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1500 questions
20
votes
2 answers
Is the position in this trick question reachable?
I found this trick question on r/Anarchy chess: White to move, mate in two.
[FEN "2R2RK/6PP/5P/3PN/P/1pQ3p/n1p1qbp/5brk w - - 0 1"]
[StartFlipped "1"]
The trick is that
you're looking from Black's side, so the white pawn on the H file can promote…
SQB
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Is there a double-forced mate position?
A usual forced mate position is where the winning player can play in a way that ensures checkmate, no matter what (legal) moves the opponent makes (unless the game ends due to a non-play reason, i.e. resignation, draw accepted, time ran out.)
What…
Hymns For Disco
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2 answers
Do any grandmasters win more with black than white?
Some statistics indicate white scores 52-56% - but I wonder if that differs according to playing style - e.g. perhaps strong defenders prefer the black pieces.
Do any former/current grandmasters have stronger win records with the black pieces than…
stevec
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20
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6 answers
Example of a Karpov vs. Kasparov game with a controversial move
Full disclosure: I'm not a regular chess player. This question is because I'm writing a book about alternate timelines, and I want to use a game in a real life famous chess match as a point of divergence. I'd like an occasion in which a sizeable…
JCCyC
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20
votes
6 answers
Brain fog when playing chess
I've been playing chess from many years but started playing more from past few month. I only play 3 minute blitz games, have rating around 1350 in chess.com and 1700 in lichess, have played few thousand games till now.
I observed that sometimes my…
dronz3r
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20
votes
4 answers
How often do grandmasters miss checkmate?
Although top players are extremely good at finding checkmate, the number of permutations of moves in just 3 moves can be hundreds of thousands, and the farther out the possible mate (e.g. mate in 4, mate in 5), the more permutations are possible; so…
stevec
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20
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6 answers
Is it bad etiquette to keep playing in a clearly hopeless position?
Recently I played a blitz game (5m+5s) with an opponent with rating 1500+. I had a clearly losing endgame (K vs KQ). My opponent was not under any time pressure but he made a blunder and the game ended as a stalemate.
I know this does not happen…
Zuriel
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20
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7 answers
Why does the London System have the reputation it has?
After being out of chess for many years, I became interested again. While I never studied in my earlier playing days, I always played e4 openings when white. That was partly due to that being recommended by the one book I read and partly because…
GreenMatt
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20
votes
1 answer
Trading queens in the opening
Which standard openings in chess usually pave the way for an early queen trade in the game? In other words, which opening has a high probability of exchanging the queens in the opening itself? Does any opening contain queen trade as a part of…
Haran
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6 answers
What is a "monster knight"?
I was watching an agadmator video explaining a game between two chess engines, and at one point in the video after a knight move, agadmator talks about how that knight then became "basically a monster knight", and therefore must be taken. He then…
bpromas
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9 answers
How can someone find their Morphy number?
The Morphy number is a measure of how closely a chess player is connected to Paul Morphy (1837–1884) by way of playing chess games. It's analogous to the Erdős Number for mathematicians.
People who played a chess game with Morphy have a Morphy…
Laska
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5 answers
How can you castle legally in Chess960 when the castling rook is on the king's destination square?
According to the FIDE Laws of Chess:
4.4 If a player having the move:
4.4.1 touches his king and a rook he must castle on that side if it is legal to do so
4.4.2 deliberately touches a rook and then his king he is not allowed to castle on that…
Brian Towers
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20
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4 answers
Why is coffee provided during big chess events when it contains a banned substance?
Why is coffee provided for free during big chess events like the Olympiad despite the fact that it contains caffeine, which is a banned substance according to the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA)?
Phemelo Khetho
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20
votes
11 answers
Looking for an aggressive opening for black vs 1. d4
I like the King's Gambit a lot, and even the Latvian Gambit as black (with dubious results), so my style is very aggressive openings with potentially sharp lines and hack n' slash type of tactical sacrifice lines. However as black when facing the…
Anonymous Entity
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20
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6 answers
Why did I lose on time with three pawns versus a knight? Shouldn't it be a draw?
I just lost an online game on time (while playing on lichess.org). I had three pawns and my opponent had just a knight. I don't understand why it's not a draw. Shouldn't it be a draw because my opponent does not have enough material to checkmate me?
Dominik Kunicki
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