The chess thread

[Lord Antares]

Any chess players out there? Any officially rated? Titled?

Anyone wants to play in between ourselves?

Discuss tournaments, news, etc.

 

This is the general chess thread.

[Crimson Griffin]

Hi, I am just wondering, what are some strategy methods for playing chess as a beginner?

Thanks

[Lord Antares]

There are LOTS and LOTS of resources for you to learn from. Never underestimate how much skill chess takes.

I myself started learning from a channel on youtube called Chess Network. I am at work so I won't search for it but just type it in the search bar. He's called Jerry, he's a national master and his channel is focused more on beginners than other players.

 

Look through his beginner series and analyses of his own games from some years ago. You will probably find that of much use. Watching those videos is when chess really ''clicked'' to me.

 

Also, when you learn the basics of strategy, you will need to know how to open up your game. Thechesswebsite channel on youtube teaches the basics of openings.

Another thing that helped me IMMENSELY was Joshua Waitzkin's training mode in the Chess Master program.

 

I hope that helps.

[DrP]

I like that Jerry from Chessnetwork too - he is funny and seems like a nice guy. Humble with his talents too - I sometimes watch him in those blitz tournaments and he rarely looses.

 

I also like watching reviews of old games by Mateo Jelic... he whips though games in 5 or 10 mins and keeps it interesting.

 

I am currently really struggling to beat Magnus Carlson aged 10 on his Play Magnus app... SO frustrating. 9 years old was hard, but age 10 is a step up and he kills me every time... might have to start using the take back and suggestion options just to get a win. Maybe I am just that rubbish at chess - lol.

[Lord Antares]

Jerry is the most entertaining personality of them all, but I stopped watching his videos because he only plays low-rated opponents. He NEVER plays anyone close to his level so the level of tension in his games is nigh zero. I think he reached 4000+ rating on some chess site (which might be a record) because he only played patzers. That's ridiculous.

 

I like watching Chessexplained's blitz videos the best because he posts all of his games and he plays in the auto-pairing pool (which means he gets opponents similar to his rating).

 

Being rubbish at chess is a really, really relative term. It doesn't mean anything on its own.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Jerry is the most entertaining personality of them all, but I stopped watching his videos because he only plays low-rated opponents. He NEVER plays anyone close to his level so the level of tension in his games is nigh zero. I think he reached 4000+ rating on some chess site (which might be a record) because he only played patzers. That's ridiculous.

 

I like watching Chessexplained's blitz videos the best because he posts all of his games and he plays in the auto-pairing pool (which means he gets opponents similar to his rating).

 

Being rubbish at chess is a really, really relative term. It doesn't mean anything on its own.

I once played a very highly ranked (later grandmaster) chess player. We played blitz (speed chess with 5 minute on each clock) for almost two hours at a small party while my brother and a couple friends engaged him in conversation (we were a team, they were trying to distract him). He paid no attention, none whatsoever, to the board when it was my turn to move. He beat me every game. I am not sure he ever used more than 2 minutes on his clock, and much of that was to stop for some good natured ribbing me on my latest move...or pouring himself another glass of vodka...I was fully concentrating and only sipping a couple beers...

 

We were absolutely convinced that I (we) could win just 1 game in the state he was in...but notta

Edited February 10, 2017 by J.C.MacSwell

[Lord Antares]

Grandmadsters (or close to when you were playing him) are really good at playing chess purely on instinct. That's why they are so good at bullet chess. I couldn't rationalize my moves in a 1 minute game, but they seem to be able to calculate and play decent moves at approximately 1 move/second which is beyond my comprehension.

 

This has less to do with brainpower and more to do with simple experienced. They have gotten such a solid feel for the game through experience that they can play moves which makes sense without thinking about them at all.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Grandmadsters (or close to when you were playing him) are really good at playing chess purely on instinct. That's why they are so good at bullet chess. I couldn't rationalize my moves in a 1 minute game, but they seem to be able to calculate and play decent moves at approximately 1 move/second which is beyond my comprehension.

 

This has less to do with brainpower and more to do with simple experienced. They have gotten such a solid feel for the game through experience that they can play moves which makes sense without thinking about them at all.

LOL. If there ever was a player that deserved that title...it was him..he was quite a character. He was actually ranked higher than most grandmasters (he had beaten Karpov some years previous while Karpov was reigning World Champion) but I think for political reasons (he had defected...chased by the KGB down the airport runway during an unplanned fuel stop) had not received it.

 

But you are right he could recognize and understand the patterns on the board pretty much instantly and better than I could taking much more time to analyze it. He would scoff at my moves and berate me for any attempt at a cheap trick...then back to scoffing at my brother and friends who were challenging him in some philosophical conversation...very entertaining

[Lord Antares]

LOL. If there ever was a player that deserved that title...it was him..he was quite a character. He was actually ranked higher than most grandmasters (he had beaten Karpov some years previous while Karpov was reigning World Champion) but I think for political reasons (he had defected...chased by the KGB down the airport runway during an unplanned fuel stop) had not received it.

 

 

Are you sure about this? Are you sure he's not...lying?

I should have heard of him if he was among the higher rated people and if he beat Karpov.

Also, I don't see what these political reasons have to do with him not receiving the grandmaster title. FIDE is an international organization unconcerned with politics of a particular country. Also, the GM title is achieved by meeting certain standards and ratings. I don't see how anything could have interfered with him getting the title.

 

Don't know about the KGB chasing him...

[J.C.MacSwell]

 

Are you sure about this? Are you sure he's not...lying?

I should have heard of him if he was among the higher rated people and if he beat Karpov.

Also, I don't see what these political reasons have to do with him not receiving the grandmaster title. FIDE is an international organization unconcerned with politics of a particular country. Also, the GM title is achieved by meeting certain standards and ratings. I don't see how anything could have interfered with him getting the title.

 

Don't know about the KGB chasing him...

 

True story. (Igor Ivanov)

 

"In 1980, he became even more famous for defecting in a dramatic way. He was sent as a member of a Soviet delegation to play chess at the José Raúl Capablanca Memorial tournament in Havana, Cuba. On what was supposed to have been a direct flight home to Moscow, the airplane, a Czechoslovak airliner, had to make an emergency refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. Ivanov, seizing his chance, ran from the plane with only what he was wearing and his pocket chess set, while chased by KGB agents."

 

 

"Although he was clearly a player of grandmaster strength, he did not actually receive the title until the last year of his life, 2005. This delay was caused mainly by bookkeeping issues, and by the Soviet federation refusing to recognize his earlier achievements after he defected."

 

Quoted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Ivanov_(chess_player)

 

 

He actually never mentioned Karpov or the KGB. I had already heard a few stories prior to this so I knew who he was, and everyone there, other than our group trying to beat him, knew him very well. We had a friend there that was running a top level tournament in Saint John, N.B. and we met up with them, went up to a hotel room had a few drinks and played blitz. (3 or 4 boards set up).

 

Igor was actually not the top guy in the room...There was at least 1 (American) GM there, who I think was top 10 in the World at the time (late eighties). He was very focused and a real gentleman. He had beaten Korchnoi...and me earlier that day...this was prior to the tournament and he was doing a demonstration playing 20 to 30 boards at once against the general public... I will see if you know or can guess who he is...

Edited February 11, 2017 by J.C.MacSwell

[Lord Antares]

I really can't think of anyone other than Yasser Seirawan. He beat Korchnoi and he was a strong GM for sure.

I did some searches and I didn't find anyone else who fits the description.

 

Wow, that story about Ivanov. I really don't know how his title could have been inhibited by politics. It happened to Nezhmetdinov, for example, but that was in the 40s (or 50s). GM is supposed to be an international title. Strange.

 

Anyway, I find this quote funny:

 

 

 

He had beaten Korchnoi...and me earlier that day...

 

So not only did he beat Korchnoi, but he also beat you

[J.C.MacSwell]

I really can't think of anyone other than Yasser Seirawan. He beat Korchnoi and he was a strong GM for sure.

I did some searches and I didn't find anyone else who fits the description.

 

Wow, that story about Ivanov. I really don't know how his title could have been inhibited by politics. It happened to Nezhmetdinov, for example, but that was in the 40s (or 50s). GM is supposed to be an international title. Strange.

 

Anyway, I find this quote funny:

 

 

 

So not only did he beat Korchnoi, but he also beat you

Yes...so Korchnoi and I have that in commom...

 

Korchnoi of course did not have the distraction of Yasser also playing 20 some other boards all around him in an open public setting...so no excuses for him...

 

But you guessed correctly +1.

[Lord Antares]

Oh, wow. He is somewhat of a celebrity so it's cool that you've met him. I like him. He's very calm.

 

On a side note, I've taken a picture with Kasparov. Some of my friends (well, acquitances) played him in a simul while I wacthed. He's a beast.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Oh, wow. He is somewhat of a celebrity so it's cool that you've met him. I like him. He's very calm.

 

On a side note, I've taken a picture with Kasparov. Some of my friends (well, acquitances) played him in a simul while I wacthed. He's a beast.

That's neat. A funny thing about chess is you can be very competitive and serious at whatever level but it can be fun to get beaten...badly. My friend, the one who was organizing the tournament in Saint John, used to pound me in blitz all the time. We were never close in strength so it was always blitz or some short game with a clock handicap (he preferred not to give up pieces...even though he could have). His hands were so fast that he would sometimes put very little time on his clock and still win. Every so often (OK, rarely but we played a lot) I might get into a winning position but my flag would fall first.

Edited February 11, 2017 by J.C.MacSwell

[Lord Antares]

Don't know what to reply to that, other than it's pretty much how any game works. You gain experience and you are faster at everything you do. There is also muscle memory involved in moving the pieces, although Magnus Carlsen might not have much of that memory

By the way, here's a fun thing we can do on this thread.

I leave this link here:

 

https://lichess.org/TkIM0Hwb

 

This is an invitation to a game of chess. I chose 10+0 minutes as I don't know everyone's preferred time control. It guess it's in the middle of pandering to people who like longer time controls and people who like blitz.

Anyway, this invitation stands while I have the tab open. If I close my browser, it goes down. Anyone can join the game by clicking on the link. If you click on the link after someone else has accepted the challenge, you either get to spectate or you get an error message.

 

GL everyone.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Thanks for the games LA

[Lord Antares]

Good games, whoever it was. I assume it was MacSwell but you didn't answer any of my dozen messages in the chat. And why did you resign the first game? That wasn't resignable.

 

EDIT: So it was you. Might have been polite to say hi

Edited February 11, 2017 by Lord Antares

[J.C.MacSwell]

Good games, whoever it was. I assume it was MacSwell but you didn't answer any of my dozen messages in the chat. And why did you resign the first game? That wasn't resignable.

 

EDIT: So it was you. Might have been polite to say hi

Sorry. Was not familiar with the site...did not see any chat...other than me clicking good game after you beat me...trying to remember the first game...you were up on both time and position most of the time in all 3

 

Now you have something in common with Igor...and Yasser

Edited February 11, 2017 by J.C.MacSwell

[Lord Antares]

There is a big chatbox on the left side. You must have seen it, because the ''good game'' button is IN the chat area. If not, then chat might be disabled for you or something, but it should be on by default.

 

The position I was referring to is this: (this is where you resigned)

 

 

I deliberately didn't crop the sides of the image so you can see the chat. Did you not see this on the left side? The last question (''why?'') was in response to you resigning.

 

Anyways, I don't think you're worse at all here. In fact, I believe I am worse! It was your move, and after you take my pawn on a7, the material is equal but you have a dangerous passed a-pawn, which, I believe, gives you better prospects in this endgame. I also probably need to spend a move on h6 or g6 not to have back-rank issues. Time is another thing sure, but this was definitely not resignable.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Thanks LA. I didn't see it on there. Did you make any comments in games 2 or 3? After game 2 was the first I noticed the chat area and it was empty until I clicked good game and thankyou.

[Lord Antares]

I just asked you why you resigned in game 2 and you know, gg and see ya.

The chat resets every game so that's why it was empty after game 2.

 

Anyway, the only advice I can give you is not to resign until it's really bad. Game 3 wasn't resignable either. Sure, I stood somewhat better at the point of resignation but there was still much to fight for.

[Lord Antares]

By the way guys, my friend and I were discussing beer and chess. We both noticed that we play better when we have some beer. We agreed the magic number to be exactly 2 beers (so 1 l, not 0.66 l). I would consistently get better results when playing online. My thoughts would be clearer and more straighforward. I wouldn't have as many doubts nor would I hesitate as much when choosing a move. My thoughts seem to flow more clearly.

 

He has some evidence as well. He beat a GM twice in a row online after having two beers. He had never beaten a GM before that.

Alexander Alekhine seemed to agree with us as he reportedly always drank a shot of whiskey before each game. He was also allegedly drunk throughout the 1935 Alekhine-Euwe WC match.

 

We intend to test that hypothesis in an upcoming tournament in March.

 

I posted this on Reddit chess some time ago and 2 people linked a research that says that programmers in general work best after having drunk some beer (depends on body weight, but 2 beers is a good estimate). Can anyone verify that?

[DrKrettin]

 

I posted this on Reddit chess some time ago and 2 people linked a research that says that programmers in general work best after having drunk some beer (depends on body weight, but 2 beers is a good estimate). Can anyone verify that?

 

I used to program computers, until I decided to try and get a life, and I can confirm the same impression. In the same vein, I use to play a lot of bridge and always tried to have a couple of beers before starting a tournament. I'm not sure it improved my play (I think it did) but it made me realise it was only a game, something bridge players forget, and I enjoyed the evening much more.

 

Edit: off-topic perhaps, but I know that I can play bridge even when I am so drunk I have difficulty remembering the name of my partner and I can't easily stay sat on my chair. My friends have commented that they are amazed that this has no effect on the quality of my play (which is not bad)

Edited February 13, 2017 by DrKrettin

[Lord Antares]

This is actually not unique to you. Grandnasters can regularly play well and beat you even if they are very drunk. It's because they are at the stage of knowing the game so well that they don't even think about the moves.They have a natural feel for the position and they are familiar with a lot of the tactics so not much calculation is required. That's why they can play blindfolded as well.

 

Alekhine was a drunk and he was a world champion up until he died, so it clearly can't be that bad in any case.

 

There is an IM who plays at llocal tournamets. He's known to come and play moderately drunk but it doesn't seem to affect his play.

 

And do you really think programming computers is useless?

Edited February 13, 2017 by Lord Antares

[DrKrettin]

And do you really think programming computers is useless?

 

Certainly not, if it means something to you. But for me it depended on the usefulness of the application and what it was doing to my head. I found that working at it for 8 hours resulted in an inability to feel normal the rest of the time, and it was preventing me from doing all kinds of other things I wanted to do. Other people did not have this problem - each to his own.

 

By the way - the question of beer and chess opens up the question of how alcohol affects the brain. I don't often get drunk, but when I do it is usually a social situation when I'm playing cards or chess. I have noticed that alcohol has little effect on logical exercises - I remember once hardly being able to hold a pencil yet still able to perform logical exercises. I find this a bit surprising.