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1500 questions
18
votes
3 answers
Five Knights Problem
Many years ago, I was shown a problem involving three white pawns promoting to knights and ending up with a ring of five knights encircling the mated king. Does anybody know the starting position?
A few more thoughts:
(1) I think it was mate in…
NeilS
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18
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3 answers
How do I learn Chess Programming?
Basically I have seen that people write a lot of chess algorithms, and ask questions in this forum, which I fumble to answer appropriately. I see the code, but unable to make out whether it is correct or not?
I am myself a software professional,…
Seth Projnabrata
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18
votes
3 answers
What is the "stonewall formation"?
I use PyChess to play. It talks sometimes about how White or Black moved their pawns into "stonewall formation."
How do they do that, and what are the position's advantages/disadvantages?
user11939
18
votes
7 answers
Is it ethical to spar against an engine when playing correspondence?
I started playing correspondence on chess.com purely for the fun of it and to gain some deep learning (i.e. there's no prize involved).
We are about 10 moves in and coming close to me being out of book. To help my learning, I'd like to set the…
user1108
18
votes
11 answers
Why do titled players always play online (blitz) speed chess?
If you have been to an online chess server, you will notice that almost all titled players always play quick games (3 0) at a max.
On the other hand, if you go to tournaments, it needs cool thinking and not instantaneous moves.
I am surprised, then…
RajSanpui
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18
votes
2 answers
What influenced the development of the King's Indian Defense?
The King's Indian Defense is characterized by the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6. (As opposed to 2...e6, with the intention of developing the Bishop to the Queen-side.) Black aims for a strong King-side offense with sharp tactical play. The Classical…
Jonathan Garber
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18
votes
3 answers
Alternative approaches to chess engine programming
As far as I understand, roughly speaking, chess engines work by:
calculating all possible variations (game tree) up to some depth
evaluating the final position based on some criteria (material, piece activity...)
based on this evaluation decide for…
user1583209
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18
votes
2 answers
Elo loss for resign vs checkmate
Is there a difference in the amount of ELO a player loses from resigning versus being checkmated?
If so - What is the difference in the calculation?
wjmcalli
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18
votes
6 answers
What thought process should one use to find candidate moves?
Do you have a thought process for finding candidate moves?
Once you find all possible candidate moves, how do you narrow it down to your final choice?
Regarding the process, do you have a certain order of things you look at or is it in a random…
xaisoft
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18
votes
3 answers
What is the origin of the Merida chess font?
Currently the most popular chess font is Merida. I used to be under the impression that this was a new font from the computer era, but I found it in a German chess book from 1952 (Lasker's biography).
The question is about the origin of this font.…
MichalRyszardWojcik
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18
votes
2 answers
Prove that White is not allowed to castle here
A friend recently gave me the following weird chess problem to solve. I'm afraid that I'm struggling to see the key idea that would ultimately count as proof. From the position, intuitively speaking, it looks like White should be allowed to castle,…
user10376
18
votes
5 answers
How many moves ahead does Anand calculate in his mind?
I always wondered about this! How many moves ahead can strong players like Anand actually 'see' during the game? How does the calculation of a supercomputer like Deep Blue differ from that of strong human players?
msumaithri
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18
votes
3 answers
In Spassky v Fischer '72 game 11, why is 14. Nb1 considered such a great move?
In game 11 of the 1972 World Championship, Spassky as white moves his Knight back to its 14. Nb1 starting position. Apparently, this moved was received as 14. Nb1!!. But to me, it seems as a simple attack on the invading black queen to flush her out…
corsiKa
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18
votes
6 answers
How do I stop blundering my queen?
I have a particular bad habit when I play chess. I play reasonably well (at least by the standards of people I play with), and am quite careful with my pieces. But in about 80% of games I play, once I get into a good position - one or two pieces…
naught101
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18
votes
12 answers
When losing in blitz, is it rude to play to win on time?
In blitz, I frequently find myself in a position where I'm hopelessly losing on the board but have a good chance of winning on time (and the other way around). Is it generally considered good sportmanship to resign or offer a draw in such positions,…
firtydank
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