Editing Fast chess (section)

== Overview ==
A fast chess game can be further divided into several categories, which are primarily distinguished by the selection of time controls. Games may be played with or without [[Fischer delay|time increments]] per move.

{{anchor|Rapid|Rapid chess|Rapid play}}

{{Anchor|Rapid, rapid play or quick}}

=== Rapid (FIDE), quick (USCF), or active===
Time controls for each player in a game of rapid chess are, according to [[FIDE]], more than 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes.<ref name="fidehandbook"/> Rapid chess can be played with or without time increments for each move. When time increments are used, a player can automatically gain, for instance, ten more seconds on the clock after each move. Rapid chess was called ''active chess'' by FIDE between 1987 and 1989.<ref name="Rapid Chess"/>

For the FIDE World Rapid Championship, each player has 15 minutes plus 10 seconds additional time per move starting from move 1.<ref name="fidefast"/>

=== Blitz ===
Time controls for each player in a game of blitz chess are, according to [[FIDE]], 10 minutes or less per player.<ref name="fidehandbook"/> This can be played with or without an increment or delay per move, made possible by the adoption of digital clocks. Three minutes with a two-second increment is preferred. In the case of time increments, the total time per player for a 60-move game must be 10 minutes or less (hence averaging 10 seconds or less per move).<ref name="fidehandbook"/>

For the FIDE World Blitz Championship, each player has 3 minutes plus 2 additional seconds per move, starting from move 1.<ref name="fidefast">{{cite web | url=https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/WorldRapidBlitzChampionshipsRegulations.pdf | title=Regulations for the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2015 & FIDE World Rapid Championship 2015 | publisher=FIDE | date=2015 | access-date=18 January 2016}}</ref>

=== Bullet ===
Bullet chess games have less than three minutes per player, based on a 40-move game;<ref name="bullet">{{cite web | url=https://www.chessclub.com/user/help/bullet | title=ICC Help: bullet | publisher=ICC | access-date=6 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="chess.com">{{cite web | url=https://support.chess.com/customer/portal/articles/1444851-why-are-there-three-different-ratings-in-live-chess- | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818214410/https://support.chess.com/customer/portal/articles/1444851-why-are-there-three-different-ratings-in-live-chess- | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 August 2018 | title=Why are there three different ratings in Live Chess? | publisher=chess.com | access-date=6 October 2016}}</ref> some chess servers rate one-minute-per-player games separately.<ref name="one-minute">{{cite web | url=https://www.chessclub.com/user/help/one-minute | title=ICC Help: one-minute | publisher=ICC | access-date=6 October 2016}}</ref> Lower time controls are called "hyperbullet" and "ultrabullet" for 30-second-per-player and 15-second-per-player games, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barden |first1=Leonard |title=Chess: Magnus Carlsen showcases his bullet skills with 11 straight wins |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/nov/06/chess-magnus-carlsen-showboats-his-bullet-skills-with-11-straight-wins |website=The Guardian |access-date=15 February 2021 |date=6 November 2020}}</ref><ref>[[Lichess]] terminology with periodic tournaments.</ref> Other common time-control options for bullet games include two minutes with one-second increment, one minute with a two-second increment, or one minute with one-second increment. The term ''lightning'' can also be applied to this variant.<ref>American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.</ref> The use of increment in bullet chess is primarily to avoid issues with [[Latency (engineering)|latency]], as well as to discourage playing from a lost position in order to win on time (also known as "dirty flagging").

Online bullet chess avoids practical problems associated with live bullet chess, particularly players accidentally knocking over the pieces. Playing online also allows [[Premove|premoving]], or committing to a move before the opponent has taken their turn, which allows for more moves to be played in online than in live games.<ref>{{cite web |title=What are premoves and how do they work? |url=https://support.chess.com/article/642-what-are-premoves-and-how-do-they-work |website=Chess.com Member Support and FAQs}}</ref>

=== Armageddon ===
A variant of blitz chess where a [[draw (chess)|drawn]] game is counted as a win for Black. This guarantees the game ends decisively, so it can be used as a final tiebreaker game. It was used in tournaments such as the [[Chess World Cup]] as a tiebreaker.<ref name="armageddon_worldcup">{{cite web | url=http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-nakamura-wins-armageddon-nepomniachtchi-appeals-4173 | title=World Cup: Nakamura Wins Armageddon, Nepomniachtchi Appeal Rejected | publisher=chess.com | date=19 September 2015 | access-date=18 January 2016 | author=PeterDoggers}}</ref>

To compensate for giving Black draw odds, White has more time on the clock. Common times are six minutes for White and five minutes for Black or five minutes for White and four minutes for Black. This can also be played with a small increment.<ref name="about_armageddon">{{cite web | url=http://chess.about.com/od/chessvariants/a/Armageddon-Tiebreakers.htm | title=Armageddon Tiebreakers | publisher=about.com | access-date=18 January 2016 | archive-date=5 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305132041/http://chess.about.com/od/chessvariants/a/Armageddon-Tiebreakers.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> If there is no increment, then difficult questions arise when players must try to flag in trivial draws,<ref name=Kaufman207>Kaufman 2021, pp. 207–210</ref> which happened in the [[Women's World Chess Championship 2008]] in the match between [[Monika Soćko]] and [[Sabina-Francesca Foisor]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Drama at World Women Chess Championship round 1 tiebreaks|url=http://reports.chessdom.com/wwcc-2008/world-women-championship-live-day-3|publisher=Chessdom|date=31 August 2008|access-date=2008-08-31|archive-date=21 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021080208/http://reports.chessdom.com/wwcc-2008/world-women-championship-live-day-3|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Appeal's Committee Ruling|url=http://nalchik2008.fide.com/news/?lang=eng&a=2&id=38|date=31 August 2008|access-date=2008-09-07|publisher=Official website of the Championship|archive-date=11 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711002353/http://nalchik2008.fide.com/news/?lang=eng&a=2&id=38|url-status=dead}}</ref> With a small increment, the time odds need to be larger to keep the situation balanced: Norway Chess has used 10 minutes to 7 minutes.<ref name=Kaufman30>Larry Kaufman, ''Chess Board Options'' (2021), chapter 30</ref>

Some tournaments utilise a bidding system for individual players of each match to decide how little time they would be willing to play with as black. The player with the lower bid for each match receives the black pieces with draw odds. This system minimises the perceived unfairness of Armageddon time controls that are decided in advance before a tournament with colours randomly allocated.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McClain |first1=Dylan |title=New Way to Crown Winners in Games That End in Ties |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/nyregion/30chess.html |publisher=The New York Times | date=31 May 2010 |access-date=11 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=NM_Vanessa |title=Nepomniachtchi Wins On Demand In Epic Armageddon Clash, Advances To Grand Final |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/2022-rapid-chess-championship-finals-day-3 |website=Chess.com |access-date=11 December 2022 |date=21 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chess.com Global Championship 2022: All The Information |url=https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-global-championship-2022 |publisher=Chess.com |access-date=11 December 2022 |date=8 November 2022}}</ref> Such an idea is reminiscent of the logical use case of [[fair cake-cutting]].

Armageddon chess does not scale well to slower time controls, as even in rapid the necessary time odds would need to be too large; in correspondence events or engine vs. engine events, it is simply unworkable. [[Larry Kaufman]], [[Kai Laskos]], and [[Stephen Pohl]] have tested using engines ([[Stockfish (chess)|Stockfish]], [[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]], and [[Houdini (chess)|Houdini]]) an alternative solution, allowing for equal times: Black has draw odds, but is not allowed to castle short. Engine tests suggest that this is fair, although it has yet to be tried in practice by human grandmasters.<ref name=Kaufman30/>