Blitz

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Pendule d’échecs positionnée pour un blitz de 5 minutes.

Pendule d’échecs électronique, positionnée pour une cadence Fischer de 3 min+2s/coup
Le blitz, ou jeu éclair, en français au jeu d’échecs, consiste à limiter la durée de la réflexion par joueur à moins de 15 minutes.

Il nécessite l’emploi d’une pendule d’échecs qui sera électronique si la cadence prévoit un incrément de temps à chaque coup joué ( cadence Fischer). Dans le cas des cadences Fischer, on parle de blitz quand le temps initial plus 60 fois l’incrément est inférieur à 15 minutes.

Si la partie ne se termine pas autrement, le joueur qui dépasse le temps qui lui est imparti (indiqué par la chute du drapeau de la pendule mécanique ou de l’arrivée à 0 de la pendule électronique) a perdu (sauf s’il est impossible à l’adversaire de gagner, par exemple par insuffisance de matériel ; la partie est alors nulle). Si les deux joueurs n’ont plus de temps, la partie est nulle, et si un joueur a fait mat mais que son temps est écoulé, ce n’est pas grave, il a tout de même gagné.

Le blitz est la cadence la plus populaire pour le jeu en ligne et chez les jeunes, et sur l’échiquier on joue fréquemment avec une cadence de 5 minutes par joueur. Il existe un challenge national de blitz en France, soutenu par de nombreux clubs.

Certains spécialistes n’apprécient pas le jeu rapide dans la mesure où il favorise les pièges et les tactiques simples au détriment de la stratégie, l’issue de la partie dépendant parfois d’une erreur tactique plutôt que d’un plan stratégique élaboré, mais on peut faire de très belles parties en blitz.

Règles spécifiques au blitz

Les joueurs ne sont pas tenus de noter les coups joués.

Le joueur qui commet un coup illégal et appuie sur la pendule a perdu la partie, pour autant que son adversaire fasse une réclamation avant d’avoir lui-même joué un coup.

L’arbitre ne signale pas la chute des drapeaux, et n’intervient au sujet de la règle de la pièce touchée que si un des joueurs le demande.

S’il est constaté que les deux drapeaux sont tombés, alors la partie est nulle, sauf s’il y a un mat sur l’échiquier.

Il est possible d’invoquer la règle de la triple répétition de position ou celle des 50 coups pour demander la partie nulle.

Cependant, il est très difficile de les faire valoir en pratique en l’absence de notation des coups, sauf si un arbitre surveille la partie. C’est notamment le cas lors des blitz joués pour départager les ax æquo, dans certaines compétitions qualificatives pour le championnat du monde.

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- Rapid or Quick: 10 to 60 minutes per player, sometimes with a small time increment per move (e.g. 10 seconds).^[1]
- Blitz: 3 to 5 minutes per side. Usually sudden death (no increment), but may also be played with a small increment. More recently due to the influx of digital clocks, 3 minutes with a 2 second add is also preferred.^[1]
- Bullet: 2-3 minutes per side. The time add for this setting is 2 minutes with a 1 second add or 1 minute with a 2 second add, respectively. The term below, « Lightning », can also be applied to this variant.
- Lightning is a term used for either Blitz or Bullet chess, and is a general term for extremely fast chess. It can also refer to games with a fixed time (e.g. ten seconds) for each move. This also can be used for 1 minute games.
- Armageddon: a single game guaranteed to produce a result, because Black has draw odds (that is, for Black, a draw is equal to a victory). To compensate, White has more time on the clock. Common times are 6 minutes for white and 5 for black, or 5 minutes for white and 4 for black. This can also be played with a small increment. This is also known as « time odds » and it is used in various tie breaks for quick tournaments.

Fast chess

Fast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, sudden death, speed chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60–180 minutes (1–3 hours) per player.

1 Overview
2 World Blitz chess champions
3World Rapid chess champions

Overview

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The different names distinguish the maximum duration of a game. Commonly used time controls are:

Before digital clocks, 5-minutes per side was the standard for Blitz or Speed chess. Before the introduction of chess clocks in the mid 1950s chess club « rapid transit » tournaments had a referee who every ten seconds called out « move! »

In 1988 Walter Browne formed the World Blitz Chess Association and its magazine Blitz Chess, which folded in 2003.^{[ citation needed]}

In some chess tournaments, the final standings of the contestants may be resolved by a series of games with ever shortening control times as tie breaks. In this case, two games may be played with each time control, as playing with black or white pieces is not equally liked among players. The short time controls in fast chess reduce the amount of time available to consider each move, and may result in a frantic game, especially as time runs out. A player whose time runs out automatically loses, unless the opposing player has insufficient material to mate, in which case the game is a draw. « Losing on time » is possible at even the longer, traditional time controls, but is more common in blitz and rapid versions.

The play will be governed by the FIDE Laws of Chess, except when they are overridden by the specific tournament. A common rule used in fast chess tournaments is that if a player makes an illegal move, the player’s opponent may point it out and claim a win. For example, if a player leaves his or her king in check, the other player may claim the win. This rule can be left out for a friendly game or left in for what some consider to be a more exciting and fun game. However, in case of a dispute during a tournament, either player may stop the clock and call the arbiter to make a final and binding judgment.

The terms blitz or blitzkrieg in chess sometimes means a quick attack on the f7 or f2 square early in the game, putting the king in check.^[2] This term is not limited to Fast chess.

Chess boxing uses a fast version for the chess component of this sport.

Bullet chess is even faster and more hectic than blitz chess. Sometimes, bullet chess is so fast that tactics and skill are secondary to quick moves, although on chess servers where both blitz chess and bullet chess are played, their ratings for a given player generally tend to be similar, thus indicating that chess skill, overall, relates highly to the outcome. Proper calculation of variations and positional playing are almost completely negligible and under USCF rules bullet games are not rateable. Games affect a player’s USCF quick rating if the time limit is five minutes or more per side. As in all forms of chess with time controls, one can either win on the board or win on time. A game is considered to affect the quick rating up to a 30 minute per side time control. At this point, the regular chess rating begins. In other words, a 30 minute game affects both the blitz and normal ratings.

World Blitz chess champions

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#	Name	Year	Country
1	Mikhail Tal	1988^[3]	USSR
2	Alexander Grischuk	2006^[4]	Russia
3	Vassily Ivanchuk	2007^[5]	Ukraine
4	Leinier Domínguez	2008^[6]	Cuba
5	Magnus Carlsen	2009^[7]	Norway
6	Levon Aronian	2010^[8]	Armenia