Mastering Time Management in Chess: Practical Tips and Examples to Stop Over-Calculating

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00:00 The Art of Awakening Pieces
03:31 Using the Pawn Majority
06:57 The Method of Elimination
08:36 Don't Calculate Irrelevant Lines
10:50 Candidate Move Generation
15:30 The Blunder Check
18:50 Homework
This video will improve your time management in chess. One big problem I have witnessed as a coach over the years is that people spend way too much time in calculation, leading to time trouble. They analyse irrelevant lines in depth and they do not know when to stop calculating. This video shows good time management practices and gives practical tips to improve your time management. Concepts are shown using illustrative examples.
You should actively engage with the material and please be honest with yourself on whether you fall for the same mistakes shown in this video. Awareness is the first step to the cure, and I hope this video will help improve your game.

[@vasu_playz5118]

That is a beautiful masterpiece thank you for this video j personally lost may games in time pressure

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much! I hope it will be useful.

[@timwoods3173]

Thank you

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Welcome!

[@garyinternet5436]

I've been away for a couple of weeks and haven't been doing much chess because of other things in life taking up my time, but I came back to this video and got all of the puzzles right, because I remember what I learned watching previous videos from you Dr. Can and from things I've learned from your Chessable course which I'm slowly working my way through. The best thing that I've recently learned in chess is: It's more important to look around than look ahead. I've wasted hundreds of hours thinking that I was improving because I was calculating more deeply and I thought I was pretty cool as well because I was flexing my visualization muscles so to speak. But your videos continually reinforce that that is not the way to go. Thank you Dr. Can.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

That is so amazing to hear, thank you so much for your kind feedback! ❤️ That really gives me big joy to ACTUALLY help people. Please keep me updated on your future progress! Thank you!

[@wizzard929]

This is great timeless content, useful to a large range of players. Beautiful examples too!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! I am secretly making these videos for my son, in case he takes chess in the future. Timelessness is my main criterion.

[@wizzard929]

He might read this in ten years and shed a tear! 😊

[@Dr.CansClinic]

❤@@wizzard929

[@ThortheMerciless]

Great video. I've been trying to explain to several people that they are over-analysing certain positions - now I can just point them to this video.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Very nice to hear it, thank you so much! Hope more people will benefit from it.

[@commandercakecat]

Homework:- The tempting line is Qxg2+, Kxg2, Ne3+, Kf3,Nxd1 But it doesn't work due to c4! and the knight is trapped. We are also facing a threat of back rank mate so my candidates are h6, h5 and Qe8 If h6 or h5 white plays Qd8+ Kh7 is forced and after that white plays Qd3+ and we lose the piece So therefore by the process of elimination my move is Qe8

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Love it, thanks!

[@TheNamshubofEnki]

Qxg2+ followed by a Knight fork. Thanks for another superb video

[@TheNamshubofEnki]

Ah trapped Knight! ;)

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Absolutely! You stopped too early :)

[@mohammadnaufal1027]

Another great chess content 👍 (as always), actually : I just looking for material about "how to use time efficiently", especially to avoid losing the chess game because of time trouble or run out of time .

[@Dr.CansClinic]

❤️🙏

[@Aramalisadventures]

What a great video with very instructive videos! Thank you! Greetings from Beirut, Lebanon!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Love to Beirut, thank you for your comment!

[@cwgriffin1]

I spend a lot of time on calculations. I go over it again and again to make sure that I didn't miss something. My biggest problem (or one of them) is that once I've committed to sequence of moves, that I start moving quickly. And then I blunder because I missed something 7 moves in.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Very common issue indeed, thanks for bringing it up. Dan Heisman calls it "A-B-C error". We should always double check our calculations the moment we actually reach that moment on the board.

[@user-dw4dm7ju9z]

Thanks you dr❤

[@Dr.CansClinic]

My pleasure ❤️

[@jonnyjansson7320]

Very nice video. I like the discussion of the practical side of calculation,and I realise that I probably calculate to much in most positions. In the homework position, I think black should defend against the mate threat with the move 1..Qe8, because after the tempting 1..Qxg2+ 2.Kxg2 Ne3 3.Kf3 Nd1 winning a pawn, the knight is trapped with the simple 4.c4! 1..h6 doesn't work because of 2.Qd8+ Kh7 3.Qd3+ winning the knight.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent, thank you! Glad that you found the video useful.

[@CC-ii3ij]

Amazing video! I fell into almost all the traps! The tactics were so pretty they blinded me to white's best moves.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Amazing to hear it, thank you! It seems like you got the right lessons. Awareness is the first step for the cure ☺️

[@user-ot8bb3ng7o]

Really liked this🎉 sometimes we get over excited when we see a combination,and just execute it without thinking about opponents best response 😢 great advice 💯I think Botvinnik 6th world champion once said he calculates just two moves ahead,guess we tend to think that the more further we can see is a sign of improvement , and deluded ourselves, great value

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you for this great feedback! Short but accurate calculation is more important than long and obscure variation.

[@ThortheMerciless]

I must admit I got suspicious that the Knight might get trapped, because I've played a few BvN endings from both sides and it's always something I'm aware of. It's a shame that Qxg2+ doesn't work in this case. I note lots of people saying Qe8, but Qe6 and Qc8 also look like possibilities.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you! Great that you spotted ...Qxg2+ as a blunder.

[@sunilgokhale7912]

1...., Qxg2+ 2. Kxg2, Ne3+ 3. Kf3, Nxd1 4. c5 traps the knight. So, Qe8 is best.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you!

[@abhibhavkumar1729]

Homework: Qe8 because after Qxg2, Kxg2 Ne3, Kf3, Nxd1, c4 and then white will play ke2 and trap our knight Btw This is an excellent video!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent answer! 🙏

[@narens4886]

Why not Qc8, Kg8, Qe6? Those are all candidate move right? Why only Qe8?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

@@narens4886 Those are logical candidates too, I said excellent in how he spotted the blunder.

[@user-gg6df4xr3i]

At 13:44 just sheer beauty...take the knight lol

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Go ahead, take that knight! 😅

[@user-gg6df4xr3i]

@@Dr.CansClinic And they do...

[@brainfellow5140]

We should _not_ try to force the fork at Ne3 by doing Qxg2+ while it "looks cool", it leads to big trouble... WK will come to f3 (guarding e3 square) and when black recaptures Nxd1, white moves c4 and black knight has no squares! Probably better to just make a luft move here like h6.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Great that you spot the blunder! But ...h6 is a blunder for another reason. Can you find it?

[@brainfellow5140]

​@Dr.CansClinic oh yeah... oops that walks into a fork by the WQ at d3...

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Yes :)@@brainfellow5140

[@peterfredriksson1857]

Black is in trouble it seems. 😙 Qxg2, Kxg2 Ne3, Kf3, Nxd1, c4 and Ke2 wins the night. Also h6 is loosing because of Qd8 and Qd3 winning the knight. Black nerds to play Qe8 and fight for a draw I think. Another excellent video by the way! 👍

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent, thank you so much!

[@NidusFormicarum]

Question 2b: I just went Qb6+ followed by Ba4 and Bc2, the disadvantage being that I lose my bishop in the process. But how much is it worth looking for better lines when you see something that is easily winning? I have made the mistake many times of working out a winning line and then start looking for alternatives, but being stressed by the clock forget to blunder check and end up playing a losing move because of that despite the fact that I knew I had another move that was winning. In this particular case there is no risk of that, but in other positions there certainly is!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Very good point, thanks for mentioning it. I believe in a practical sense, once you see a winning line, you do not need to search for even a faster solution. But we should also generally prioritize. checking forcing lines. One could argue ...Qa7+ followed by ...Qa1 is more forcing (gives the opponent fewer options) than ...Ba4 followed by ...Bc2.

[@giacomo5626]

Nice video, isnt c3 bxc3 b3 qf5 be4!! A move worth calculating though?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

In that particular position, I would say yes, as Qf5 was the only way for the white queen to deal with that pawn. And even that was not sufficient with normal play of just pushing the pawn and win in a boring way. Nice resource! ☺️

[@yann7196]

I like your approach to go wider with short lines instead of going deeper into a tunnel. But what is bugging me is when i solve problem I try to visualize all lines until the end. That is what I have been told. So in games i do the same thing as in my training and obviously i have time trouble problems. Why this advice when solving problems ? To train visualization 's skills ?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thank you so much for your kind feedback! I think the problem there is that you know that there is a solution in puzzle books, unlike in actual games. That is the main difficulty while playing actual games: noone is telling you whether a tactical solution exists. So you have to make practical decisions and avoid losing on time. This means you have to get better at goal setting and understanding whether the current position is critical. A unified approach is necessary rather than solely relying in tactical training.

[@Noams_chess_school]

Hey dr! I was just thinking maybe you can start a series on how to play better chess and how to beat strong players. I really want to learn more from you and your thoughts. Thank You! Have great day or night.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Hello! Thanks for the suggestions! But I thought all my videos were helping you playing better chess! :) I will think about making one on beating stronger players.

[@Noams_chess_school]

@@Dr.CansClinic yes you are correct! Your videos do indeed but is there sonething like extra that we can focus on that will help the odd crowd? If not I understand. Thank you for responding!

[@Sandfox07]

Sadly completely missed the idea of b3 in the second position, my idea was Qa7+ Kf1 Qa1+ Kf2 c3 but after bxc3 bxc3 Qc5 Bd7 f4 Whites pieces are very active while the black bishop is not, computer says its a draw (I only calculated to the position after bxc3 and only made sure that theres not like Qb8+ leading to mate or smth, I guess I didnt understand the position well enough

[@Sandfox07]

Wow, also missed the simple Rxf1+... Something is up with my calculation today. I thought Bh3 Qxg6 Rxf1+ Kd2 was winning, which is true, but my rook on e8 is hanging and I have to find Rxe2+ Rxe2 Qd4+ Qd3 Rxd1+ Kxd1 Qxd3+ which is super complicated for no reason

[@Sandfox07]

In the homework position, after Qxg2+ Kxg2 Ne3+ Kf3 Nxd1 c4, the Knight is trapped.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Excellent!

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Thanks for the honest feedback. That simulated pawn exchange is a pattern that you now learned :) The goal is to create a passed pawn after all! :)

[@gerritgoosen4068]

In the second position, can we play Be4 instead of b2? If W plays Qxe4, then after Qxe4 fxe4 b2, the pawn promotes.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

That also wins! Thank you!

[@eschiedler]

I stop calculation after I blunder and my queen is captured and taken off the board.... lol homework spoiler - no engine yes the first candidate moves for black have to prevent Qd8+ Does Black have the counterblow Qxg2+? First of all, all the prophylactic moves h6 or Kg8 or Qe8 or Qc8 allow White a key tempo, probably Qe2 attacking the knight and protecting the piece trade on e5. Those don't need to be calculated further. Qxg2+ Kxg2 is forced then Ne3+ fork wins the white queen. However, you have to keep calculating the endgame to see if the knight gets trapped. Kf2 Nxd1 Ke2 Nb2 then the king and bishop can't approach the knight any further because the knight will have c4. If you stop calculating here, you should be ok that the position is somewhat even with black compensated with good chances with the pawn majority on the queen-side despite the great outpost for the white bishop and the active white king. Edit: Whoops, I missed the blunder check. Ne3+ Kf3 Nxd1 c4 takes away all of the squares from the Knight. Black loses. Trying to visualize it all in my head I just missed the losing blunder, thinking white's king had only one main threat. Black instead has to accept the drawish prophilactic moves instead of the queen sac.

[@Dr.CansClinic]

Love how you discovered the blunder in the end! Also, 1...h6 fails to 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ picking up the knight on c4.

[@eschiedler]

@@Dr.CansClinic Thanks for pointing out that blunder on a prophylactic move. The main pattern I forgot was that when a king attacks a piece it always has two squares as options.

[@surf2553]

When they say calculate short variations of 2-4 moves. Do they mean 2-4 ply? Or 2-4 moves (4-8 ply)?

[@Dr.CansClinic]

That is a good question. My understanding is that it refers to 2-4 plies. This was the core of my course on calculation (3-ply calculations).

[@ESLCSDivyasagar]

Subscribing to you is common sense

[@Dr.CansClinic]

❤️ Thank you so much!

[@reidluttrell3034]

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