blitz

[Dan Goncharoff]

Blitz is German for lightning. The terms blitz, bullet and lightning
are often confused as applied to forms of chess played with very short
time limits, no more than five minutes per player for the entire game.

In the era before the widespread use of chess clocks, blitz referred
to a version where each move is supposed to be made instantaneously,
ie, without any noticeable time for thought.

DanG

On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 1:24 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: blitz
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>
> There is also "blitz chess" -- according to
> Wikipedia, a specific one of several levels of
> rapid play, 3 to 5 minutes per side per game.
>
> 1)  As a phrase, dating to 1947, Chess Review, volume 15 (Snippet).
>
> "... Blitz Chess Spectators often wonder how
> Sammy Reshevsky can survive the horrendous time
> pressure in which he so frequently finds himself.
> This game gives a partial answer. After twenty
> five moves, with only six minutes for his ..."
>
> However, this snippet does not refer specifically
> to a game of "rapid chess", but rather to a point
> in a game at which Reshevsky had to play his
> remaining moves in a very short time.  Perhaps
> further on "blitz chess" is defined.
>
> 2)  And then an odd source for a "first" instance:
>
> "Molotov was sitting in a corner, playing blitz
> chess with Marshal ... "If you continue to think
> over each move for ten minutes, it isn't blitz chess any more," ..."
>
>  From "My uncle, Joseph Stalin," by Budu Svanidzé - 1953 (perhaps 1952).
>
> So was "blitz chess" imported into English from
> some other language?  I can't tell what may have
> been the original language; it was not English,
> since a translator is credited (Putnam,
> c1953).  The Harvard catalog says about the
> Putnam edition "Published in London in 1952 under
> title: My Uncle Joe."  But also, presumably, a
> translation.  WorldCat and Harvard do not help:
> they list editions in Japanese, German, Spanish,
> and French, and all 1953 or later.  While German
> might be possible for an Eastern European author,
> the German edition, as listed in Worldcat, also
> seems to have a translator (unless he was a co-author).
>
> 3)  Then 1955:
>
> "But this was Blitz chess, and at five seconds a move, ..."
>
>  From "1000 best short games of chess: a treasury
> of masterpieces in ...", by Irving Chernev, page 221.  (Snippet)
>
> 4)  And from 1956, extremely rapid blitz chess:
>
> "Blitz Chess This is the ultimate in fast chess.
> It is played at the rate of no- seconds-per-move.
> As each player moves, the opponent must reply
> instantaneously. No thinking is allowed. It is
> reflex chess, pure and simple. ..."
>
>  From "The official blue book and encyclopedia of
> chess", by Kenneth Harkness,  (Snippet)
>
> Joel
>
> At 1/23/2011 03:19 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>>Spotted in the wild (on the pages of the Guardian):
>>
>>http://goo.gl/AkE3k
>>>Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Season, then blitz the soup
>>>with a liquidiser or stick blender until smooth.
>>
>>I've encountered "blitz" before in this context, but not "liquidiser",
>>although the meaning appears to be transparent.
>>
>>A couple of things on "blitz". First, the OED's entire citation
>>collection is from WWII. No figurative usage--media blitz (e.g.,
>>corporate PR), blitzing an opponent with (more media) ads at a
>>vulnerable moment in an election campaign, etc. Of course, this is
>>because both OED lemmas preclude such usage, even though it is allowed
>>for the noun (blitz n. b. transf. and fig.):
>>
>>>a. To attack with a blitz; to hit, blast, destroy, etc., by an air-raid.
>>>b. Amer. Football. intr. To mount a blitz or blitzes (sense c); to
>>>charge the offensive backfield.
>>
>>AHD4 and MWOL are not much better (I could not find the verb in MWOL).
>>McMillan Online is a little better:
>>
>>>3. /informal/ to defeat someone easily in a sports game or competition
>>>4. /informal/ to make a special effort to finish a job or deal with a
>>>problem quickly and thoroughly
>>
>>[For "British" version, these are 2. and 3. respectively.]
>>
>>Encarta ups the ante and adds three to the OED two:
>>
>>>2. /transitive verb/ defeat somebody comprehensively: to defeat a
>>>person or team overwhelmingly in a competition, especially a sports event
>>>3. /transitive verb/ deal with something energetically: to concentrate
>>>a lot of effort on something to get it done ( informal )
>>>4. /transitive verb/ try to overwhelm somebody: to subject somebody to
>>>an overwhelming amount of something, often in order to force him or
>>>her into agreement or submission ( informal )
>>>blitzed with a stream of facts
>>
>>In the example above, the soup is not being overwhelmed, of course, but
>>simply quickly pureed in a blender--or with a hand-blender (a.k.a.,
>>stick-blender). So is "liquidiser" just the same as a blender? Or is
>>there more specificity here?
>>
>>A few more Google finds on culinary "blitz":
>>
>>http://goo.gl/mCSYl
>>>Blitz vegetables in a food processor and add to hamburger patties,
>>>meatballs or meatloaf.
>>
>>http://goo.gl/Kb8lQ
>>>Blitz vegetables in a blender to make pasta sauces...
>>
>>http://goo.gl/2mOZk
>>>you can blitz steamed veggies into a pasta sauce...
>>
>>http://goo.gl/yayb7
>>>Then blitz sauce in food processor or with hand blender, and return to
>>>heat.
>>
>>http://goo.gl/QKjPT
>>>Blitz sauce with a hand blender if wished.
>>
>>Note that the relevant appliances include blenders, stick-blenders and
>>food processors. And all of these are quite distinct from occasional
>>references to stir-frying as "blitz-cooking". So "blitz" is clearly on
>>the rise as a culinary term. Not sure about "liquidiser", however.
>>
>>     VS-)
>>
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