Maybe I'm just a slow thinker, but in byomi, I'd have a very difficult time considering 3 candidate moves in 15 seconds. I've always found 30 seconds to be tight, but I play it largely because it's hard to get games with longer byomi times. That said, the main issue is that he play games that allow him enough time to actively consider his options rather than just playing instinctively, no?

And even with more time, he probably won't spend too much time waiting on his opponents. I've always had a preference for longer time limits, and one of the interesting things I find is that I am usually the only one using the extra time. My opponents often play a 30 min 5x0:30 byomi game like it was a 5 min main time game. Since I spend a comparatively larger fraction of my time reading out moves earlier in the game, it's always entertaining to play a game where my opponent realizes he is in trouble, finally starts to use his time to consider his position, but it's already too late to do anything about it But then it's awful when my opponent plays a line I did not have the foresight to read, and I'm struggling in byomi while he can read it out at a leisurely pace...

Everybody is different. Maybe alasala finds go frustrating because he plays so quickly. Maybe he finds it frustrating because he is a beginner. The main things is for him to enjoy himself.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Bill, clearly @alasala should do what they find most enjoyable. @alasala seemed to indicate that the source of their frustration was lack of progress. I was simply suggesting that if he or she wants to improve, one way would be to play with longer time limits that allow for more time to consider moves.

Oh, we agree that he probably plays too fast. But I disagree with the suggestion of 30 min. main time for a beginner, unless that is an agreeable pace for her or him. It can even be counterproductive, as the beginner rehearses bad move after bad move in the mind. A beginner does not have that much to think about. That is not to say that I think that thoroughly reading out a limited region of the board to depth 3 or 4 by brute force cannot be a good exercise, but save that for exercise time, not play time. Unless that is the player's bent, of course. Bruce Wilcox recommended that his students play a whole game in 15 minutes! That pace would drive me nuts! As a beginner I took about one hour per game, but I was a slow thinker.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

You're not the only one. In my case, the games are usually 20 min + 5x1:00 byo-yomi, because I'll need the extra time at the end. It's amazing how often I'll have used up half my time by move 100 and my opponents will only have used two or three minutes. And they're doing a lot better than I am.