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So I just lost my 2500th game in ICC's 5-pool. I blundered a winning position against an IM. Oh well. Actually, my chess has been really weird lately. My ICC 5-pool rating has been above 2200 for about a month now, and has occasionally snuck over 2300. Meanwhile, my correspondence rating is just about at a 50-month low. Also my OTB chess has been garbage as hell. Last night I straight hung a pawn out of the opening. Luckily my opponent sucked so I won anyway, but drat. The time control was weird as hell, too. 36 moves in 75 minutes; 24 moves in 60 minutes; 15 minutes for game. What? White: 1645 Black: Technically unrated (~2100) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. Be3 O-O 7. h3 c6 8. Qd2 b5 9. Bd3 Rb8 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Bxa7 Ra8 12. Be3 b4 13. Ne2 c5 14. O-O Qc7 15. c3 Bb7 16. Ng3 c4 17. Bc2 Rfd8 18. cxb4 Nc5 19. Qc3 Nd3 20. Bxd3 Rxd3 21. Qxe5 Bd6 22. Qg5 h6 23. Qh4 Bxg3 24. Qxg3 Qxg3 25. fxg3 Rxe3 26. e5 Nd5 27. b5 Ra5 28. a4 Nb6 29. Rfd1 Bxf3 30. gxf3 Rb3 31. Ra2 Rxa4 32. Rxa4 Nxa4 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Rb8 Rxb2 35. Rc8 c3 36. b6 Rxb6 37. Rc4 Rb2 0-1
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Nov 3, 2012 02:07
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 22:05 |
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It was a poisoned pawn though. The battery on g3 was probably unavoidable and he can't really defend it. Probably should've taken on e3 first, but it was winning either way. Oh missed the hanging a7 pawn, looks like you had compensation anyway. singe fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Nov 3, 2012 |
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Nov 3, 2012 15:25
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I don't really have comp for the a7-pawn. While the computer only spits something in the 0.5-0.6 range, I can't both maintain that and have any play. Also the line where I recoup the piece is actually really complicated, facilitated by him choosing just about the worst actual path. So, for instance, if he retreats his queen instead of taking on e5 I'm basically just down two pawns. Similarly, after Bd6, he actually has a line that starts with 22.Qb5 Bxg3 23.Bb6 which the computer spits as equal (I haven't fully looked at it yet). Of course, after getting to that point, I would happily take equality there.
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Nov 4, 2012 03:07
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Another gratuitously awful game on my part. I made an egregious cognitive blunder on move 18, forgetting that he could play cxd4. Which is, mind you, especially odd since I had been thinking around dxc5 myself. Luckily for me his play was extremely basic, which let me lock the queenside and then blockade the centre with two sets of double isolated pawns. Then he screwed up and I killed him. I guess this game shows the value of time management, understanding pawn structures, and rudimentary tactics. Time control was 30 moves in 60 minutes followed by 15 minutes for the game. [White ~2100] [Black 1850] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bb5 d6 5. d3 Be7 6. h3 Nf6 7. a4 O-O 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Nd5 Be6 11. O-O Bxd5 12. exd5 Ne7 13. Bc4 Ng6 14. g3 Qd7 15. Kh2 a6 16. a5 Be7 17. c3 f5 18. d4 cxd4 19. cxd4 e4 20. Ng1 Bf6 21. Ne2 h5 22. Nf4 Nxf4 23. gxf4 Qf7 24. Rg1 Rae8 25. Qd2 Kh7 26. Rg2 Rg8 27. Rag1 g6 28. b3 Qe7 29. Qe3 Rg7 30. Be2 Reg8 31. Qd2 Kh6 32. Rg3 Bh4 33. R3g2 g5??  34. fxg5+ Bxg5 35. Rxg5 Rxg5 36. h4 e3 37. hxg5+ Kg6 38. Qxe3 Qf7 39. Bxh5+ Kxh5 40. Qh3+ Kg6 41. Qh6#
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Nov 9, 2012 00:30
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Ugh I'm still exhausted. Played my second one day tournament yesterday; 4 games 55 minute time controls with 5 second delay. Did slightly better than last time 2.0/4.0 only really felt totally outplayed in the first game, won the next two and lost the last one. I felt I was in control for most of my games. I'll post a game with annotations for the last game I lost where I felt like I had good pressure but I just lost it. I'm not really sure where I went wrong and I'd appreciate any insights. Anyway I think I got a nice rook sac in one of my other games, but I'm not sure it worked out completely. Mapped out most of the lines OTB and just went with it since I knew at best I'd trade evenly (I think I eventually get the bishop in that other line) and I think my pawn structure prevented the queen from getting perpetuals, thankfully my opponent chose to fall into the easier forced mate line. Here's the position in question.  code:singe fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Nov 11, 2012 |
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Nov 11, 2012 15:43
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I think the critical lines will start with Bf1. 37...Bh4!? doesn't seem to accomplish anything, since white has 38.Qa1 and everything holds. A promising idea I haven't been able to fully look into yet is 37...Rxf1! 38.Rxf1 f3! 39.Rxf3 Ke7 and then seeing if white has an answer to Bd2. The first line I checked was 40.Nf4 e5 41.Ne2 Bd2 42.Qa1 Qc4 which seems to win for black. Black's position looks quite comfortable, especially if they can safely play e5 at any point, and can probably ride simplifications to a winning endgame if they have to. Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Nov 11, 2012 |
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Nov 11, 2012 20:49
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Saw this article and got a big smile: This Brooklyn Teen WILL Become The First Female African-American Chess Master And There's Nothing You Can Do About It Does anyone else remember the controversies back in the early 90s where the USCF was reaching out to Girl Scouts and women's organizations and "WHAT ABOUT TEH MENZ" was not a joke but really what people thought?
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Nov 12, 2012 01:37
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Won an interesting game today, it contains a lot of my strengths and weaknesses so if I could get an analysis that'd be cool. I'm white and amateurish. code:PGN: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qf6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Qc6 6.Qxd4 d6 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Qxd6 Bxd6 9.O-O b6 10.b3 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Nd7 12.Bb2 f6 13.Nd4 Be5 14.Rfe1 O-O-O 15.Ne6 Bxb2 16.Nxd8 Bxa1 17.Nxb7 Bc3 18.Ba6 Be5 19.f4 Nc5 20.Nxc5+ Kd8 21.fxe5 bxc5 22.exf6 Nxf6 23.Rd1 Ke7 24.Re1+ Kf7 25.Bc4+ Kg6 26.Re6 Rd8 27.Ne4 Kf5 28.Ng3+ Kf4 29.Ne2+ Kf5 30.h3 Rd2 31.g4+ Kg5 32.Nc3 Rxc2 33.Ne4+ Kh4 34.Nxf6 gxf6 35.Rxf6 Rxa2 36.b4 Rc2 37.Bd3 Rc3 38.Bf1 cxb4 39.Kh2 a5 40.Rxh6+ Kg5 41.Rh5+ Kf4 42.Rf5+ Ke3 43.Rxa5 c5 44.g5 b3 45.Ra3 c4 46.Bxc4 Rc2+ 47.Kg3 Rxc4 48.Rxb3+ Ke4 49.Rf3 Rc8 50.Kg4 Rg8 51.h4 Rd8 52.h5 Rd4 53.Rf4+ Ke5 54.Rxd4 Kxd4 55.h6 Ke5 56.g6 Kf6 57.Kh5 Ke7 58.h7 Kf8 59.Kh6 Ke8 60.g7 Kf7 61.g8=Q+ Kf6 62.h8=Q+ Kf5 63.Qg6+ Kf4 64.Qhf6+ Ke3 65.Qgg5+ Ke4 66.Qfe5+ Kf3 67.Qgf4+ Kg2 68.Qe2+ Kh3 69.Qee3+ Kg2 70.Qff2+ Kh1 71.Qee1# 1-0
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Nov 14, 2012 21:18
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Just set up a chess.com account: Castleofcocks
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Nov 15, 2012 05:59
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Shoeonhead22 posted:Game 45.Ra3? Kf4! 46.Ra1 (46.g6 b2 -+) b2 47.Rb1 Rc2+ 48.Kg1 Kxg4 = The game is at least drawn as white cannot lift their bishop without black playing Rc1+, which trades rooks and leaves white with an unpromotable h-pawn. DAIRY KING posted:Just set up a chess.com account: Castleofcocks
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Nov 15, 2012 10:41
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The chess club I am a part of uses Gameknot, and have some sort of weird allegiance to it. It only does correspondence, and chess.com is way better in everyway becuase of smartphones and stuff. I have been trying to get them to switch but they won't budge. On a cooler note I'm going to my first tournament in three weeks, I'll be sure to upload some bad games played by yours truly.
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Nov 15, 2012 13:50
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I finished one of my best correspondence games today. One of the few times I get my Rooks to be as powerful as their point value suggests.code:Move 20, I make the Queen abandon the Bishop. Move 21, I discover a pin on the Knight and give check. It was tempting to win the loose bishop, but those 3 pawns on the queenside were looking scary. Best response for White might be 22. Kf1. Instead he takes the bait, allowing a double attack that wins a loose rook, not to mention the two pawns along the way. Castling earlier, connecting rooks is obvious in retrospect. The rook wouldn't be loose, for one thing. Instead of initiating an exchange at move 16, he should've developed. By initiating the exchange, he allows me to develop my pieces and make threats at the same time. In contrast, my rooks are developed, making crucial pins against the king in the center and protecting against back row shenanigans. Here's the shortest and most peaceful game I've ever played. My friend was trying out a not so good first move and didn't exchange my dangerous pieces. code:Mate in 3! 6. ... Qh4+ 7. Ke2 Qf2+ 8. Kd3 Nc5# Double check seals the deal. crimedog fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Nov 16, 2012 |
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Nov 15, 2012 23:13
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When I first registered on SA, I remember there was a chess tournament that was great fun and got a good turnout, maybe we should start one up to drum up a bit of interest/discussion in chess? It's a shame to see such awesome things like chess, poker and hockey take an absolute beating in popularity.
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Nov 21, 2012 01:25
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Shoeonhead22 posted:When I first registered on SA, I remember there was a chess tournament that was great fun and got a good turnout, maybe we should start one up to drum up a bit of interest/discussion in chess? It's a shame to see such awesome things like chess, poker and hockey take an absolute beating in popularity. I would get crushed by HandKnit in every round even the ones where I wasn't playing against him.
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Nov 21, 2012 03:54
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Shoeonhead22 posted:When I first registered on SA, I remember there was a chess tournament that was great fun and got a good turnout, maybe we should start one up to drum up a bit of interest/discussion in chess? It's a shame to see such awesome things like chess, poker and hockey take an absolute beating in popularity. Agreed, I would be more than happy to partake in such festivities. Allow me to revamp my playing styles a little and I am game.
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Nov 22, 2012 21:14
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DAIRY KING posted:Agreed, I would be more than happy to partake in such festivities. Allow me to revamp my playing styles a little and I am game. Ya man, this is a great idea. You could run a thread in GBS.
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Nov 22, 2012 22:03
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I'd love to take part in a goon tournament. The biggest problem I have with chess.com public tournaments, other than being terrible at chess myself, is that people always go in vacation mode near the end of them so they never seem to actually end 
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Nov 22, 2012 22:15
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Just a warning, last time we tried to run a tournament it fizzled out with, I believe, well less than half of the games even played. Running it in/through GBS might be a good idea to keep the profile up, which would hopefully in turn keep people participating.
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Nov 23, 2012 00:13
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I think I'll set the thread up in traditional games for now since it doesn't seem GBS appropriate, I might move it to games I unno. The rules are tentatively: 1. 5min blitz games on chess.com (so that playing doesn't require a huge time investment) 2. Random draw, single game elimination 3. 3 day grace period before resignation 4. All entrants must give some sort of contact information Feedback on this is greatly appreciated since I have no idea what I'm doing! If the turnout is >16 I may set up something fancier.
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Nov 24, 2012 01:26
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Single elim can be kinda rough when people are just playing for fun, although I guess it lets you get through tournaments quickly with simple brackets. It can also lead to people getting the short end of the stick with regards to colour draws. And, to that end, you should decide on how you are going to sort out colours, since single elim means you won't be able to just have people alternate every game.
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Nov 24, 2012 19:36
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What about 4 five minute games, and then for tiebreaker 1 minute bullet games until someone wins by two? That would probably take too long. It might be easier just to make a tournament via chess.com for long time controls?
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Nov 24, 2012 22:32
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Without further ado, I give to you my first game (of many) from after my long hiatus. As I feel it is both instrumental and enjoyable to grow as a player by receiving heckled responses and critical analysis of my games, I offer up this....have at it I play white 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Qxd4 Nf6 7.Bf4 c6 8.O-O-O Be7 9.Kb1 O-O 10.Bc1 c5 11.Qd2 a6 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 b5 14.Bd3 f5 15.Qe2 c4 16.Bxc4 bxc4 17.Qh5 a5 18.Rd4 g6 19.Qh6 Bf6 20.Rxc4 Rb8 21.Rc6 Bd7 22.Rxd6 Bg7 23.Qxh7+ Kxh7 24.h4 Qc7 25.Rxd7 Qxd7 26.h5 g5 27.Bxg5 Rxb2+ 28.Kc1 Qxd5 29.h6 Be5 30.Re1 Rxa2 31.f4 Ra1# 0-1 Although I feel rather confident coming out of the gates. I find my middle game tends to, (for lack of better words) suck. My endings become abysmal and my confidence falters.
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Nov 25, 2012 17:08
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Can you explain what was going on with 23.Qxh7+ because I think that move needs some explaining. Also it seems like you focussed too hard on the setup you wanted, and neglected to take the very free pawn on d6 in the opening.
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Nov 25, 2012 17:57
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I'm a total beginner and there's a problem I'm not getting (sorry if I mess up the notation). It's supposed to demonstrate a draw through threefold repetition: I guess what happens is Bc4 Qe8, Bf7 Qb5, Bc4 Qe8, Bf7 Qb5, Bc4 Qe8, white calls draw - but since black has the advantage, why doesn't it do something like, I don't know, Bc4 Qb4? I don't see how white forces the draw.
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Nov 25, 2012 18:14
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Hand Knit posted:Can you explain what was going on with 23.Qxh7+ because I think that move needs some explaining. Outside of being a complete idiotic move, the most I can say for it is, maybe I shouldn't be playing two games at once. I think what I thought was I had my queen protected via Bc1. I guess I've learned its time for new glasses. As for my setup. I agree I feel like I spend too much preparing for the middle and neglect opportunity when it knocks. Any suggestions on undoing this habit?
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Nov 25, 2012 18:27
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Maha posted:I'm a total beginner and there's a problem I'm not getting (sorry if I mess up the notation). It's supposed to demonstrate a draw through threefold repetition: Qb4 loses to Nc6 winning the queen. The point of the move Bc4 is that white doesn't have a good place for the queen since all squares besides Qe8 and Qb5 loses the queen. Essentially the bishop and knight (forking with the king) combination control all other the squares the queen can get to (and the pawn and king for a couple spots). If he moves to any square besides Qe8 or Qb5 black will lose the queen and the game. Notice if you draw a line down the diagonal after ignoring the first file it is essentially symmetrical (if you take into account the bishop moves). The king is acting like a pawn in covering the mirror imaged squares. The queen cannot escape to a safe square. singe fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Nov 25, 2012 |
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Nov 25, 2012 18:45
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singe posted:Qb4 loses to Nc6 winning the queen. The point of the move Bc4 is that white doesn't have a good place for the queen since all squares besides Qe8 and Qb5 loses the queen. Essentially the bishop and knight (forking with the king) combination control all other the squares the queen can get to (and the pawn and king for a couple spots). If he moves to any square besides Qe8 or Qb5 black will lose the queen and the game. Ah, I'd completely missed the forks. Thanks!
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Nov 25, 2012 21:15
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Shoeonhead22 posted:I think I'll set the thread up in traditional games for now since it doesn't seem GBS appropriate, I might move it to games I unno. The rules are tentatively: I'm cool with single elimination, but what about 10 minute games instead of 5? I think we would get more players, including me... I would lose for sure on time with a 5 minute game, probably not worth the frustration.
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Nov 26, 2012 16:42
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Deltron 3030 posted:I'm cool with single elimination, but what about 10 minute games instead of 5? I think we would get more players, including me... I would lose for sure on time with a 5 minute game, probably not worth the frustration. I'll probably go with singe's idea of 4 games since colour is huge, but I really like blitz, people make so many blunders. If we're doing it on chess.com, I don't have the membership required to make the tourney, and don't have any idea on how that would work. Also, it might have to be either 5 or 15, and 4x15+overtime is a huge chunk of time so I don't know if it'll work. If somebody has experience in custom tourneys on chess.com I'd like to find a middleground. I'm swamped with finals so I'd like to keep up the discussion on it so I can start it in early December. Rene Rancourt fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Nov 29, 2012 |
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Nov 29, 2012 22:20
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Great endgame tactic from Karjakin-Morozevich at Tashkent yesterday. White to move and win: 1.Rc6!! bxc6 2.b6 +-
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Nov 30, 2012 12:28
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If I didn't know there was zugzwang I would never have guessed that would happen. Isn't it just an elegant solution to a won game though? I don't see how black could pull off a draw after Kd5.
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Dec 1, 2012 00:38
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Rc6 is actually the only winning move (and, accordingly, black's Rc7+ turned a drawable game into a lost one). Black is able to draw the game through either sniping white's g-pawn or just pushing h4 to create a passed g-pawn. What follows is a situation where white can't both push his pawn and stop black from pushing. e: All lines start with bxa6 2e: The London Classic starts today. I'm playing two tournaments, tonight's blitz and tomorrow's rapid. Can't wait to actually see the venue; The closest I've ever played to a tournament this high class is the 2009 Toronto Open, and even that wasn't that close. Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Dec 1, 2012 |
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Dec 1, 2012 13:42
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Hand Knit posted:Rc6 is actually the only winning move (and, accordingly, black's Rc7+ turned a drawable game into a lost one). Black is able to draw the game through either sniping white's g-pawn or just pushing h4 to create a passed g-pawn. What follows is a situation where white can't both push his pawn and stop black from pushing. Nice, welcome! Note that the convention centre isn't too far from this place: http://www.chess.co.uk/ 44 Baker Street
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Dec 1, 2012 14:20
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I've got some free time Monday so I may check it out. I may also not need to check it out since I suspect they will have a considerable presence at the tournament hall. Are you playing in anything?
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Dec 1, 2012 15:08
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Sadly not, haven't really started doing tournaments or anything yet. Stream is here http://www.livestream.com/LondonChessClassic
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Dec 1, 2012 15:41
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Trent and Gordon are my favouriate commentary team. Also it is, apparently, "pants o'clock."
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Dec 1, 2012 18:00
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So I'm thinking of getting back into chess after not playing for a while. I was in the chess club / team in high school, and I have some familiarity with basic strategies and openings. I never read any chess books or studied openings or whatever, but I didn't blunder too many pieces, which apparently made me an average player for that level. What's a good resource to get started with learning chess again? I purchased Fundamental Chess Openings, How to Reassess Your Chess, and The Amateur's Mind from previous recommendations, and I'll get started reading those. Would springing $100/yr for chess.com's videos make sense? I can't follow chess books without a board present, and the hassle of getting out a board and setting up pieces kind of puts a damper on casual study.
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Dec 2, 2012 03:37
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INTJ Mastermind posted:So I'm thinking of getting back into chess after not playing for a while. I was in the chess club / team in high school, and I have some familiarity with basic strategies and openings. I never read any chess books or studied openings or whatever, but I didn't blunder too many pieces, which apparently made me an average player for that level. What's a good resource to get started with learning chess again? You could just use something like http://www.apronus.com/chess/wbeditor.php.
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Dec 2, 2012 07:47
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INTJ Mastermind posted:So I'm thinking of getting back into chess after not playing for a while. I was in the chess club / team in high school, and I have some familiarity with basic strategies and openings. I never read any chess books or studied openings or whatever, but I didn't blunder too many pieces, which apparently made me an average player for that level. What's a good resource to get started with learning chess again? The chess.com membership is worth it for Chess Mentor, which is amazing
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Dec 2, 2012 10:22
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 22:05 |
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Personally I think there are a lot of free resources out there. Chesstempo is a wonderful way to train tactics, and chessexplained has really informative youtube videos. He has a pretty extensive d4 white repertoire and e4 e5 repertoire on his channel.
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Dec 2, 2012 15:19
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