My article was inspired by excellent paper written by Russianbear (this is his FICS handle) which you may find at http://gilly.homeip.net/~rb/. He covered all major tactical plots there and gave useful advices on time pressure hints. Unlike him I would like to focus on psychological factors of lightning game. This is not only because I'm going about psychology in my scientific research, but mainly because I believe improving your psychics and self-confidence plays key role on your way to the lightning mastery.

I used to be rated ca. 1800 at FICS (Please note! The article was written in 2003. I have given up FICS forever meanwhile; at playchess.com my rating swings down from 2000 up to 2400; it is some 2200 on average. ) player and I made quick progress right after I started to follow set of simple psychological principles quickly. I broke magic 2000 barrier and reached PB of 2040. My average rating varies now from 1930 up to 1960. So I believe that thorough examination of my issues may bring you immediate benefit as big as 100-200 points depending on your actual skill as well as your mental attitude. If you adopt my rules I guarantee you will be able to find some extra power in your mind and some extra speed in your hands. The rest depends on yourself. Let's formulate then the basic and only rule dominating anytime, anywhere:

YOU ARE AS GOOD AS YOU THINK YOU ARE

Not to be groundless I have put a couple of examples in my journal. I will refer to them from time to time so it is recommended that you follow them when necessary. Now let's start out analyses covering major 1 0 psychological issues.

Lightning (or bullet) game is a 1 0 game in its classical form (what means that every player has 1 minute of time on the clock and no increment is used). Time controls like 0 1, 1 1 or even 0 4 are also considered to be lightning games but this sounds like profanation for true lightning-addict to play something different than 1 0. Longer time controls like 2 0 or increment games do fall under different rules than those described below suitable only for 1 0.

Who is prepared to play lightning chess with most successes? This is very hard question. Poorly skilled players can rarely be decent lightning players. This is because you have no time to think. One has less than a second per move on average. While this one and only second passes, you have to see what your partner's move was, take a glance at the position, scan the board looking for basic tactical and strategical motives and finally find best move. Do not forget about the time necessary to move your mouse and make the move. Without strict concentration and some experience you will simply forfeit on time quickly.

Another important factor is your age. Teenagers are very quick and brave players, but they are lacking experience. Once you reach the age of 20 your speed shall decrease considerably. However, like in all other sports, training makes masters. Practice a lot and your speed will recover.

First of all use your favourite interface that you are familiar with. Personally I use Jin which is fairly good for 1 0 games, but most popular interfaces are WinBoard, CClient and Thief. Surprisingly there is no clear correlation between your 1 0 performance and your fatigue. Sometimes after very tiring day one does quite well and sometimes well-rested player cannot find good shape. But there is one very clear rule: never play when you are hungry. And never try to play after drinking alcohol. You may have impression that you are relaxed but this is mere illusion. In fact every dose of alcohol slows down your play noticeably. Never play under any pressure. As soon as your dog wants to go for a walk, a child starts crying or your wife wants you to wash the dishes stop the game immediately. Every tiny violation of your concentration will ruin your chances. In order to play as good as you can you need to be relaxed.

Perhaps this is most important part of the text. I think that proper mental preparation is key to progress. You not only need to be relaxed and concentrated, but also find yourself in a very specific mental mood:

Here are some common mistakes that 1 0 player is prone to make. This is because we all fall under same weaknesses as we are all just humans. So read them, be aware that they exist and try to get rid of them gradually. They will happen to you always but your point is to reduce them as much as possible.

Major mental weaknesses were already discussed above. So simply be aware of them and try to avoid them and make advantage of them. Here are some of my hints:

Virtually every 1 0 game ends up in immense time pressure on both sides. You must be aware you will have to cope with for huge zeitnot (time pressure) many times. If your clock seems to be ticking faster than your partner's one start desperate attack then. Do premove as often as you can, check often, do unexpected moves. In general: do not care for defence too much because it takes time and doesn't create any threat for your rival so that you can't ruin his morale. Furious attack gives you certain counterchances and he may easily start to panic. Let me repeat it another time: be altruistic, share your fear with your opponent.

When you have more time that your partner does than you need to be very calm. Yes, checks and attack are always effective but solid defence is of major importance in this case. Your partner will be desperately looking for any counterchances and you mustn't give him any hope. Before making your move check basic tactical motives (mate threats, piece defence, free pawns). Sacrifice your pieces if you can, preferably giving a check. Taking a piece ALWAYS means little deconcentration and costs time. Of course usually this causes very small delay but still long enough to take the sacrifice motive into consideration.

Most important question of endgame play is to decide when you should drop board-oriented mode in favour of clock-oriented mode. This should happen immediately after you have learned that you must go on to a win on time. But your partner may learn the same quicker than you and this will bring him considerable advantage. Remember though that if you enter clock-oriented mode too early you may lose the game very quickly. In clock-oriented mode nothing matters but the clock. You move as soon as you can never mind your pieces and your position. When you definitely enter clock-oriented mode then you should try to premove all the time and your main problem should be anticipating your partner's future checks in order to avoid them before they are played. Nothing throws a player off the balance as much as failed check try. Always trust in your speed. Any player that feels his partner dominates the board is a natural-born loser and in a few seconds this will surely be proven on the board.

Finally, do not forget to get familiar with many of useful endgame tricks like checks, premove-killers and near checks (very effective but hard to find in no time) described widely in Russianbear's text.

No position is lost as long as you believe it is not lost. Never forget that your partner may finally give you a stalemate. Always (have you seen my journal game 3?)! And the rule is, the bigger the rating difference is, the bigger chance for stalemate appears. This is because of common psychological phenomenon. When your partner is 400 or 500 points weaker than you and he is down on material with no time problems on your side you inevitably lose at least part of your concentration. And concentration is key to ANY success in lightning games. I estimate that my winning ratio from positions which are deadly lost from the point of view of standard chess (like -5.00 or something) is no less than 30%. Think of it, I'm no kidding. So:

If you read last paragraph then you will know what you should be afraid of. No position is won as long as your partner believes it is not lost for him :(. But you may easily win following couple of simple rules:

Many people are afraid of matching stronger players and avoid playing them. This is very bad habit. First of all you simply lose a chance to practice and get familiar with stronger players than you. Besides you may profit if you manage to do sufficiently well and earn some rating points. Remember than you only need to win 1 out of 12 games against a player 400 points stronger than you so there is no need to panic. Game 4 is classical example of successful tactics against stronger player.

Weaker players should not be disregarded. They also can play chess. Also note that your lightning form is very much prone to vary day by day. A 2000 player may easily play like a 1800 or less on a bad day. Again, concentration is key to success.

Don't believe those who say they play for fun not for ratings. Everyone cares about rating more or less. Personally I subscribe to the following rule: I play for fun that comes from good games and high rating! But please remember three facts. First, never forget prof. Elo's quote that your rating measures your past performance rather than playing strength. In other words, rating doesn't measure your strength but your scores. Second, your skills change insignificantly but your current form may jump sharply up and down. Third, your rating is a derivative of your skills not vice versa. So key to hoisting your rating is training and making true progress. The progress cannot come from pure rating boost itself but really MAY come into reality if you follow above instructions. And please note that higher rating brings you extra benefit due to some psychological advantage over other players. However it is not rating but human being that plays and wins so let your rating fall down and grow up when it feels like it. Every growth will finally be lost and every slump will be wiped away some day.

1. Keep concentration. Concentration is key to success.

2. Keep proper pacing. Do not rush, do not sleep.

3. Be self-confident. If you can't believe in yourself then who can?

4. Know your partner. Make use of his handicaps.

5. Be pushy. Let him know you have advantage over him. Let him fear.

6. Fight. You will see how often you will recover from dead-lost positions.

7. Attack. Let your partner run out of time thinking of defence.

8. Watch the clock. Choose optimal moment to enter clock-oriented mode.

9. Be relaxed. Stress worsens your play. This is just faint fun.

10. Always be fair. It is only a game after all.

That's it, I think. Good luck then and let the chess pieces follow obediently your orders! Feel free to send me comments to the paper and suggestion of its possible improvements.