opponent plays blitz from the getgo you are effectively limited to just over 30 minutes main time. No wonder it's frustrating. But you can take countermeasures. Your opponent is probably accustomed to playing fast and not thinking much about moves so if you make the game complicated and requiring careful, thought-out play, your opponent will be more likely to make hasty moves or careless mistakes.

[Phelan]

I agree with PeterHB. I usually play most of my moves pretty fast, but there are some occasions that I really need to read a longer/complicated sequence, or assess the overall balance. When I try playing faster time settings, I'm usually starved for time in the end, if I don't actually lose on time.

[Phoenix]

I think the issue isn't so much the opponent's use of their time. They can do whatever they want. I don't really care at all, and that's the key for me. The problem many players have facing this kind of opponent is twofold; they get sucked into the pace and they get emotional.

You'll find many quotes all over the Go world about how your moves will always show your emotional state. Pros are apt to stress the importance of playing with a clear mind. We've all had the experience of playing a crappy game when something was bothering us at the time.

Similarly, playing outside of your normal pace will cause errors, whether it's too fast or slow. Bear in mind, however, that it's important to experiment with different time settings. You have to learn to squeeze more reading in a smaller time frame if you want to get stronger. So the rule is to not follow the opponent's pace if you don't want to.

The best way to do this is to play your move, read your variations, count, choose your tactics, and simply play ahead regardless of the opponent. Playing five seconds a move when your opponent does it isn't polite, it's just impulsive. It disrespects the game of Go. The trick for me is to focus on the stones and the elements of Go and only those. The opponent doesn't exist. And while I also like to use my opponent's time to think, I don't expect it. This way, if my opponent takes no time, I'm not affected.

In regards to getting emotional, it's important to get into the right state before playing, and to control your own emotions. I can't give out secrets for this one. Everyone is different. Just keep closer tabs on how you're feeling, and pinpoint what you need to change in order to make your game more consistent. Feedback is the most important step to mastery.

[Loons]

Speaking as an interminably slow player, I think I must attribute a lot my wins to the game ending with me on 2*30, and my opponent on 12:53 remaining.

I also agree with Bantari (!); their time is their time, your time is your time.

People who heckle you while playing, though, (about your time usage, or anything) aren't trying to inform you of etiquette or help you, they're trying to win (or venting).


Now to round out with a double standard: I get very annoyed when I'm playing a handicap game with someone and they've used a LOT less time than me, especially if I begin winning.


// On the topic of emotions and go, I find that if I get bad news during a game, I have definitely lost that game (and the point at which it happens is quite evident).