blitz There are four types of regular (not wild or bughouse) chess played on this chess server: Untimed, Lightning, Blitz and Standard. A game is "Blitz" if the expected duration of the game is between 3 and 15 minutes per player. "Expected duration" is determined by a formula that takes into account both the Start time and the Increment (Inc) value. Here is the formula: Expected duration = (Start + Inc*2/3) Thus, a Blitz game is one that is expected to last between 3 and 15 minutes for each player (or from 10 to 30 minutes combined). Lightning games are those with expected durations less than 3 minutes per player, while Standard games are those with expected durations more than 15 minutes per player. The following table shows the dividing lines between Blitz and Lightning on the one hand and Blitz and Standard on the other hand. those two types of matches. [Thanks to schwartzeer for the original calculations between Blitz and Standard. :) ] Slowest Lightning Fastest Blitz Slowest Blitz Fastest Standard ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Mins Incr Mins Incr Mins Incr Mins Incr ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ 0 4 0 5 0 22 0 23 1 2 1 3 1 20 1 21 2 1 2 2 2 19 2 20 -------- 3 0 3 17 3 18 4 16 4 17 5 14 5 15 6 13 6 14 7 11 7 12 8 10 8 11 9 8 9 9 10 7 10 8 11 5 11 6 12 4 12 5 13 2 13 3 14 1 14 2 -------- 15 0 For example, a game with a Start of 2 minutes will be Blitz if the Increment is from 2 to 19; but it will be Lightning with an Inc of 0 or 1 and Standard if the Inc is 20 or higher. You can list logged on users according to their Blitz ratings by typing "who b" (by default, ratings in 'who' listings will be blitz unless you specifiy otherwise). "Blitz" is also a variable that can be used in formulas in order to screen match requests. See Also: formula lightning match standard untimed who [Last modified: December 25, 1995 -- Friar]