29-05-2013, 08:16 AM
Andy Howie Wrote:Loved the increments this weekend. Thinking of using them in other tournaments but would like to know what others think?
I have to say the incremental time control was a pure pleasure to play under at Ayr (great Air Conditioned venue too!).
Perhaps it won't suit those players who are good at taking advantage when others are short of time - but I'm not one of them. How much of it is psychological - I'm not sure - but normally in league chess during the 15 mins allegro finish - lots of players get anxious and start to make poor moves rather than using up too much time! Knowing you have +30 seconds up your sleeve helps calm you down and trust you can actually play out the position to the best of your abilities. Did I play a higher standard of chess..? Not sure, although I'd like to think I did! The biggest difference for me was that I enjoyed the games much more and that has to count for something.
It's all down to the individual in the end, but personally, I'd love to see more tournaments with incremental time controls like this. I would definitely play in more tournaments if that was the case.