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IDK, I was successful with it and the setup was attractive to the kids I taught? (Ages 8-14) 
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May 2, 2013 05:17
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Yeah I guess my main point is that it's a tactics/combinations book only. To be fair I've never tried using it for teaching and I can see how it's not a bad choice.
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May 2, 2013 05:30
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camels posted:Yeah I guess my main point is that it's a tactics/combinations book only. To be fair I've never tried using it for teaching and I can see how it's not a bad choice. It's not even a combinations book, is it? I might be remembering the book incorrectly, but I recall it being all mates in one. It's not terrible for absolute beginners, but I used other tactics book when I did afterschool programs. The Chess Tactics Workbook is a rather appropriately named (but completely bland) source for tactics worksheets and such.
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May 2, 2013 06:21
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Hand Knit posted:I know that Twan plays in a 45 45 on ICC, maybe he will stop by and share some knowledge. Once upon a time there was an SA team on redhotpawn, managed by OrangeKing, but I don't know whether or not that's still alive. The redhotpawn thing died a long time ago, but we could resurrect it if there was enough interest, I suppose. I used to play in the 45 45 League, too, but I don't think I'd have the time for that right now. Edit: Sorry, double post.
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May 2, 2013 06:25
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I think I just played my best game to date, against a player over 100 points above me in a weird French defense tournament. [Event "19th Chess.com Thematic Tournament - French (1401-1600) - Round 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2013.05.01"] [White "thechessgoat"] [Black "ronnie262626"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "1418"] [BlackElo "1546"] [TimeControl "1 in 3 days"] - actually we finished the whole game in 3 days [Termination "thechessgoat won by checkmate"] 1.e4 e6 {Thematic Game - This is the starting position.} 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Be2 Nge7 7.O-O Nf5 8.g4 (I was happy to find this move. It looks like it weakens the king but computer quite likes it and it disarranges black's forces and makes for an exciting game) Nh6 9.Bxh6 gxh6 10.Qd2 c4? (Rg8 was stronger) 11.h4 (thinking about stopping the h pawns and snuggling the knight in at h2. It looked scary but I figured it might hold) Rg8 12.Nh2 Bd7 13.Qc2 Rg7 14.Nd2 Be7 15.h5 O-O-O 16.b3 (objectively I think I'm behind here but it sets interesting problems) f5 17.f3 (bxc4 is better. I looked at it for a long time but got scared of the tactics/calculations) Rdg8 18.bxc4 dxc4 (significant mistake which lets the knight get to c4; fxg4 was correct) 19.Nxc4 Qd8 20.a4! (I never would have found this until recently, it keeps the knight at its nice post) Qe8 21.Qb3 b6?? (i thought the looming queen might make him do this, but i thought the position was strong in any case) 22.Nxb6+! (obvious but I think it's maybe the first time I've made a properly sound sacrifice and it felt good) axb6 23.Qxb6 Nb8 24.Rab1 Bc6 25.Qxb8+ Kd7 26.Qa7+ Kc8 27.Rb8# 1-0 Appreciate any comments. I have another nine french defenses to get through including two which became St Georges and two that went 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d6 against me. And a winawer that i totally shanked in the opening. Everyone is rated higher than me and I'm doing ok so far though. And I only started playing because of I think it was an Orange King thread. bigfoot again fucked around with this message at 19:38 on May 4, 2013 |
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May 4, 2013 19:36
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I'm too busy to go into detail, but both 6.Be2 and 7.0-0 are between very weak and outright blunders. Against Be2 black has cxd4 cxd4 Nh6!. Taking on h6 actually benefits black, as you found out yourself in the game lines. After Qb6/Nc6 the mainline continues 6.a3 c4 7.Nbd2 Na5 and then white chooses between Be2, g3, and h4 depending on what sort of kingside set-up they want. What follows is a strange game where white will castle kingside and then attack with a pawn storm in front of their king. After 7.0-0 black missed inserting cxd4 cxd4 before playing Nf5, where white is losing at least the d-pawn. In this position, you don't want to take his knight with 9.Bxh6. Not only is your bishop generally better than his knight, but his knight has no squares. Instead, play h3 reinforcing your pawn. You can take his knight if he ever plays f6/f5, and if he slowly swings his knight through g8, e7, c8, and b6 then you basically have a mainline advance with like 4 extra tempi (black pushing h5 is met with g5).
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May 6, 2013 19:12
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Thank you, that's incredibly helpful
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May 7, 2013 08:39
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I used to play the advance, and would probably go back to it if I was studying. If you want to look into it more, Evgeny Sveshnikov has a fantastic book that breaks down the opening not by line, but by thematic endgames and plans.
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May 7, 2013 16:07
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Hand Knit posted:I used to play the advance, and would probably go back to it if I was studying. If you want to look into it more, Evgeny Sveshnikov has a fantastic book that breaks down the opening not by line, but by thematic endgames and plans. I heard it was considered inferior by top players because black can attack the base of the pawn easily, but I find it very hard as black. I will check that book, thanks.
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May 8, 2013 14:44
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BIGFOOT PEE BED posted:I heard it was considered inferior by top players because black can attack the base of the pawn easily, but I find it very hard as black. I will check that book, thanks. It's similar to the Pirc in that there may be broad theoretical weaknesses, but those aren't relevant for anyone below ~2650. This is actually addressed in the introduction by Sveshnikov, where he states that the advance may be 'worse,' but it scores better than either mainline or Tarrasch varations.
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May 8, 2013 18:46
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For those of us who are in the US. USCF is increasing the K factor for everyone below 2355 allowing for more fluctuation, benefiting up and coming/rapidly improving players. They are also lowering the K factor for dual rated games compared to the standard time controls. link I suppose it's a good thing if you play tournament chess rather infrequently though it could lead to some big swings if people have an off day or conversely a fantastic one.
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May 14, 2013 17:52
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Came across a game today that ended on a shot that I quite liked. White to move and win: Rf7!!. Black now has no way to stop white pushing the b-pawn and lifting the king to support promotion.
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May 22, 2013 01:38
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Went 3.5/6 in this last 6-week tournament at the chess club, which is my best result so far. 3 wins, 2 losses, and a draw. Round 1: Loss vs 1802 (Legit loss) Round 2: Loss vs 1597 (Straight up blundered a piece, taking a pawn with a piece that was guarded by a pawn) Round 3: Win vs 1540 (Opponent blundered) Round 4: Draw vs 1280 (Stalemated a guy while up a queen, a bishop and a pawn, subconsciously stopped caring) Round 5: Win vs 1509 (Legit positional win) Round 6: Win vs 1613 (Legit positional win) My rating is (not yet adjusted): 1447 Last tournament I lost every game except for one win vs an 1800, and my rating increased almost 100 points. I seem to be getting good positions against much stronger players and even the occasional win, which is nice. I started playing chess at this club around a year ago and I am happy with my progress so far. My only complaints are that I wasted way too much time on blitz which is imo pretty useless for improving this early in my chess development, and I had too many games that ended in some retarded fashion because I freaked out, stopped caring, or otherwise lost concentration. After that last draw I was ready to give up on the game but decided to keep playing at the club and the wins helped keep me motivated. When summer comes around I will have time to actually study and I can't wait to beef up my openings so I can smash people as white. edit: Wonder if these links work: http://www.chess5.com/viewgame.php?gameID=5a1875a5d2218cf8993d4eb115b513fd http://www.chess5.com/viewgame.php?gameID=7247160a570eabbcdd518c5721318553 http://www.chess5.com/viewgame2.php?gameID=a3306d88e9ed9ba14aaaa2250fac18ab CowOnCrack fucked around with this message at 06:01 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 05:40
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I'll just comment on the Alekhine games, though can't say I know much about 2 ... d5 I typically transpose into the Vienna if they go for 2. Nc3. First game. 5. Bd3 just looked wrong for your opponent. Was there a reason why you couldn't play 12... Qxd3? I think everything is covered, though it is a bit loose but he's a bit underdeveloped as well with his dark squared bishop being an especially sorry piece. I suppose more development may have been better since you eventually got the pawn. Nice game though, liked the overloading you did on the c file to win the piece. Second game. You might have gotten lucky. I think he had enough for a successful attack but he may have played it incorrectly. I also think 4 ... Nc6 might be wrong? I would've taken on e5 (dxe5 fxe5 c5 to undermine the center.) or played B5, mostly cause you want to avoid that pin. singe fucked around with this message at 13:05 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 13:00
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Thanks for the comments.singe posted:I'll just comment on the Alekhine games, though can't say I know much about 2 ... d5 I typically transpose into the Vienna if they go for 2. Nc3. The Vienna is known to be equalish for Black so I'd say this is a good outcome if it happens. I think the same about any avoidance line coming from 2. Nc3. The real test of Alehkines is lines after 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 e6. quote:First game. Yea this was a big mistake on his part - it doubles his center pawns, hems in his bishop, and just causes all sorts of positional misery for the whole game. But that doesn't mean anything if I can't properly exploit it and this was a great game to practice that. quote:Was there a reason why you couldn't play 12... Qxd3? After Qxb7, he wins my rook seemingly. Qd7 is the only move which defends against all threats by his queen, which I accurately foresaw. I agree with the rest of the comments - the plan basically played itself after that move but I still had to follow it and be careful. quote:Second game. Well, I am not sure if Nc6 is the most accurate move, but I don't feel it's bad either. However playing dxe5 first though is a good idea, as it is the point of the whole Alehkine system in most cases. Pretty sure that's the most accurate book move also for reasons you said. I did get lucky that he didn't accurately foresee the consequences of his sacrifice, but you still have to exploit mistakes when they occur. I've lost lots of games where I am 'winning' but I don't do the hard work of winning the game (or I screw it up), so I'm still happy I won 
CowOnCrack fucked around with this message at 05:42 on May 24, 2013 |
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May 24, 2013 05:40
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Is there a good book on the English? I've been incorporating the botvinik setup and it always seems like I'm going for the same pawn breaks regardless of what the opponent does and half the time it doesn't look sound. I'm unsure when the f5 Kh2 maneuver is good but I tend to run out of ideas. I usually try for f5 or Rb1 a3 b4 type of breaks. I've been running my games through an engine and I'm usually considered slightly worse after 10 moves into the opening and then tend to equalize. Here's a prototypical blitz game of mine, opponent is about ~1700: [pgn] 1. c4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O O-O 7. e4 e5 8. d3 Bg4 9. h3 Be6 10. Kh2 Qd7 11. Ng5 h6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. f4 exf4 14. Bxf4 Na6 15. Qd2 Kh7 16. a3 Ng8 17. Rae1 Rf7 18. e5 d5 19. cxd5 cxd5 20. d4 Raf8 21. Re3 Nc7 22. Ref3 a6 23. Qe2 b5 24. Bd2 Rf5 25. Rxf5 gxf5 26. Qh5 Qe8 27. Qxe8 Nxe8 28. Ne2 Nc7 29. Nf4 Ne7 30. Rc1 Rc8 31. Ba5 h5 32. Rxc7 Rxc7 33. Bxc7 Bh6 34. Nxe6 Bc1 35. Bd8 Nc6 36. Bxd5 Nxd8 37. Nxd8 Bxb2 38. Nc6 Bxa3 39. e6 Kg7 40. e7 Bxe7 41. Nxe7 Kf6 42. Nc6 Kg6 43. Kg2 Kg5 44. Kf3 Kf6 45. g4 hxg4+ 46. hxg4 fxg4+ 47. Kxg4 Kg6 48. Kf4 Kf6 49. Ke4 Kg7 50. Ke5 Kf8 51. Ke6 Ke8 52. Kd6 Kf8 53. Kd7 Kg7 54. Ke7 Kg6 55. Na5 Kf5 56. Bc6 Kf4 57. d5 Ke3 58. d6 Kd4 59. Bb7 Kc5 60. Bxa6 Kb6 61. Bxb5 Kxb5 62. Nb7 Kc4 63. d7 Kc3 64. d8=Q Kc2 65. Qd4 Kb3 66. Ke6 Kc2 67. Ke5 Kb3 68. Ke4 Kc2 69. Qd3+ Kb2 70. Kd4 Kc1 71. Qe2 Kb1 72. Kc3 Ka1 73. Qb2# 1-0 [/pgn] My main question is 13. f4 sound positionally? 18. e5 seemed good to me, I either wanted to blunt his bishop or trade it off. Taking on 25. Rxf5 seemed good since either makes a plan of a connected central passer or weakens his king position. Though if I traded both rooks I think he could just blockade that central pawn and it seems somewhat drawish. For 26. Qh5 I was looking to free up the square for my knight so it could sit pretty on f4 but maybe Rc1 may have been better? Queen isn't really threatening that much on that post, I wouldn't really know how to proceed if he went Rxe8, I realized after he took with the knight I could overload his backward pawn since he's a bit cramped for space. I may have let him get too much counter play with his dark-squared bishop but I think I played the endgame decently okay. singe fucked around with this message at 14:23 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 14:13
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I know Karpov wrote a book on the English. Out of date but hey.
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May 29, 2013 16:58
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Why must Chess With Friends be iOS-only? I tried both Chess.com's app and Chess Time and both asked me to make an entry in their database with a username and password. Zynga, for all their faults, at least realise the only thing you need is a username and an e-mail address.
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Jun 3, 2013 11:13
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I actually found someone worse than me at rook endgames. (Twan, this is the game I was telling you about.) [Event "ICC 3 0"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2013.06.03"] [Round "-"] [White "Sofahead"] [Black "Hand-Knit"] [Result "0-1"] [ICCResult "White resigns"] [WhiteElo "2125"] [BlackElo "2044"] [Opening "Queen's Indian defense"] [ECO "A47"] [NIC "QP.06"] [Time "16:05:43"] [TimeControl "180+0"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bg5 Bb7 4. e3 Ne4 5. Bh4 d5 6.Bd3 Nd7 7. Nbd2 Ndf6 8. Ne5 a6 9. O-O c5 10. c4 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 e6 13. Rfd1 Ne4 14. Bxd8 Nxd2 15. Bxb6 Nxc4 16. Nxc4 Bd5 17. Rac1 Rb8 18. Bxc5 Bxc5 19. dxc5 Bxc4 20. Rxc4 Rxb2 21. Ra4 Rc2 22. Rxa6  Black wins this game. Ke7 23. c6 Rd8 24. Ra7+ Kf6 25. Rad7 Rc8 26. a4 R8xc6 27. R7d4 g5 28. g4 Ra2 29. R1d2 Rc1+ 30. Kg2 Rca1 31. Rxa2 Rxa2 32. Kg3 h6 33. f3 Ke5 34. h4 f5 35. hxg5 hxg5 36. Rb4 Ra3 37. gxf5 exf5 38. Kf2 Kf6 39. Rb6+ Ke5 40. Ra6 f4 41. e4 Ra2+ 42. Kf1 Kd4 43. e5 Ke3 44. e6 Kxf3 45. Kg1 g4 46. e7 g3 47.e8=Q Ra1+{White resigns} 0-1
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Jun 4, 2013 09:58
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Cool tactic from a game I played. Black to play. This is totally the type of play where I feel like I would have caught it if presented to me as a puzzle, but I of course missed it OTB. Probably basic to the good players here, but thanks Fritz! 1...Nxc3!
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Jun 27, 2013 02:59
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If you'd seen that OTB, I'm sure you could have taught White a valuable lesson about weakening the pawns in front of his castled king. Irving Chernev would've been proud.
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Jun 27, 2013 03:35
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melon farmer posted:Probably basic to the good players here, but thanks Fritz! This is actually pretty subtle. Nicely done.
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Jun 27, 2013 08:50
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Hand Knit posted:This is actually pretty subtle. Nicely done. I guess someone could have seen "my queen is beaming down on that king, how do I make it work?" That's probably the more intuitive way to find it. I've been trying to steer away from dreaming big recently. Khorne fucked around with this message at 10:10 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 10:01
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It's easier to find when you know there's a tactic, because there aren't a lot of candidate moves and Nxc3 is reasonably thematic. It's more difficult to find in game because, even if you pick up on the two key thematic points (weak c3 pawn, queen in line with king), it's not immediately obvious that Rxd4 is a de facto fork. In fact, you have to see a few different tricks, like the fact that on Qe3 by white you can still play Rxf4 because the queen is pinned.
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Jun 27, 2013 10:40
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I'm slowing getting into chess after having only a passing familiarity with the rules for awhile, so I'm basically starting from zero. My kids (who are 5 and 7) have been showing an interest in the game, and so I've taught them the rules, but figure I should try to get a little better as we're all picking up the game. I've gotten The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, which I've seen recommended here and elsewhere, and have been working through some tactics problems in a few books I've gotten from the library and in the Shredder iOS app. I feel like I've gradually learning to spot useful moves based on a given board set up (which I presume is some of the tactics gradually making it through my skull), but when I play an actual game I feel relatively directionless, and I'm definitely missing moves, or failing to think about why I should make one set of moves over another. I was thinking I might find it helpful to take games and run analysis on them -- I see that chess.com has this when you sign up for a Gold or Platinum account, and I understand some chess programs (like Shredder and Chessmaster, and I'm sure others) do as well. Does anyone have any recommendations along these lines? Is a program like Shredder or Chessmaster (or something) a decent investment for someone starting out (I guess both for playing against the computer, as well as doing tactics problems and analyzing games)? Is a membership on chess.com a better idea? If I'm correct in my thinking that it would be helpful to take my games and analyze, is any particular option better than the others? Or if I'm not correct, should I be do something else (e.g., just playing more, doing more tactical problems, reading different books, etc.)? Specifically on the question of helping my kids get into the game, are there any particular books anyone recommends either for kids, or for helping kids learn chess? I picked up a book that seemed very well reviewed on Amazon called "Chess is Child's Play," but would be interested to hear any other recommendations.
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Jun 28, 2013 04:27
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McCoy Pauley posted:
A couple books that have been getting a lot of positive attention for learning tactics, and may be appealing to young people is Predator At The Chessboard: A Field Guide To Chess Tactics (Books I & 2) by Ward Farnsworth (Author) You can pick up both books at amazon for about $18 a piece. There are previews of the book available at the publisher's webpage, and it looks drat good.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:15
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CrimsonSaber posted:A couple books that have been getting a lot of positive attention for learning tactics, and may be appealing to young people is Thanks -- those look interesting.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:43
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CrimsonSaber posted:A couple books that have been getting a lot of positive attention for learning tactics, and may be appealing to young people is Both of these books are online free at chesstactics.org. Absolutely fantastic; it completely changed my perspective on the game and made me love spending time on tactical puzzles.
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Jun 29, 2013 05:00
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McNerd posted:Both of these books are online free at chesstactics.org. Absolutely fantastic; it completely changed my perspective on the game and made me love spending time on tactical puzzles. Thanks -- I've started to read them there. Just need to find the time to really buckle down. So I've signed up for a chess.com account, and would be interested in playing some correspondence games, if anybody would like to beat up on somebody just starting out. I've been enjoying slowly making my way through a few books I have, and some of the Chessmaster academy stuff and tactics problems, but would probably benefit from losing some more games and seeing what I'm doing wrong. My name on chess.com is McCoyPauley if anyone would be up for some games.
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Jul 11, 2013 01:57
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McNerd posted:Both of these books are online free at chesstactics.org. Absolutely fantastic; it completely changed my perspective on the game and made me love spending time on tactical puzzles. *There is apparently a second edition now with a different name "Chess tactics from Scratch", get that one instead. The older name is much better. The book lacks personality, but it has great examples. In the first edition it doesn't say which side is to play either, and that's a positive because he tends to pick positions where both sides have cute themes. Khorne fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Jul 14, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 02:35
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McCoy Pauley posted:My name on chess.com is McCoyPauley if anyone would be up for some games. challenge sent (I'm bdigia)
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Jul 11, 2013 16:29
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uh zip zoom posted:challenge sent (I'm bdigia) Accepted, thanks. This is probably a dumb question, but it makes no difference whether I make my moves through the Chess.com website or the iOS app, right?
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Jul 11, 2013 23:15
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McCoy Pauley posted:Accepted, thanks. This is probably a dumb question, but it makes no difference whether I make my moves through the Chess.com website or the iOS app, right? You can even do it through facebook if you link your accounts!
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Jul 12, 2013 00:05
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Post more games, including challenge games between goons!
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Jul 12, 2013 18:03
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JDCorley posted:Post more games, including challenge games between goons! uh zip zoom and I are playing a game now that we can post when we're done, so I can lay bare all my mistakes. Anyone else want to start up a game on chess.com?
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Jul 12, 2013 23:32
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So what's the best way to take a game from chess.com and post it here? Just paste the text of the PGN, like this? [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2013.07.13"] [White "McCoyPauley"] [Black "imyour1"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1200"] [BlackElo "954"] [TimeControl "1 in 1 day"] [Termination "McCoyPauley won by checkmate"] 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Bc4 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e5 6.Qxf7# 1-0 (I offer this only as proof of concept at posting a game. I'm not sure there's anything interesting to say about it other than it reminds me to keep track of the f7 square when I'm playing black)
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Jul 14, 2013 17:42
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I registered on Chess.com as ThomasWinwood. I'm entirely a casual player - I just enjoy playing, even when I blunder spectacularly, so I don't really care about getting rated.
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Jul 14, 2013 19:15
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Crosscontaminant posted:I registered on Chess.com as ThomasWinwood. I'm entirely a casual player - I just enjoy playing, even when I blunder spectacularly, so I don't really care about getting rated. Assuming I used the site right, I just sent you a game invite.
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Jul 14, 2013 20:21
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McCoy Pauley posted:So what's the best way to take a game from chess.com and post it here? Just paste the text of the PGN, like this? Yeah, pgn is the best. If it's a game on a public site, linking it is also appreciated since it's less effort for you than it is for us to set up the game.
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Jul 14, 2013 22:56
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Hand Knit posted:Yeah, pgn is the best. If it's a game on a public site, linking it is also appreciated since it's less effort for you than it is for us to set up the game. Thanks -- I didn't realize chess.com gave each game a unique URL (although I suppose I should have figured). That's pretty convenient.
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Jul 15, 2013 02:58
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