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3 answers

Where did ChatGPT get this game from?

Seeing Ding Liren playing the French, I asked ChatGPT for an example of a game he played with this opening: Can you give me an example of Ding Liren playing the French defence? ChatGPT replied: Certainly! Here is an example of Ding Liren playing…
Rebecca J. Stones
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Computers: Hardware or Software?

It is well known that both hardware and software contributed to the total dominance of computers. Has there been an experiment to run a very modern program (say Alpha Zero) on a museum computer (of course, a memory issue can happen, so don't abuse…
Hauke Reddmann
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Are hypermodern openings not recommended for beginners?

Beginners are taught principles in a classical style: control the center and develop pieces early. To my understanding, hypermodern openings try to control the center from a distance and wait for the opponent to occupy the center with pawns that…
qwr
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17
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1 answer

History of this queen sacrifice in the 4 Knights

Arbiting an IM norm tournament last week I came across this position in one of the games. Both White's queen and bishop on a4 were en prise and it was Black's move! My initial reaction was that I must have missed a touch-move violation which the…
Brian Towers
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Chess and aging

Chess playing strength, like IQ, is a multifaceted thing. To my best knowledge, it's at least commonly agreed that when aging, you rather lose tactical attentiveness than positional understanding. I now could go endlessly into other facet details…
Hauke Reddmann
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What software can I use to self-assess my own Elo rating?

What software (preferably free) can I use to do a self assessment to determine my own Elo rating?
Binoj Antony
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17
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6 answers

How does Black win this position?

I recently ran across notes I made from a book on endgames (I don't remember the book). According to my notes, Black wins this position regardless of whose move it is. I don't see it, and Stockfish doesn't see it. What am I missing? [FEN…
Garnet
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3 answers

Why did I fail this puzzle?

I just failed a puzzle at chess.com, despite being 2 moves away from check mate. I am quite sure that there is no move I could have made to get check mate in 1 move, so I am wondering how I failed. I just looked at the suggested solution, which…
Lot
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Why is Magnus Carlsen's Elo rating not higher, given that his win rate is so high?

Magnus Carlsen's Elo rating is about 2870, and according to this quora answer, he hasn't lost a game in 100 games at the time of writing. Assuming that his win rate hasn't changed since then, and assuming this implies conservatively a win rate of…
user56834
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Is it possible to compose a checkmate with king and any three minor pieces against bare king in the center of the board?

I am running a small chess school for beginners. During a class I asked a child to compose a checkmate position using only king, bishop and knight against the opposing king in a corner. Then I made the task tougher by placing the opposing king in…
Daniel Alfredo Sottile
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Is it legal to take a piece to the bathroom during a tournament?

If a player grabs a piece to move it, and before placing it in its new position, the player gets second thoughts about the best position for the piece, and so they decide to think a little bit more. While they are thinking and holding the piece,…
piece_lover
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Should I calculate on my opponent's time or on my time?

I play regularly 45+45 games with a duration between 2-4h. During my opponent's time I normally try to guess their moves or try to understand the position better. Regularly I have the problem that I reach the endgame too tired to calculate deeply…
maxmitz
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17
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7 answers

Did AlphaZero also have to learn that each piece has a value?

When AlphaZero learned on its own that a queen has a value of 9, a pawn 1, knight 3, etc., then did it also need to learn on its own that a piece has a value? Or was it that the concept of value was baked into its code and it only had to figure out…
daparic
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17
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8 answers

What is an accurate way to evaluate chess positions?

I've been interested for a while about a computer chess AI algorithms (and got the chance to work on one at some point) like Minimax, and as the core component of these algorithms is the so-called evaluation function to determine what is a good…
Charles Menguy
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What does "White is down a rook for a pawn" mean?

I am not a native English speaker and I'm learning to play online chess. I often find a sentence with this pattern. White is down a rook for a pawn. What does it mean? Could you elaborate on this sentence and make it much more understandable for…
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