Premove
A premove is a move entered on an online board before the opponent has replied, which is played automatically as soon as it becomes your turn if it is still legal.
Also called: premoves
On many online chess sites, you can select a move while it is still your opponent's turn. The site stores it and plays it instantly once your opponent has moved, provided the move is still legal. This saves the time it takes to move the piece with your mouse.
Premoves matter most in very fast games like bullet, where they can save seconds in obvious situations, such as recapturing a piece or advancing a pawn in a won endgame. They are not allowed over the board, since there you must wait for your opponent to move and then make your move by hand.
The danger is that a premove does not know what your opponent will actually do. If the situation changes, your stored move may be a blunder. A good rule is to use premoves only when the reply is forced or the outcome is safe whatever your opponent plays. Newer players should leave the feature unused at first and learn to check every move carefully.
Also worth reading is Hyperbullet. Hyperbullet is an extremely fast online format with only a few seconds, often fifteen or thirty, for the whole game, where reflexes and premoves matter more than thought.
Also worth reading is Blitz chess. Blitz chess is a fast format where each player has about three to ten minutes for the whole game, so decisions rely heavily on pattern recognition and quick tactics.
If "Premove" is the format you play most, the improvement plans by rating band give a weekly routine for your rating range.
Related terms
Bullet chess is the fastest common format, with each player having under three minutes, usually one minute, so success depends on speed, mouse control and instant tactical vision.
Hyperbullet is an extremely fast online format with only a few seconds, often fifteen or thirty, for the whole game, where reflexes and premoves matter more than thought.
Blitz chess is a fast format where each player has about three to ten minutes for the whole game, so decisions rely heavily on pattern recognition and quick tactics.
A time scramble is the stage of a game when one or both players are very short of time and must play many moves quickly, often leading to mistakes and sudden reversals.
A blunder check is a quick test, made by a person before moving or by software afterward, that looks for a move which hangs material, allows a tactic or loses the game outright.
A time control is the rule that sets how much thinking time each player gets in a game, and whether extra time is added per move, which decides what kind of chess is being played.
Guides that go further
See whether a base time and increment counts as bullet, blitz, rapid or classical.
Average chess rating and a good chess rating
What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control.
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
Want to spot this in your own games?
A first lesson starts with your games: George reviews them and builds a study plan around what he finds.