The CHESS Thread

[SchachMundialECapital]

So awesome. In other news, Magnus is on fire right now. And Hans needs professional help. And Kramnik is not it.

agreed on all 3 points

 

[LA Guy]

This was a fairly unusual game (against a bot) in that I sacked everything to get the checkmate. Honestly, I did not calculate at all, but had a pretty good idea that it would work and that the main thing was to just go fast, and make sure that black had no time to do anything. Usually, I don't play this way, and frankly. it was slightly disconcerting to just toss pieces, but I am fairly proud of finding the moves in the right order and never letting up the attack. I am trying to play the London or the Jobava London, just it just transposes to something where I am on my own fairly early on, both against humans and bots:

 

[SchachMundialECapital]

I don't know what your rating is, but that attack looked well executed for a 1800 player or thereabouts. Probably a bit unsound with the g4 idea to begin with.

 

[LA Guy]

I don't know what your rating is, but that attack looked well executed for a 1800 player or thereabouts. Probably a bit unsound with the g4 idea to begin with.

Thanks. You overestimated my strength my a couple of hundred, so thanks. The g4 idea shows, I think, that I’ve been trained by the engine. I go through all my game reviews, and moves like g4 and f3 turn up as the best move way more than I might have thought based on lessons and general principles. I don’t remember if that was the best move in the position, and I’ll check and report back tomorrow, but I’m fairly sure from just having looked at the review once, that it was considered an “excellent” move at least. I wonder how many noobies (I’ve learned the rules about a year and a half ago now) play differently from noobs of an earlier time when engine analysis were not as prevalent. I also wonder how much of that feeds Kramnik’s paranoia. It’s not that players find really hard moves. It’s that they’ve played the engine move so often in online games that what was once considered stage has become nearly instinctive. Would love to hear your thoughts on how the easy access to engines and nearly unlimited practice opportunities has changed the game.

 

[SchachMundialECapital]

Thanks. You overestimated my strength my a couple of hundred, so thanks. The g4 idea shows, I think, that I’ve been trained by the engine. I go through all my game reviews, and moves like g4 and f3 turn up as the best move way more than I might have thought based on lessons and general principles. I don’t remember if that was the best move in the position, and I’ll check and report back tomorrow, but I’m fairly sure from just having looked at the review once, that it was considered an “excellent” move at least. I wonder how many noobies (I’ve learned the rules about a year and a half ago now) play differently from noobs of an earlier time when engine analysis were not as prevalent. I also wonder how much of that feeds Kramnik’s paranoia. It’s not that players find really hard moves. It’s that they’ve played the engine move so often in online games that what was once considered stage has become nearly instinctive. Would love to hear your thoughts on how the easy access to engines and nearly unlimited practice opportunities has changed the game.

Oh my goodness, I am sorry for not monitoring this thread too closely!

Well, I cannot comment so much on this phenomenon, because I started playing serious OTB events only in 2008, when the engine Rybka was already much stronger than the top human players. In a sense, opening prep has been influenced tremendously by modern engines (Stockfish and Leela being the primary drivers of this innovation).
I would agree that the Indian school of chess, the one that creates GMs almost monthly nowadays, has been at the forefront of incorporating machine-like calculation and precision. The game has changed tremendously since Kramnik defeated Kasparov in the infamous Berlin Wall match!

 

[double00]

the computer claims white makes a blunder . what say you ? can you find it :

 

[LA Guy]

Oh my goodness, I am sorry for not monitoring this thread too closely!

Well, I cannot comment so much on this phenomenon, because I started playing serious OTB events only in 2008, when the engine Rybka was already much stronger than the top human players. In a sense, opening prep has been influenced tremendously by modern engines (Stockfish and Leela being the primary drivers of this innovation).
I would agree that the Indian school of chess, the one that creates GMs almost monthly nowadays, has been at the forefront of incorporating machine-like calculation and precision. The game has changed tremendously since Kramnik defeated Kasparov in the infamous Berlin Wall match!

It was nice to see Ding win last night. Thoughts on how the series will go?

 

[SchachMundialECapital]

Expecting Gukesh to win the match, but not without a fight, as the first game showed.

 

[double00]

KILLER INSTINCT

 

[double00]

KILLER INSTINCT . this is a gnarly checkmate . computer says I won by move 8 and I didn't miss :

 

[LA Guy]

KILLER INSTINCT . this is a gnarly checkmate . computer says I won by move 8 and I didn't miss :

View attachment 2292673

Huh, black nearly played the black version of the Fool's Mate (1. f3, 2. g4)

 

[double00]

Huh, black nearly played the black version of the Fool's Mate (1. f3, 2. g4)

black played 1 e5 and 2 Bb7

 

[double00]

been playing on lichess

 

[SchachMundialECapital]

It still eludes me why given these two "products", Chess.com and Lichess, people still opt to play on Chess.com.

I've been playing chess at tournament level for 16 years and coaching for 4 years. Don't remember a single instance of going "I wish Lichess had what Chess.com is offering!". Other than a marketing budget, I cannot see a single advantage.

Is it that people simply Google search "play chess online" and click on the first result? I cannot imagine such is the case from menswear aficionados.

 

[LA Guy]

It still eludes me why given these two "products", Chess.com and Lichess, people still opt to play on Chess.com.

I've been playing chess at tournament level for 16 years and coaching for 4 years. Don't remember a single instance of going "I wish Lichess had what Chess.com is offering!". Other than a marketing budget, I cannot see a single advantage.

Is it that people simply Google search "play chess online" and click on the first result? I cannot imagine such is the case from menswear aficionados.

I have accounts on both, and find that with a paid subscription, that chess.com has more learning tools for beginners like me (so probably for most people) and also, a lot of chess personalities and strong players are there, so that is another bonus. It’s nice to be able to just follow on one window while playing my considerably worse games on the other. I suppose that it would not be hard to use both platforms at the same time. But I’m just as lazy as the next person.