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Careers in Chess

What are the different career options in Chess? The obvious and famous one is being a professional player, and the next best one is that of a chess coach. What are the other careers that involve chess?
Arun J
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Are there endgames which could be forced wins if not for the 50-move rule?

Wikipedia's article on the fifty-move rule states: All of the basic checkmates can be accomplished in well under 50 moves. However, in the 20th century it was discovered that some positions of certain endgames can only be won in more than fifty…
Daniel
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How do I promote my pawn when the king blocks it?

I was playing ChessEndGames and ran into this position (white to move): [fen "5k2/8/4PK2/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"] I can't get my pawn to promote. As soon as I do e7, black follows with Ke8. If I do Ke5, black does Ke7. If I do Kf5, black does Ke8, and…
Gaurang Tandon
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Alternatives to chessbase on OS X

Most of my chess preparation and studying used to revolve around ChessBase products. I stored my databases and notes in .cbh files, used computers with the ChessBase interface to study and do preparation, and used the tools that Fritz 12 gave as an…
Andrew Latham
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Anand - Gelfand 12th game in World Chess championship 2012

I have been following 12th game in World Chess championship 2012, and I just could not understand why a draw was offered. Is it that they can see 10 or more moves ahead and think of the ending or is it that they want to play it safe and fight…
Srikar Appalaraju
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17
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4 answers

What is the proper etiquette in Team Chess Championships?

In Team Chess Championships, what is the proper etiquette for being a player? This question is mainly focused on: Can I see my teammates’ games during the match? (I suspect I can.) If I win quickly, can I go away, or should I stay? If I leave the…
MikhailTal
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17
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7 answers

What are good openings to study to get more experienced players out of their comfort zone?

Sometimes I end up getting the opportunity to play a friendly game with someone who has played a lot more chess than I have; these games seem more fun and interesting for everyone (and I seem to end up with a better chance of winning) when I can…
Brett
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How much time did Capablanca have / use on the clock to refute Frank Marshall's Marshall Attack over the board?

Capablanca's over the board refutation of Frank Marshall's deep home preparation, in what was later called the Marshall Attack, is widely regarded as one of the great defensive masterpieces of all time. The question is, is it known how much time…
NM Wesley Falcao
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Understanding vs. Memorization

Is memorization necessary in modern chess? Whenever I play chess, I always run out of time because I move slowly in the opening; unlike others who move fast in the opening because they have memorized it, and slowly in the middle game to execute…
kjames
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17
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6 answers

What is the etiquette (or tournament rule) for the act of capturing a piece?

There are a few different possible ways of capturing an opponent's piece. You could: Pick up both your piece and their piece simultaneously with both hands, then set your piece down where their piece was. Pick up both your piece and their piece…
Tanner Swett
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What was the point of Shirov's 47...Bh3?

One of the most famous moves ever is Shirov's 47...Bh3!! in Topalov - Shirov, 1998. [FEN "8/8/4kpp1/3p1b2/p6P/2B5/6P1/6K1 b - - 0 47"] [Event "Linares"] [Date "1998"] [White "Veselin Topalov"] [Black "Alexey Shirov"] I've always taken that for…
RemcoGerlich
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17
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11 answers

What are some good books for chess openings?

I am not new to chess, I have been playing for around 6 years. But I don't know much about chess openings technically. What are some of the very good books to learn important opening moves?
Chethan N
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3 answers

Maximum possible movement in a turn

I've read that for any position, there are on average approximately 35 possible moves. But what's the maximum number of possible moves for a position?
Ahmad Azwar Anas
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Does move disambiguation happen before or after legality checking?

I am wondering if disambiguation occurs before or after the legality of such moves has been established. Given this position: [FEN "5k2/5n2/3R4/1n6/8/5Q2/8/4K3 b - - 0 1"] Both knights are targeting d6, but the one on f7 is pinned. In PGN notation,…
Crocobag
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Nonstandard game results

Any standard chess game will end in 1:0,0:1,or 1/2:1/2. Can you give some games where very nonstandard results occurred (word of mouth is OK, but solid evidence is better)? By §E10.2, any individual result can only be from the set of regular…
Hauke Reddmann
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