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[Morgrim7]

Any players? I am on Chess.com (username=Morgrim7), and am nowhere near being a master, but I'm striving hard to become one. Don't have an official FIDE rating, (never been to any official tournaments) but I love the game almost as much as Dominion.
Bet there's lots of chess players here; this place being so analytical and all.

[michaeljb]

I'm on chess.com (semanticVacancy). I have also never been to any official tournaments, but I do love the game. I just sent you a game invite

[sudgy]

I play a lot irl, but never online.  I'm somewhat good, nowhere as good as a master, but I'll usually beat most people I play.  I played someone using two card decks recently, he got my queen early (I was still getting used to what all the cards were and I moved my queen right in front of one of his pieces) but I managed to win in the end.

[michaeljb]

What is this chess with cards? Just using normal cards instead of actual chess pieces or something? (if it's that, what's the board?)

[sudgy]

What is this chess with cards? Just using normal cards instead of actual chess pieces or something? (if it's that, what's the board?)

That's what it is.  Upside down cards are blank spaces, Kings and Queens are obvious, Jacks are Bishops, 10s are Knights, Aces are Rooks, and any other number is a pawn.

[liopoil]

That's really confusing... I play chess! I'm rated 1655 USCF

[theory]

WW is a serious player.  Jack Rudd is a Master?  International Master?  Something like that.

[Morgrim7]

WW is a serious player.  Jack Rudd is a Master?  International Master?  Something like that.

Yeah, WW is on chess.com

[popsofctown]

Chess is good

[Jack Rudd]

I'm an International Master, yes. My FIDE rating is 2297 as of tomorrow.

[Drab Emordnilap]

Okay, we play a game, Jack Rudd versus everyone else.

I call Queen's Knight!

[Ozle]

Okay, we play a game, Jack Rudd versus everyone else.

I call Queen's Knight!

Im in, I'll be the little pawn in front of the Queen

CHAAAARGGGGEEEEE!
Wait, what do you mean 'En Passant', what does that mean?

[theory]

I've recently been re-listening to Waitzkin's Chessmaster commentaries.  If you want to learn chess, this is a pretty good way of doing so.  Sad that Waitzkin ended up quitting chess before reaching his maximum potential.

[shraeye]

I'm currently on a chess.com break.  I'll get back there eventually.  I'm really not all that good, but I enjoy chess.

I'll play if anyone send me an invite: noodlehead710

[zporiri]

i used to play a lot in high school and during my first couple years of college (im now a senior), but once i found isotropic about a year ago ive played chess a lot less

anyhow, my username on chess.com is zporiri, anyone and everyone cal feel free to friend me/challenge me to a game! i usually only do live, but i will happily accept any online (i think that's the other option) challenges as well.

my live chess rating peaked at 1300 year ago, and my current isotropic level is 30 and peaked at 37 in november

[Morgrim7]

e4

[liopoil]

good move!

[theory]

Should get double exclamation marks really.  That's a masterful move to which there is no known sure counter.

If you don't mind Jack Rudd, I have some questions about high-level chess I've never really understood.  What role does opening theory play at the IM/GM/super-GM level?  Can you really just force draws by your choice of opening, if that's your goal?  I ask because I see analysis that says something like "17...Be6 and here a draw was agreed in view of 2004 Kasparov-Morozevich which continued blahblahblah 1/2 - 1/2."  Those such games must be dreadfully dull.

[liopoil]

I'm not at that really high level, but I'm pretty sure that there is no opening theory so far that even the best players in the world can easily force a draw from. I've always thought that openings can give you at best a sight positional advantage if you play it right and the other player misplays it. Because of this I don't think they should be intensely studied until one is at least a Class A player... which I'm not.

1. Nh3 doesn't have a known sure counter either I don't think.

[Morgrim7]

I usually go for the Caro Kann: 1. …c6, suporting an advance of the pawn on the D file. The Sicilian is nice too.

[shraeye]

I've recently been playing Caro Kann; enjoyable.

[theory]

Some good chess reading, even if you are not super into chess:

The Diagram of the Century

[Morgrim7]

I've recently been playing Caro Kann; enjoyable.

When its played against you go for the fantasy variation.

[shraeye]

I've recently been playing Caro Kann; enjoyable.

When its played against you go for the fantasy variation.

I'm rather boring, and always play 3.e5 as white.

[Morgrim7]

I've recently been playing Caro Kann; enjoyable.

When its played against you go for the fantasy variation.

I'm rather boring, and always play 3.e5 as white.

Another pawn move? You need to develop pieces, dude

[theory]

3. e5 is not a bad move.  Though funnily enough, it's also sharper than Nc3, it seems?

[Morgrim7]

3. e5 is not a bad move.  Though funnily enough, it's also sharper than Nc3, it seems?

1. e4 ...
2. e5 yeah thats bad

[Titandrake]

I never got into chess, but I figure some people here might be interested in this comic I found a long time ago (assuming you haven't read it yet)

http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/chess/chess.html

[Reyk]

3. e5 is not a bad move.  Though funnily enough, it's also sharper than Nc3, it seems?

It's often sharper, yes. But recently the Nc3 line sees many games with heterogeneous castling and has thus become sharper and maybe more interesting.

To your theory question, theory: Currently I think top level chess is in good shape. Recently an important tournament in Wijk aan Zee ended with many interesting fighting games. Current number 1 of the rating list - Magnus Carlsen - simply plays out even positions. In some tournaments they have rules to forbid quick draw agreements.

BTW: Many thx for suggesting Hannabi here many months ago. I've picked it up at Essen because of your post. It's a great little game.

[liopoil]

I've always played 3. exd5 against the caro cann,  followed by Be3 and c3 unless black does something wierd.

[Morgrim7]

I've always played 3. exd5 against the caro cann,  followed by Be3 and c3 unless black does something wierd.

The closed Caro Kann is nice too, 3. e5 with possible support on the f-file. Oh, BTW i see what you guys were talking about above. Thought you were saying something different. Blonde moment, sorry bout that.

[theory]

omg i just won a game on instantchess.com

i feel the old rush coming back

[GendoIkari]

I was first board on my high school chess team; and we got second in the regional tournament... so I used to be pretty good. I've only played about 10 games total since high school, though...

[^_^_^_^]

I play Chess rather casually, although in low level USCF tournaments. I love facing a tough opponent that makes me think as long as that opponent isn't cocky.

[sudgy]

I think this needs to get moved to the forum games thread

[Qvist]

I think this needs to get moved to the forum games thread

If there were only a moderator who could do this...
I guess he's too busy playing games.

[theory]

Bleh, then I have to split topics and everything too.

Fine!

[sudgy]

I was kind of joking...  Oh well.

[theory]

Done.

[^_^_^_^]

Thank you oh great Administrator *bows*

[math]

I am also on chess.com, although I don't have a USCF rating.  My correspondence rating is about 1500.

[Blueswan]

Good to see some love for chess here. When I discovered Dominion a few months ago I figured that this ought to be a game that chess players would enjoy, and vice versa, given the analytic aspects of both games.

Mind you, I'm not terribly good at either game and simply do not have the time to study them properly. I don't have an official chess rating, but over the years I've deducted that it would probably be around 1600. I have a colleague who used to have a 2400 rating and was one of the best chess players in Denmark. I tried playing him - absolutely zero chance for me.

I almost always open variants of d4 and then c4 on the second move. Makes for some fairly aggressive open games, which is the playstyle I prefer.

[WanderingWinder]

Just saw this topic, happy to see it. I am not so hot, but I know several players likely stronger than anyone here (including our distinguished IM).

When last I played over the board, I was an 'A' player. I've beaten a master and drawn others a few times - if memory serves I am 1-3-4 (that'd be 3 losses, 4 draws) in my last 8 rated games against them, including one loss against an IM.

Fun fact: The U.S. Championships and U.S. Women's Championships start next Monday. I have a perfect score in rated games against the participants, in a non-zero number of such games.

I have played way more chess than I have Dominion.

Mostly I play online blitz in a number of places nowadays. I am terrible at blitz, though I'm even worse at bughouse.

My favorite variant is probably Progressive (or I think it's also called Scottish) chess, which is really zany and fun and very easy to lose in a few moves.

I'd be more than happy to play people here, however I would suspect that people just feed things into their computers over the forum, and there's really no incentive.

The Babson task is very awesome.

Probably my favorite chess puzzle ever was the first one ChessBase ever did for Christmas - sadly I cannot find the page anymore (and think it may have been taken down in one of their site re-organizations...). Anyhow, it goes like this: "A game starts 1.e4 and ends in the fifth move with knight takes rook mate. What is the rest of the game?" The story goes that some very strong players found it frustrating to solve, for months on end in some cases - including Kasparov. Others apparently learned it as children in the USSR. At any rate, I solved it one day whilst taking a shower after about a week of pretty persistent attempts (and a year or two of working on and off). Incidentally, there are MANY solutions in the sixth move, which I know because I found dozens trying to get the answer here.

[theory]

Probably my favorite chess puzzle ever was the first one ChessBase ever did for Christmas - sadly I cannot find the page anymore (and think it may have been taken down in one of their site re-organizations...). Anyhow, it goes like this: "A game starts 1.e4 and ends in the fifth move with knight takes rook mate. What is the rest of the game?" The story goes that some very strong players found it frustrating to solve, for months on end in some cases - including Kasparov. Others apparently learned it as children in the USSR. At any rate, I solved it one day whilst taking a shower after about a week of pretty persistent attempts (and a year or two of working on and off). Incidentally, there are MANY solutions in the sixth move, which I know because I found dozens trying to get the answer here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20121104031741/http://www.chessbase.com/puzzle/puzz05d.htm

[BiggerOil]

I'm rated 1871 USCF. I play mostly on ICC (Internet Chess Club) and at my local chess club. I thought I should let you all know about http://en.lichess.org/. It's a quick, easy way to get a game; you don't even have to register. You can just click "play with a friend," set the controls for the game, and copy the URL.

[magicfuck]

The 16th is a rest day, but the Norway Tournament has been great so far -- two more rounds left, with Karjakin just leading Carlsen: http://live.norwaychess.com/.

[ipofanes]

http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/chess/chess.html

"Aron Zimzowitsch" -- this guy has suffered more than enough mutilations of his name.

[Thisisnotasmile]

I've played precisely 1 game of chess since I left high school. I was pretty good back then (coming 2nd and 3rd in the year 7 and 8 chess tournaments respectively), but not exceptional. I'm not at all interested in studying openings or what have you, I just play whatever seems safe/a good move to start and see how it goes from there. A friend of mine has got a copy of For The Crown recently and I'm looking forward to giving it a go. Has anyone here played it? It seems like the ideal game for people in this thread on this forum.

[qmech]

A friend of mine has got a copy of For The Crown recently and I'm looking forward to giving it a go. Has anyone here played it? It seems like the ideal game for people in this thread on this forum.

I haven't played it, but I watched Tom Vasel's videos.  Let us know how it goes!

[UmbrageOfSnow]

I love chess but I haven't played in years.  I have far too many other hobbies and at some point it sunk in that although I might be one of the stronger players at my college, that was nothing in the real world.  At least other boardgames have comparatively little theory established.

I still love it though, find myself using chess as a metaphor for everything.  But I don't play anymore and don't know that I'll ever get back into it.

[TheMathProf]

I play fairly avidly, rated 2129 USCF and 1865  FIDE.  Doesn't pay to have your worst tournament ever as nine of your only ten FIDE rated games.

[Kirian]

I don't like to play with people who over-analyze the game and can develop strategies which can absolutely destroy you. This of course sucks all the fun out of the game.

Had to do it.

[Dsell]

I don't like to play with people who over-analyze the game and can develop strategies which can absolutely destroy you. This of course sucks all the fun out of the game.

Had to do it.

Ok I know this is sarcasm but this is a genuine barricade for me playing chess. Most (all?) of the people who I would play with are at least moderately good, good enough to beat a relative noob like me every time, and I really don't like playing games that I know (or even feel like) I have zero chance of winning. A game like Dominion has enough luck and variation that even though it strongly rewards skilled play, luck can give a newbie an occasional win or at least make it a close game.

Now, this is enough to keep me from wanting to play casually every now and then, but I have been tempted to dive into the game and try to learn. I don't mind playing and losing game after game if I am learning from each one (and since I have a rather obsessive personality, learning from outside research as well ), but until then if I'm picking an evening game, it will never be chess because, yeah, feeling helplessly outmatched kinda sucks the fun out of it for me.

[ipofanes]

I don't like to play with people who over-analyze the game and can develop strategies which can absolutely destroy you. This of course sucks all the fun out of the game.

Had to do it.

Ok I know this is sarcasm but this is a genuine barricade for me playing chess. Most (all?) of the people who I would play with are at least moderately good, good enough to beat a relative noob like me every time, and I really don't like playing games that I know (or even feel like) I have zero chance of winning. A game like Dominion has enough luck and variation that even though it strongly rewards skilled play, luck can give a newbie an occasional win or at least make it a close game.

Now, this is enough to keep me from wanting to play casually every now and then, but I have been tempted to dive into the game and try to learn. I don't mind playing and losing game after game if I am learning from each one (and since I have a rather obsessive personality, learning from outside research as well ), but until then if I'm picking an evening game, it will never be chess because, yeah, feeling helplessly outmatched kinda sucks the fun out of it for me.

Not meaning to beat a dead horse, but maybe Go is for you. Different board sizes and handicap rules work wonders towards matching vastly differently skilled players.

[Dsell]

I don't like to play with people who over-analyze the game and can develop strategies which can absolutely destroy you. This of course sucks all the fun out of the game.

Had to do it.

Ok I know this is sarcasm but this is a genuine barricade for me playing chess. Most (all?) of the people who I would play with are at least moderately good, good enough to beat a relative noob like me every time, and I really don't like playing games that I know (or even feel like) I have zero chance of winning. A game like Dominion has enough luck and variation that even though it strongly rewards skilled play, luck can give a newbie an occasional win or at least make it a close game.

Now, this is enough to keep me from wanting to play casually every now and then, but I have been tempted to dive into the game and try to learn. I don't mind playing and losing game after game if I am learning from each one (and since I have a rather obsessive personality, learning from outside research as well ), but until then if I'm picking an evening game, it will never be chess because, yeah, feeling helplessly outmatched kinda sucks the fun out of it for me.

Not meaning to beat a dead horse, but maybe Go is for you. Different board sizes and handicap rules work wonders towards matching vastly differently skilled players.

I will check it out! I've heard a lot of great things, naturally, but I've never played.

[popsofctown]

Time to stop playing this, I heard the sequel is coming out.

[sudgy]

Time to stop playing this, I heard the sequel is coming out.

...

[ipofanes]

Time to stop playing this, I heard the sequel is coming out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960 ?

[popsofctown]

Fischer random is the dominionification of chess.  E. g., awesome

[Cintrari]

There was a point in my life that I was president of my high school chess club. It was kind of a joke - at least I played it off like that, but truth be told, I just reallllly loved playing. I still dabble from time to time and definitely take on any opponent who offers a game. Chess.com here I come.

[sudgy]

There was a point in my life that I was president of my high school chess club. It was kind of a joke - at least I played it off like that, but truth be told, I just reallllly loved playing. I still dabble from time to time and definitely take on any opponent who offers a game. Chess.com here I come.

Welcome to the forums!

[Seprix]

My username on lichess is 'Seprix'. I've been playing a lot more chess lately.

[Jack Rudd]

I've just been working at a tournament where a controversy arose. The atmosphere got very strange on the last day.

[Kirian]

Workino at a chess tournament actually sounds kinda cool.  Are you normally in Gibraltar, Jack?

[Jack Rudd]

Workino at a chess tournament actually sounds kinda cool.  Are you normally in Gibraltar, Jack?

I've been a game-inputter at that tournament a few times now. Never go there for any other reason.

[Jack Rudd]

This week is in some sense going to see one of my biggest achievements as an arbiter: getting to arbit at the FIDE Grand Swiss, a qualifier for the Candidates' tournament. Although in terms of actual arbiting difficulty, it'll probably be easier than some random weekender.

On the playing front, I've had a good year, and now have a rating of 2330 - my first rating over 2300 since 2013.