Rapid and Blitz, these two are the most popular time controls in chess, a lot of people have begun comparing the two in order to identify which is actually better. Of course different individuals will have unique priorities that will lead them over the other, but there should be an objective answer to this.
If we are to look at the advantages that they can give to a player there should be a final conclusion on which is actually better between rapid and blitz, a lot of forums online seem to not answer this question very well. And that will be the point of this article, I will provide a comparison between the two in order to find out which is truly the best.
If you are interested in this topic you should keep on reading.
Table of Contents
Blitz is better than rapid in building intuition and tactical prowess
If we are going to quantify which is better between blitz and rapid it is important to know which aspect we are talking about, both time control will be more useful on different aspects of the game. If we are talking about intuition and tactical abilities then blitz is definitely to be preferred.
Playing blitz games helps you to develop your instincts, which is a valuable ability in any situation. The heart of chess, on the other hand, continues to be focused on meticulous calculation that involves deeper analysis but intuition can be useful in some instances.
One of these instances is time scrambles, when the time is ticking and there’s not a lot of it remaining, the players are left to rely on intuition to convert the game. No matter how much a player has worked for in the opening in the middlegame it wouldn’t matter too much if they cannot perform well on time pressured situations.
Another instance when this will be useful is in time management (even on longer time controls), players will have to conserve their thinking power on moves that are critical, most moves in a chess game do not need as much attention. This will be useful for this particular concept.
However there is a danger lurking for those who rely on intuition too much, the essence of chess still heavily reflects on long-term calculation and positional games. Players who cannot calculate deeply will never ascend to the next level.
In the long term, playing with too much impulse and not enough realistic play will lead to game losses. In order to avoid falling victim to good disciplined play, blitz players seek to generate a tactical position when there may not have been one.
So even if playing blitz can help a player develop their intuitional game it should be used in moderation since it can actually hold you back as a player. Rapid games are better for long-term development since the format can still give long-term calculation training.
Blitz is better than rapid in terms of routine convenience
This is one of the primary reasons why blitz is more popular in general than rapid, the fact that there is less time for both players means that the game will end much quickly. This is pretty convenient for people who have a day job, on a school program, or just people who have something to do.
Not a lot of people have the privilege of sitting on a chess board (or a mobile phone) in order to play a long game of chess, there are responsibilities outside of the game that are taken priority over playing. This means that the majority of people tend to not play all together since they know that a major time commitment will have to be set in place.
This is where blitz chess slips in, people may not like committing to a long chess game but they definitely do want to play in shorter time controls where it will fit in their routine schedule. This would not get in the way of their responsibilities and they can still enjoy a good game of chess.
A leisurely game of chess might be fun, but if you want to play a game with a buddy over lunch or just after work, then maybe you should look into the blitz time format and not rapid. This is because you can be sure you’ll have a winner on the board the very same day.
In the rapid time format you need to make sure that there is at least some 20 minutes of time commitment available in order for both players to complete the match, this is not the case with blitz however. In blitz you can expect that a game will be over after some 10 minutes (or even less), which makes blitz better than rapid in terms of convenience.
Games played on blitz are often decided by time scrambles and not skill
This is one of the reasons why the blitz time format is hated even though it is one of the most popular time controls, and that reason of course is the time pressure factor. People have started to realize that blitz games are more often than not decided by time scrambles (luck) rather than the skill of the players.
When competing against higher ranking opponents in blitz games, players of a lesser rank may seem to shine more brightly than they would otherwise. The skill factor is of course still in play but is not as important as with the other time formats.
Most of the time, this is not due to the fact that players have discovered a wealth of new information, but rather because players are taking advantage of an obvious weakness in blitz chess: if players are not given much thinking time, then using unusual openings that they are unfamiliar with (or just plain flagging) will make it much more difficult for their opponent to play well generally speaking.
In other words, if you prefer playing in a way that skill is the most important factor to victory then rapid is way better than blitz, the outcome will be decided on the player’s skill among all else if the time format is rapid. This is the complete opposite of the blitz time format.
If you prefer playing in a way that luck and over the board inspiration is the most important factor to winning, then blitz is better than rapid to you. This is especially true if you are still a novice player and don’t have a lot of experience on their belt (you are more likely to win in shorter time controls if you are on this level).
Rapid is better than blitz when it comes to opening repertoire training
Now this is something that a lot of players might not know, but indulging into longer time controls is better for your opening repertoire training. This is because when you have enough time to think, you can have a lot of time to think of the best replies while also allowing your opponent to also play on the highest level.
In short time controls such as blitz, players usually zip through the opening since it is unlikely that a deadly combination can be whipped out so early in the game (also, players are more focused on managing their time). This means that both players in blitz usually don’t put much effort in the opening.
In the rapid time format on the other hand, the players are more likely to be careful with their opening choices since every individual advantage matters. You will be facing the best replies and challenging yourself to thrive on them, not just that it also allows you to think of the best continuations if you manage to forget something.
The rapid time format is better than blitz on enhancing one’s opening strength, if you play blitz it will only take so much time before the game has already transposed to the middle game. In rapid however you can take your time to train yourself at this phase before moving on to the middlegame.
Finally, the rapid time format is ideal if you are attempting to strengthen your theoretical opening mastery since your competitors are more inclined to make plays that will test your understanding.
Rapid is better to play than blitz when it comes to deep calculation
This is something that I have alluded to earlier, deep evaluation of the position is one of the most important traits of a successful chess player. Shorter time formats unfortunately are not well known to develop these traits and in fact, are harmful in this particular aspect.
Blitz trains your mind to respond to immediate threats and intuitional provocations, something that will not work against serious opponents. There is a reason why professional games almost always appear to be positional and not tactical, it is just the best way to play chess competitively.
Making positional moves requires a deep understanding of the position, something that a regular observer cannot comprehend until they have mastered chess themselves. One of the best ways to develop this deeper level of thinking is to play longer games where every individual advantage matters.
Rapid is definitely better than blitz when it comes to developing players with this deeper understanding, in rapid, competitors are forced to think more carefully of their moves and not just rely on intuition. It will train the player’s mind to make moves that are subtle, yet is useful to the position since going all tactical might not work given that their opponent has time to think of the best replies.
In order to increase your ability to calculate and evaluate situations in a more detailed way, playing rapid games will be more beneficial to you than engaging in blitz games. You are going to make good moves at every turn and not just rely on time pressure in order to win games, this will make you a stronger chess player.
Rapid is more beginner friendly than blitz
When I was just starting to play chess one thing seemed to bother me, the time control restricts my margin to think of the moves and it really puts a psychological pressure on my play. I think this also applies to a lot of beginners, the idea that the clock is ticking and you have to find the best moves within that frame can be stressful.
It is not only stressful it can be outright detrimental to your improvement as a player, it puts a psychological barrier from your novice self and what you could have become. This is why I advise beginners to stick to longer time formats since it will not only develop their long-term calculation, it will also eliminate the stress of dealing with time.
In order to improve your approach to the game without feeling the strain of time, I strongly suggest playing rapid rather than blitz if you are just a beginning player. The burden of time might be too much for a beginner to handle and might even discourage them from further playing, with rapid, both of the players have enough time to think of their moves.
Even in a longer time format of course a beginner will still struggle during their games, but at least they are on the right path of developing their true potential without any psychological strain. Beginners can think of their moves and properly apply the things that they have learned, rapid is really better than blitz on this aspect.
Final thoughts
The Blitz and the Rapid time format are two of the most popular time controls in chess, both the bullet/classical are not as played as with these two time controls. Understanding the difference between them is important since you yourself might have played these two time formats frequently, a comparison is a good way to identify the advantages of playing the two.
Both of them have different kinds of strengths, depending on what you are looking for the answer to this might be different. However, since making this article I have decided to form a final conclusion on which is actually better, this is of course generally speaking.
The better time control is of course rapid, the amount of things that you could muster from this is just insane (if you are a good rapid player you will be a good blitz player, but this is not the case the other way around). That is all for this article, thank you for reading.
