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1500 questions
22
votes
6 answers

How do I handle drawn positions in zero time increment games?

I recently found myself in a drawn position (king and rook for each side) in a zero increment online game. I had about 10 seconds on my clock, my opponent had about 20 seconds. He ignored draw offers, and I eventually lost on time (despite trying to…
Thomas Johnson
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22
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3 answers

Am I allowed to call the arbiter on my opponent's turn?

My opponent, in their turn, was distracting me making annoying sounds. However, the arbiter said that I should wait until it's my turn when I called them. Is this correct?
double-beep
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22
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5 answers

Is it possible that a radically different but equally effective playstyle exists?

There seems to be an established "chess canon", whereby general principles exist for long term strategy in the game. There is a well-characterized set of openings, a small subset of which are even played, and even in middle to endgame one can…
Nico A
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22
votes
10 answers

How to minimise your opponent's fun in a game?

I play numerous online chess games and in this question I am self-centred: I play for two purposes: to win the game, or when winning is unlikely, to draw the game. to improve my chess skills, which eventually enables me to win/draw more games. I…
Zuriel
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22
votes
10 answers

Why is the Sicilian Defense considered hard to play?

I have been told never to play the Sicilian. It is a very complicated opening that even grandmasters aren't ever able to analyze and play well enough. But why, I ask?
alcao758
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22
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3 answers

Why is Leela so good at beating Stockfish in the French/Slav?

I notice Lc0 is especially good against Stockfish in French / Slav pawn structures. However, I don't understand why. Here're a couple of games where Leela smoothly outplays Stockfish. Can anyone explain what Stockfish is doing wrong? Link to this…
Allure
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22
votes
2 answers

Anti-cheating: should there be a limit to a number of toilet breaks per game per player?

With the advent of smart phones, cheating in chess tournaments has become rife to the extent that if unguarded it will kill the spirit of competitiveness. There has been several such cases, accussations and allegations including the infamous…
Phemelo Khetho
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22
votes
5 answers

Why do players in the past play much longer tournaments than today's top players?

Looking through the history of chess we find tournaments that are significantly longer than today's, e.g. London 1899 - 15 players, double round robin New York 1924 - 11 players, double round robin Today we get tournaments such as: Tal Memorial…
Allure
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22
votes
1 answer

Is there a specific penalty for intentionally damaging chess pieces or the board?

If a player intentionally damages a chess set (e.g. breaks a piece in two, cracks the board, etc.), is there a specific penalty under FIDE rules? I'm not talking about moving pieces around surreptitiously or attempting to obscure the current game…
Robert Columbia
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22
votes
1 answer

Why is it illegal to move into check?

In chess, it is against the rules to move into check, or to not move out of check. But why? Obviously, if you went against this rule, you'd immediately lose. But it seems strange to make it illegal to lose in such a way. Is there a reason for this…
Winston Ewert
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22
votes
12 answers

I lost a game without making tactical mistakes; how can I avoid this happening in the future?

Here's a game of mine from last night. It was my first tournament game for many years. (This game is David Kenney vs. Douglas Stones [me] 1-0. Press F to flip the board.) [fen ""] [Event "Bluenose Chess Club Tournament"] [Site "Halifax"] [Date…
Douglas S. Stones
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22
votes
7 answers

Why isn't Chess960 the standard?

Bobby Fischer said that standard chess is dead and I believe him. Current players rely too much on engine-moves and theory in the openings and quite far in the middle-game without any real calculations, but memory. For instance, Carlsen had…
Habbo
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22
votes
4 answers

Crazyhouse/Bughouse openings

Are there any known or "standard" openings in bughouse or crazyhouse chess? Obviously, as soon as pieces start coming off the board things get less predictable, so this question is less about the existence of opening lines as it is about moves which…
lily
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22
votes
7 answers

Openings - e4 vs d4

In more than 90% of chess games I play in, the first move is either d4 or e4. When I am black, I try to counter e4 with Caro-Kann and Sicilian, and against d4 I usually just play d5 and see where it goes from there. I'm however puzzled by one…
OmnipresentAbsence
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22
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2 answers

Stockfish blunders away a piece

Using stockfish_8_x64 with Arena 3.5.1, I see a weird pick by Stockfish. Start here: White, Stockfish, to move. It plays bb6-g1,losing the bishop and the win. Also strange: the same engine does not make this weird move in the Tarrasch program.…
Larry
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