His problem, in a word, was perfectionism. In his outstanding book The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (Gambit, 2001), grandmaster Jonathan Rowson gives no fewer than 18 reasons for the affliction of time trouble. He includes low self-confidence, adrenaline addiction and perverse self-punishment; but perfectionism (which Winston Churchill once said was the same as paralysis) Rowson rightly puts at the top of his list. The problem is that complex chess positions contain more possible sub-variations than any human could begin to calculate to a finish. It is essential, at some stage, to put one's faith in gut instinct; but this is something alien to the most obsessive perfectionists. 

The greatest display of chess played at lightning speed was by — who else? — Bobby Fischer in 1970. That year the Yugoslav resort of Herceg Novi held a unique "blitz" event, in which 23 of the world's strongest masters had only five minutes for all their moves. The 27-year-old Fischer finished an astonishing four-and-a-half points ahead of his nearest rival, Mikhail Tal, the former world champion whose own speed chess skills were seen as almost supernatural. 

 Here is one of Fischer's improbably flawless five-minute victories from that event, against the Yugoslav grandmaster Milan Matulovic, and with Fischer's own deadpan comments: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 ("This is Matulovic's speciality. I know this variation very well") 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Nxc6 Qg5 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.f4 Qxf4 10.d4 Qh4+ 11.g3 Qh3 12.Bg5 a6 13.Bh4 Bd7 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Qxe4+ Kf7 16.Ne5+ fxe5 17.Rf1+ Ke7 ("If 17...Qxf1+ 18.Kxf1 Bxa4 19.Qf5+ wins") 18.Bxd7 Kxd7 19.Rf7+ Ke8?? ("19...Be7! gave chances for a successful defence") 20.Rxc7 Bd6 21.Rxb7 Rc8 22.0-0-0 Qxh2 23.dxe5 Be7 24.Rxe7+ ("After this move Black has no hope") Kxe7 25.Qb7+ Ke6 26.Qd7+ Kxe5 27.Qd5+ Kf6 28.Rf1+ Kg6 29.Qf5+ Kh6 30.Qe6+ Kh5 31.Rf5+ Kg4 32.Rf4+ Kxg3 33.Qg4 checkmate. Whoosh!