How to think faster in chess ?

Start at a longer blitz time control like 5/5 or 10/0.  Then make your way down e.g. 5/2, 5/0, 3/2.  Find a control you prefer and play it.  

I don't know that you need to think _faster_, just think _better_.

I wanna know, as while I'm not great at either blitz or slower time controls, the discrepancy seems wider for me than it does for others. I look at people who beat me in blitz with similar and higher ratings and they always seem to have significantly lower rapid, daily and tactics ratings than I do. (I know tactics rewards speed, but most blitz moves are made in a matter of <10 seconds, TT gives you a lot more than that). I started playing chess later than some (at sixteen), and I do wonder if the later you start, the more you have to take time to process everything rather than understanding it instantly. 

But I think that if you get very strong at chess, you will get very strong at blitz by proxy. After all, how many masters are not good at blitz? Of course the rating ordering is not exactly the same, but in general, classical skill correlates to blitz skill at higher levels. Playing blitz seems to be running before you walk (and, considering how many games I have played, I am very guilty of this myself). Strong players can make moves so fast because they instantly understand the position well, and they see tactical motifs instantly because they have seen them so many times before. I think you need to train your brain to recognise these things more instantly by first playing longer games, which should in theory, provided you are actually putting mental effort in, embed concepts in your mind much more effectively. 

Exactly. It's mostly a matter of experience.

Studying and reviewing does help, too.

In regards to tactics, though—the main goal is to learn and retain what you've learned. Solving fast isn't the priority. Understanding is.

Same with chess. The better you understand the game, the quicker you're able to evalute things at a glance. So if you want to get faster—take the time and learn it better! :)

Actually  many masters and stronger players are bad at blitz. I have seen GM's losing in blitz to "experts" or FM's. I myself won on time with 1 single pawn left vs a GM in 3 min blitz tournament online and i am way bellow 2000. He had good blitz rating too. And there are master players who never played blitz and  no longer play OTB and come here to play some chess. That's usually old generation/veterans.

I started as bullet/blitz player. Played 1 year on yahoo chess back 12~ years ago and come back to bullet and blitz just ~3 years ago and already have victories vs title players. Slowly making my way to longer time controls now.

The key to play fast and strong is just to play a lot and learn from your games. Practice tactics, watch how stronger players play blitz and you will improve if you are more serious and not like thousands of patzers who stays forever like 1300 with 10k+ games.

If beginner player wants to play blitz chess and to get better, i don't see a point for him to start playing slow chess in order to get good at blitz. That's pretty bad, unless he makes it all the way to 2000 and master level OTB, he should not stop just to play blitz. That can ruin his OTB play. if you play slow chess, don't stop until you get as high as you can, then go blitz, if you wish. If you play blitz same, go as high as you can and then if you want to get better start slow chess.

Also to start play serious slow chess, first you have to take easies steps and play bullet/blitz to get a feel/experience/patterns/openings/tactics/visualization - i improved all that just from bullet. Not sure how much time and effort and games would take me if i just started to play slow chess - i remember actually i started to play 20~ min OTB back 10y and it was boring as hell, learned nothing and just wasted my time. I just was not ready - sitting there "thinking" like a 1000 idiot who don't know what he is doing. I lack patterns, openings, experience, everything. read beginners book but it was like rocket science smth. So many openings, pieces positions hanging stuff everywhere.

I often find myself +4 in evaluation as white but with no time left, while my opponent has 1 minute left and wins.

Spend an inordinate amount of time analyzing positions. Learn all sorts of things.

Then play way more 3/0 than is reasonable. You'll learn to make use of all those things you've drilled into your long term memory.

Will do

I did not know how old this way I just saw this in the recent ones, someone commented on this 2 hours earlier than me so I just decided to reply to the post

There is a method of thinking in chess that makes decision making efficient. These are Check, Capture, and Threats. You can google it if you want.

How to I think fast

Play solid, simple moves that improve your position without requiring deep calculation. Focus on piece activity and coordination over flashy tactics or risky sacrifices unless you’re sure it works.