Chess

Chesspieceface · Post by **Chesspieceface** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:55 pm

Well after a 6 year hiatus I'm brushing up my chess game. Its nice to still have my library and softwares. I have a couple friends who give me a challenge and FICS is great to pick up a random opponent. Well here's a thread for anecdotes, puzzles and what have you. And if anyone wants to play a match on FICS just PM me here and we'll set it up. Fun to get back into it. I've played over the last years but my game was feeling increasingly "guessy" and I'd find I didn't know what to expect in basic positions anymore (1.e4.e5, 2.Nf3.Nc6, 3.Bb5...what do I do!?!

). Its a pleasure to refresh my grasp and I'm finding that the study changes my attitude toward the play which I had forgotten. !Viva Ajedrez!

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:26 pm

I play "correspondence" style chess on redhotpawn.com as coopasonic. I wouldn't be any challenge for you, but I like the site. I bounce between 1300 and 1400 rating there typically.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:45 pm

Funny, I was going to make a post about Chess today as well.

Our CFO got a chess board and is kicking everyone's ass, the smug bastard. I will defeat him, but first I must train....

After seeing a post on QT3, I joined Chess.Com today. My name is Jagg if anyone wants to send a challenge. I'm not very good though.

Chesspieceface · Post by **Chesspieceface** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:57 pm

For online play I highly recommend the Babaschess.net client on FICS. Its been around for years and is immune from a lot of the newer web based issues seeing as it is a telnet server. But have gun will travel, I'll play anywhere... just seems silly to register your real ID for chessplaying. The only time I did that was with USCF online, but they already had my details anyway.

I'll play a game on FICS have the client save it as a .PGN, load that up in Fritz run a 10 minute analysis and then go right back over the game as a postmortem. Really great tools. There is also a bot on FICS called 'AnalysisBot' and you tell it to annotate any game you've played, and it sends you a URL back with diagrams and everything. Ah chess...

Tokek · Post by **Tokek** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:16 pm

We have a "Chess with Friends" on iPhone thing going. I'm still playing a few people from OO and GT.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:43 pm

Arise, Chess thread, before the World Championship match is over!

After coming out even over 12 regular games, they're down to a tiebreaker series of four rapid games (in which each player has much less time than usual). After two draws in the rapid games, the champ won game 3. They've just started game 4, which the challenger needs to win to say alive.

Has anyone else been following this? I've had a good time watching a few YouTube commentaries on the matches. I'm terrible at chess, but have found that I enjoy watching commentaries/analysis.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:38 pm

I should pay more attention to the Championship!

I'm not a strong player, but in college one of my best friends became the U.S. champion (or co-champion). I took class notes for him when he flew around the world to get curb-stomped by Garry Kasparov.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 1:35 pm

Carlsen won, wrapping up the final game with a pretty sweet checkmate (technically mate would come on the next move, but this is where Karjakin resigned).

paulbaxter · Post by **paulbaxter** » Fri Dec 09, 2016 9:38 am

It took me a minute to put that mate together. Probably why I'm not a very good chess player.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Dec 09, 2016 10:52 am

Myself as well. It's not an immediate mate after the move, as the king can take the queen, but then the back rank rook will trap him.

paulbaxter · Post by **paulbaxter** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:40 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Myself as well. It's not an immediate mate after the move, as the king can take the queen, but then the back rank rook will trap him.

Also note what happens with P X Q. Pretty nifty mate.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 12:22 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Myself as well. It's not an immediate mate after the move, as the king can take the queen, but then the back rank rook will trap him.

I was actually immediately thinking pawn to h6 takes the queen, but then rook takes pawn on f7 and traps the king anyway.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 12:27 pm

That one escaped me.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:55 pm

yeah, took me a few seconds also, as I didn't read the note above that the checkmate was the next move after the queen. Checkmate either way with King or Pawn taking the queen.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Nov 14, 2018 11:54 am

The World Chess Championship is underway: Magnus Carlsen vs. Fabiano Caruano (an American!). Deadspin has a detailed write-up of the first four games. Because this is 2018, it includes some social media drama:

And so the morning of Game 4 of the most hotly-contested World Championship match in a generation saw the most valuable intelligence in world chess broadcast to the entire globe:

The offending video was uploaded (and quickly deleted) by the YouTube account of the Saint Louis Chess Club, the strongest institution in American chess with which Caruana is often involved, as a teaser for a full-length look at Caruana’s preparation for this match. In the short snippet above, we can see Caruana and his team hard at work, with Fabi (sporting a bit of a moustache) pondering an endgame puzzle and handing his coach Rustam Kasimdzhanov a book dedicated to Carlsen’s 2016 title defense. We’re then treated to a shot of an open ChessBase file in which several summary lines of Caruana’s notes are visible.
***
The silver linings for the challenger are that the breach only related to what must be a small proportion of his overall preparation, and we have no idea whether Caruana had analyzed those variations as favorable or after close analysis had concluded that they were not worth trying. The disclosure doesn’t by rule render all of those ideas unplayable, but this surely will force Team Caruana to fundamentally reassess their opening strategy for the rest of the match.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Nov 14, 2018 2:28 pm

My two grandchildren (ages - boy 3 and girl 4.5)are now playing chess. They know how all the pieces move and understand esoteric concepts such as castling, pawn promotion and j'aoube. They can actually contest a game against each other and don't want me watching. My granddaughter is obsessed with promoting a pawn to a queen, even if it is immediately taken. She is starting to grasp the concept of checkmate, she will put her queen right next to my king as she has seen me do, but it is usually not defended. Someday she is going to get lucky.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Fri Nov 16, 2018 5:34 pm

Carlsen had to scramble to hold a draw today. Half way through the match it is 6 straight draws.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:44 pm

Lately I've been playing chess with my 89-y.o. FIL, who is suffering from mellow but thorough dementia.

He can't remember if I've ever before been to his NYC house (where I've visited perhaps a hundred times), but he still beats me fair and square in chess. Every game.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:55 pm

Carlsen and Caruana are still all tied up, with Game 12 taking place right now. Live blog here. If this one ends up in a draw, they'll move to rapid and blitz tiebreakers.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Mon Nov 26, 2018 2:09 pm

Carlsen strangely offered a draw in a superior position. On to the rapid play.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Nov 26, 2018 6:06 pm

Carlsen is supposedly a much better rapid player than Caruano. I assume that factored into his thinking.

Here's the champ playing an online blitz (1 minute) tournament. And drinking beers and chatting with his pals in the background.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:36 pm

Carlsen retains his crown with 3 consecutive victories in rapid play.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:32 pm

I hope these two meet again for the championship. Rapid aside, that was a pretty impressive run of games.

Buatha · Post by **Buatha** » Fri Dec 14, 2018 11:58 pm

Any good starting tutorials for chess noobs?

My 12 year old has really been getting into chess, but I only know how the pieces move...no strategy or theory.

True story: I lost interest in chess during high school. I noticed my best friend quickly making moves without looking too hard at the board. When asked about this, he said: "I have about 10 games with their corresponding 10 moves kind of memorized...I don't have to play hard until you mess up my set moves."

After that, I never really wanted to play.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:12 pm

Buatha wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 11:58 pm Any good starting tutorials for chess noobs?

My 12 year old has really been getting into chess, but I only know how the pieces move...no strategy or theory.

Try going through the free online course available here; it's specifically designed for parents and kids. If you can play through to the intermediate lessons it'll definitely improve your game.

NickAragua · Post by **NickAragua** » Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:05 pm

Yeah, there are a few well-known "opening sequences", because the most optimal opening moves generally involve "opening up the center" to get your pieces greater potential mobility later on. All the grandmaster guys probably have those opening memorized and could recite them in their sleep.

I'm not one of those guys, but I don't recall the last time I led off with "A4" or "G4" or something like that.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 12:06 am

Actually 1.g4 is a known opening called the Grob that has a following. It is an attempt to disrupt Black's center with a quick bishop to g2.

Buatha · Post by **Buatha** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:55 pm

A surprisingly entertaining game called Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure (Chess) is helping me learn to think better on movement/strategy.

I'm still early in the campaign, but you are essentially given chess puzzles with occasional objectives other than simply taking the other side's pieces. For instance, the back row had villagers to protect (instead of the King, Queen, and two Knights). This scenario had you limited to two Bishops, a Rook, and two pawns while the A.I. had one full front row of pawns all marching toward your side. The scenarios will also block certain squares of the board with columns or rubble to change your movement strategy.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:18 pm

I have played a good bit of CHessaria until it god too hard for me. I really should get back to it. It was fun until I got crushed repeatedly.

Buatha · Post by **Buatha** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 2:42 pm

I won't kid you, I have to replay scenarios multiple times. Since I know there is a Perfect way to do the puzzle, I won't settle for a Good ranking.

From the Steam reviews, it seems that the game was optimized better and differs from the version people reviewed in the past. I can't comment since I just bought it along with Ultra Chess 3D.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:05 pm

When I am in practice I am a ~1400 player at best so I'm probably not a good bar and my having difficulty should probably be counted as a positive.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:32 am

WaPo

...
In an email to The Washington Post early Monday, David Llada, a spokesman for FIDE, wrote that Rausis had “signed a letter admitting his wrongdoing,” but declined to comment further on the case until an official report is submitted.

“I simply lost my mind yesterday,” Rausis said in a statement to Chess.com on Friday. “Yes, I was tired after the morning game and all the Facebook activity of accusers also have a known impact. At least what I committed yesterday is a good lesson, not for me — I played my last game of chess already.”

Rausis told the British Times that he used chess software on his phone, adding that he knew he had been “committing my chess death.

bathwalter991 · Post by **bathwalter991** » Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:07 am

Hello! I would like to learn how to play chess well. When I was a child, my grandfather taught me to play, but I remembered a little and then my game was not successful. Now I remember the names of the figures and the main moves. Maybe there are some good training courses that are worth seeing before a real game. Or advise you to learn through practice?

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Sun May 03, 2020 1:54 pm

Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen for winning the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the online tournament invented by Magnus Carlsen after COVID-19 cancelled the real-world tournament of challengers to Magnus Carlsen's throne. Magnus Carlsen.

I've mainly been following the tournament via Agadmator, a very good YouTube chess commentator.

Having webcams on the competitors can be pretty entertaining.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sun May 03, 2020 4:00 pm

Some great games in that tournament. Carlsen won but he was not totally dominant. Supposedly the Candidates Tournament was not cancelled (it was at the half way point), but postponed. Seems like they could use this online format to continue it.

Agadmator's coverage is good, and he can be quite funny at times. But I prefer Daniel King's GM analysis and dry British wit.

paulbaxter · Post by **paulbaxter** » Mon May 04, 2020 10:42 am

No comment on the chess, and I haven't watched those other channels, but I just always enjoy watching Ben Finegold who was also covering the tournament. He's just always a hoot. It's fun watching him teach kids chess classes as well.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon May 04, 2020 9:11 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 4:00 pm But I prefer Daniel King's GM analysis and dry British wit.

Thanks for mentioning this. I wasn't aware of him before, but watching his analysis of Carlsen-Ding game 4 and it's really good.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Mon May 04, 2020 9:18 pm

bathwalter991 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:07 am Hello! I would like to learn how to play chess well. When I was a child, my grandfather taught me to play, but I remembered a little and then my game was not successful. Now I remember the names of the figures and the main moves. Maybe there are some good training courses that are worth seeing before a real game. Or advise you to learn through practice?

throw the baby out with the bathwalter991

WYBaugh · Post by **WYBaugh** » Tue May 05, 2020 10:32 am

AWS260 wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 1:54 pm Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen for winning the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the online tournament invented by Magnus Carlsen after COVID-19 cancelled the real-world tournament of challengers to Magnus Carlsen's throne. Magnus Carlsen.

I've mainly been following the tournament via Agadmator, a very good YouTube chess commentator.

Having webcams on the competitors can be pretty entertaining.

I'm not a chess noob but I don't get the angst over the knight at g5? Someone help out my ignorance.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:56 pm

I just played this extremely weird game in which I chased my opponent's king (I was black) all the way up to the sixth rank. I'm sure we both made constant, enormous mistakes; it was a 5-minute game and I am not good at chess.