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As I've settled into the 2k+ puzzle range, the three "tricks" I've learned are: 1. It (almost) never starts with a Queen trade 2. If the first move is a super obvious way to win a piece (like a one-mover fork), taking the piece is almost never right (because it's a mating pattern) 3a. When you're really and truly stuck after a minute, the answer is probably either a sacrifice you assumed was unsound or ... 3b. So many puzzles focus on winning material on the move your brain sticks there, but later on a lot of solutions start with threatening M1, and them having to give up material to defend.
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Feb 15, 2024 16:51
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Huxley posted:As I've settled into the 2k+ puzzle range, the three "tricks" I've learned are: Yeah the last ones are often the ones I find the trickiest because they typically never look like they do anything on their own - they create a threat that seems trivial to defend so my brain just moves on but it turns out the position created by defending the threat is advantageous for me. Learning to look out for moves that are forcing is a good puzzle tactic since a lot of puzzles are built around "if they do anything other than this one move they instantly lose, so what can you do with that" The Cheshire Cat fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Feb 15, 2024 |
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Feb 15, 2024 17:02
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Huxley posted:As I've settled into the 2k+ puzzle range, the three "tricks" I've learned are: Unless its a trick that it looks like you can't take it without getting mated, but you have to find the clever defense.
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Feb 15, 2024 17:47
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And it's still so easy to miss your own advice! Here's a good example of the ones that get me, which I just got wrong: https://lichess.org/training/mZR7T Knight hanging 3 different ways. Is it safe to take or does taking it hang mate? Nope. OK, pawn takes is probably wrong. Queen takes hits the Rook but he just moves it. So Bishop takes, Rb8 Qd6 traps it, Rb7 bishop takes bishop takes Qxd7 and I've got a pawn, a Knight, and an exchange. GO! WRONG: Queen takes threatens Qxh7# and wins the Rook outright. e: I've been playing chess for almost exactly 1 year. I've bought books, courses, studied, done around 3k puzzles between both sites and books. And as far as I can tell the best way to get better is to do something so flabbergastingly stupid, and get so mad about it, that you never do it again. Then repeat that process 10,000 times. Huxley fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Feb 15, 2024 |
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Feb 15, 2024 17:55
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Another puzzle trick is to count the material. In that puzzle position Black is up a minor piece. So taking the knight only equalizes, the solution must be to at least win another piece on top. I don't think I've seen puzzles where the solution is only to win a pawn or exchange unless it's endgame (or sometimes like rook+knight for pawn+queen.) Maybe you see such minor advantages as solutions in the upper 2000s.
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Feb 16, 2024 02:08
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The one piece of advice I'd tell mypast self to get 2.2k+ puzzles is just really take your time looking at everything. I put down chess for a while but getting back into it. Now 700 blitzz chesscom and 1100 blitz lichess. This is coming from 300 / 700, feeling good! Unless I lose due to a blunder, then I just get really goddamn angry! (like irrationally angry, rly wish I didn't)
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Feb 16, 2024 08:46
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Bruce Hussein Daddy posted:Good one from reddit. White to mate in 2 So if it is RG6, then he does h3, how is the next move mate? What am I missing here? Edited to fix dumb autocorrect Sataere fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Feb 16, 2024 |
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Feb 16, 2024 20:30
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Sataere posted:So if it is RG6, then he, how is the next move mate? What am I missing here? All possible continuations: 1. ... hxg6 2. Qh3# 1. ... h6 2. Rxh6# 1. ... R(anything) 2. Qxh7# An important detail for the second continuation is that the pawn is pinned.
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Feb 16, 2024 20:42
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Arrhythmia posted:All possible continuations: I read g6 as g3 and was so confused. Makes way more sense now.
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Feb 16, 2024 21:27
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Bruce Hussein Daddy posted:Good one from reddit. White to mate in 2 Oh hey I had a similar position in a blitz game a couple years ago.  Having a rook on g7 instead of a pawn changes things a bit though. I missed the solution in time pressure and just went 1. Rxg7 Rxg7 2. e5 and then black flagged
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Feb 17, 2024 07:24
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Black is in zugzwang, no? h4 and any black move results in mate in 1 as far as I can tell E: wait I'm wrong. It's a tricky one
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Feb 17, 2024 07:36
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Dawning Horror posted:Oh hey I had a similar position in a blitz game a couple years ago. i'm gonna be completely real here: in any actual game I would not even look for mate here, i would just push the e pawn until it made me win
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Feb 17, 2024 07:44
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Yeah under that kind of time pressure, if you don't immediately spot a forced mating sequence then it's better to just simplify and promote for an easy win. Trying to get too clever might result in you burning a lot of time to find a mate that isn't actually there, or thinking you've found one and then it turns out it doesn't work and having to push with even less time.
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Feb 17, 2024 07:58
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cock hero flux posted:i'm gonna be completely real here: in any actual game I would not even look for mate here, i would just push the e pawn until it made me win 100% same, that's why I'm at 2500 in puzzles and 1300s in blitz
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Feb 17, 2024 08:00
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okay so it's.... Rg5 if the back rook moves, Qxg7# h5 Rxh5# h6 Rg6 and now we're in the same position except h5 Rh6#
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Feb 17, 2024 13:55
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silvergoose posted:okay so it's.... ooh I didn't see Rg5 h6 Rg6, that's nice I figured e5, black's only move is h5/h6, Q(x)h6+ Rh7, Rxg8+ Kxg8 and we just play out the advantage (Q+3P vs R)
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Feb 17, 2024 15:15
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silvergoose posted:okay so it's.... Yep! Well, any move that keeps the rook on the g file and the queen where it is will solve for M3. Yours is the most accurate though since it only gives black one move that isn't M1.
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Feb 17, 2024 20:50
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Never seen this mate before (source)
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Feb 19, 2024 03:40
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fisting by many posted:Never seen this mate before (source) Aman does that a lot when people dont resign and it is funny every single time
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Feb 19, 2024 14:54
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https://lichess.org/training/FkjNY Man this one took me a little while to work out but very satisfying. I could see the essential elements of it almost right away but it took some study to figure out the right sequence in which to do things.  White to move Zwabu fucked around with this message at 09:38 on Feb 20, 2024 |
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Feb 20, 2024 09:32
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Gonna guess 1. Bd6 into 2. Rh3, with 1...e5 as the move that keeps black alive the longest by preventing Rh3 but loses the queen E: oh the king can still escape but black is hosed regardless Control Volume fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Feb 20, 2024 |
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Feb 20, 2024 15:57
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Control Volume posted:Gonna guess 1. Bd6 into 2. Rh3, with 1...e5 as the move that keeps black alive the longest by preventing Rh3 but loses the queen Your solution is correct. In the puzzle Black takes the bishop sac and moved the King, which saves mate but the Queen is lost to a knight fork.
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Feb 20, 2024 21:30
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More embarrassment posting: I think this is the game that finally convinced me the, "do not bother with openings until you are X Elo," people are actually right. I love openings and knowing my stuff 10 moves in gives me a lot of confidence. But so many of my games go this way. https://lichess.org/h0Q0vToUURAQ Move 10, material is equal and I'm in great shape (computer says +4).  12 moves later material is still equal. All I've done is "Rooks to the center, push pawns in front of their King" and I'm –5 and down 90 seconds in a 3+2.  I blunder a few times from here on just trying not to flag and lose because it's Blitz and that's how it goes. But those 12 middle-game moves where I clearly spent some time thinking about the position and no material was exchanged—just every move was an inaccuracy or a mistake. Like, yes of course that's what needs fixing.
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Feb 23, 2024 15:21
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Huxley posted:More embarrassment posting: I think this is the game that finally convinced me the, "do not bother with openings until you are X Elo," people are actually right. I love openings and knowing my stuff 10 moves in gives me a lot of confidence. But so many of my games go this way. The best thing I did for my Elo was basically abandoning learning opening theory (while telling myself this is not the same as abandoning opening principles - ChessBrah's "Building Habits" series is good for this sort of thing) and using my time to instead learn about tactics and obsessively drilling them via puzzles. In most games (at my Elo anyway) I was basically out of opening prep by like the third or fourth move and it was spotting tactics in the middle game that usually got me the edge and allowed me to eke out wins from completely losing positions etc. I'd highly recommend it to everyone
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Feb 23, 2024 15:37
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Yeah, I think those videos are where my general strategy idea of "Rooks in, Pawns forward" came from, though here it just didn't work. I need a better idea of HOW to push them on the sides so I don't just get locked out over there. Also I think the lesson from this middle game was, "if they're not castled and you are, it's OK to just belligerently destroy the center." The best move for like, 5 straight moves after that first screenshot was e5, and I never even considered it. I wanted those Kside pawns rolling. But that didn't get me anywhere and my Queen ended up getting bullied around by his own pawns where all mine did were get blockaded.
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Feb 23, 2024 18:07
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Your ranking in rapid is 200 points higher than in blitz, and your blitz ranking is 30 points higher than in bullet, and IMO that suggests to me that you should play more rapid and take your time thinking during the midgame. Having a good opening is great for giving yourself a bit more time to play of course, but IMO if you are trying to rip through a midgame in 2 or 3 minutes you don't have time to calculate what tends to be a ton of different possibilities, at least for an open game. Maybe another option would be to use openings that lead to closed midgames to limit the number of move options you have, which in turn means fewer lines to calculate? You're a bit higher ELO than me though so what the gently caress do I know lol
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Feb 23, 2024 20:04
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i don't think you should stop caring about openings (i mean sure, don't focus on obscure sidelines), instead you should make sure that in addition to learning the lines you also learn the overall theme of the opening and how you're hoping to set up for the middle game. you've got a lead on development, space, and king safety, that's not worthless the boost in elo i saw from learning a few openings was less from the lines and more from understanding which squares were important in certain structures, and what general situations i should be looking to begin a flank attack, open up the center, or preparing for a positional battle also, highly subjective, but i've never gotten better at theory in blitz, all of my improvement in theory comes from rapid and trickles down into my blitz games. i find that i have to build pattern recognition in deliberate rapid play, only once i've internalized it to some extent do i see the benefits in blitz
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Feb 23, 2024 21:18
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I play blitz because I can play more games that way.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:21
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i mostly play blitz too, i just don't expect to get any better while doing so
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Feb 23, 2024 21:27
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i'm at 1300 and the only openings i've learned are scotch game and accelerated panov attack, which I learned by doing them accidentally and then noticing that chess.com had a name for them every time i've tried to learn an opening I reach the end of the book moves and blunder immediately because i've just been following a rote series of moves instead of actually thinking about the game or position so i just gave up on that at some point GhostofJohnMuir posted:i mostly play blitz too, i just don't expect to get any better while doing so i went from 300 to 1300 doing blitz only, there's really no reason you can't get better. honestly i'd say it might be better because you play more games and you have to develop an intuition for moves since you can't think too long
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Feb 23, 2024 21:28
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Yeah I think that at lower skill levels, if you are going to learn an opening, just memorizing the correct moves to make isn't going to do you much good because if you don't know what the point is you'll likely blow it as soon as you're out of book moves. It's better to learn the general idea behind why those moves are being made - figure out what the objective of the opening is and then you'll have a better sense of what you should be doing when your opponent does something that wasn't part of the original plan. It's also a good idea to stay away from tricky/trappy openings because while they do give you a big advantage if the opponent falls for them, which at lower elo they often will, they tend to put you in a bad position if they know the trick and play the correct response, and you need strong fundamentals to be able to play your way back out of that hole, which you probably won't have if you've been relying on traps to rack up a lot of quick wins.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:34
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Did Hand Knit quit playing chess or something?
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Feb 23, 2024 21:38
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Hand Knit hasn't posted on the forums since July, so he's on a break from the forums or something. I haven't got any additional info about what might be going on, and I don't want to pry, so it's probably best to leave it at that unless he decides to stop by to say more.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:44
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Ok. I remembered he used to post in this thread all the time. Hope all is okay with him.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:57
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At low Elos absolutely learn openings if you want to understand how to brutally punish an opening mistake three moves deep however the chances you will be able to do this are few and far between and it is the opinion of many, many top chess players that your time is far, far better off spent drilling tactics and trying to understand the basic principles and ideas behind them etc. Your opponent will usually (always) blunder in the middle game which will give you the chance to recognise patterns and pounce but if the cutting edge of your chess prowess is reliant on your opponent making one of a few specific blunders in the early game then you're going to have a disappointing time Of course if the reason you play chess is because you enjoy learning opening theory then by all means go ahead
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Feb 23, 2024 21:57
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Hand Knit has recent games on lichess so at least we can say their reanimated corpse is still playing chess.
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Feb 23, 2024 22:15
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[quote="multistability" post="537969449"] if the cutting edge of your chess prowess is reliant on your opponent making one of a few specific blunders in the early game then you're going to have a disappointing time /quote] Flip side is that it can be very important not for you to make one of a few specific blunders in the early game, or at least to know how to get to move 10 without being down too much positionally.
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Feb 23, 2024 22:18
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The best reason to get better at chess is to stop playing people who try to scholar's mate you.
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Feb 23, 2024 22:22
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The Cheshire Cat posted:Yeah I think that at lower skill levels, if you are going to learn an opening, just memorizing the correct moves to make isn't going to do you much good because if you don't know what the point is you'll likely blow it as soon as you're out of book moves. It's better to learn the general idea behind why those moves are being made - figure out what the objective of the opening is and then you'll have a better sense of what you should be doing when your opponent does something that wasn't part of the original plan. this is actually why I love the accelerated panov attack: it's a response to the caro-kann that is technically sound but which nobody ever teaches. At the kind of elo range I'm at I see a lot of caro-kann players because it's a popular youtube opening or whatever and they all seem to have memorized all the common lines to a substantial depth, but the instant you force them out of what they know they flounder immediately.
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Feb 23, 2024 22:36
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for what it's worth, i don't think huxley really dropped any tactics until fairly deep in the game, so not necessarily a case of "do more puzzles until you stop hanging pieces". i know the computer (understandably) flags centralizing the rook and allowing black to castle, but i think it's honestly not the move i'd focus on, but the follow-up moves f3 and g4. you've brought all this fire power into the center, literally all of your major and minor pieces are staring at d5 and e5 and you've prevented your opponent from doing the same. so why begin focusing on the part of the board none of your pieces are looking at? this is were learning more about the common structures of your opening is really helpful. nothing to detailed, just along the lines of "if i win the center i should probably tear it open"/ "i can't let them get a pawn to this square"/"if they castle early i can start an attack"
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Feb 23, 2024 22:48
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