Chess Stack Exchange
Chess Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
15
votes
4 answers

Starting positions in Chess960 where black is definitely worse

In article in wiki about chess960, it is stated that: It has been argued that two games should be played from each starting position, with players alternating as White and Black, since some initial positions may offer White a bigger advantage…
Salvador Dali
  • 4,778
  • 7
  • 32
  • 50
15
votes
2 answers

endgame with single Bishop or single Knight?

If given the choice should I opt for an endgame with a single Bishop or a single Knight? I understand Bishops increase in value in the endgame but is the disadvantage of covering only half the squares really compensated by increased mobility? Please…
Marcus Junius Brutus
  • 1,135
  • 1
  • 13
  • 25
15
votes
4 answers

Which is the World's largest chess club?

Most chess clubs in my area struggle to gather more than 30 federated members with only one club past the 100-member count in a territory of 8 million people. Which is the largest physical chess club in the World and how many members does it have?
Pep
  • 1,354
  • 2
  • 11
  • 16
15
votes
3 answers

Skills required for blitz/bullet vs. correspondence chess?

I've started playing blitz/bullet (fast) games and felt like I was getting moderately good at it (1 - 10mn games), but then I switched to correspondence chess (1 - 5 days/move) and it seems to me that it was affecting my fast games skills. Does…
Soufiane Hassou
  • 1,468
  • 2
  • 13
  • 22
15
votes
2 answers

"Daddy, why don't you take the e4 pawn?"

I play with my 8-year old daughter chess often and about half of our games start with these moves: [FEN ""] [StartFlipped "1"] [StartPly "7"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 Today after I (black) made the move Be7, my daughter…
Zuriel
  • 9,063
  • 6
  • 40
  • 98
15
votes
3 answers

What is the strategic significance of the English Opening?

I enjoy playing the English opening, pushing my pawn to c4, and trying to out flank my opponent. But I have a hard time, outside of playing normal lines, understanding the advantage it gives, and why it leads to fantastic games. Any insights?
Kelly J Andrews
  • 253
  • 2
  • 6
15
votes
8 answers

Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant?

Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant? When a pawn makes a two-square move, the en passant rule says that on the next move, any pawn that could have captured it on the single-advance square may do so. So why doesn't the rule allow…
palkone
  • 161
  • 1
  • 3
15
votes
2 answers

Why is this line of the Caro-Kann playable for white?

Today in an online game my opponent opened with e4 and I played the Caro-Kann, as I usually do. We went into a line that was new to me, shown below: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4…
Alessandro Codenotti
  • 283
  • 7
15
votes
2 answers

Is the French defense at a 3700 Elo level "completely refuted"?

...computers will never play the French defense against each other because the French defense at a 3700 Elo level is completely refuted... IM Levy Rozman (YouTube around 3m08s) Wait, what? I watched Ding Liren play the French (LiChess) in the…
Rebecca J. Stones
  • 4,340
  • 1
  • 27
  • 44
15
votes
5 answers

Is there a way to use Stockfish to see tactics that aren't necessarily great?

Basically - I want to utilize an engine to see tactics through the whole game, regardless of whether they're a good move or not. Sometimes, Stockfish may say a position is absolutely winning, but the opponent has a fork which loses the game - UNLESS…
Lukas Kawalec
  • 261
  • 2
  • 6
15
votes
3 answers

Positions where pawn promotion to queen is worse than to other piece

I'm looking for games from famous grandmasters, in which pawn promotion to a rook, a bishop, or a knight is a better move than queen promotion. I tried to Google some, but I couldn't find anything.
Ginger Bread
  • 543
  • 4
  • 11
15
votes
7 answers

Chess engine with API

I am looking for a chess engine which provides a normal API which I can use with some high level programming language like C# or python. I went through the list of leaders (Houdini, Komodo, Stockfish and Rybka) and was not able to find any signs…
Salvador Dali
  • 4,778
  • 7
  • 32
  • 50
15
votes
2 answers

Why do Chess GMs need coaches?

Today chess.com did an interview with Carlsen's coach. Someone like Carlen or Anand, why do they still need coaches? Their Elo is higher than their coaches, they can use engines to analyze the games, and they can beat their coaches in practically…
Lynob
  • 5,774
  • 5
  • 42
  • 79
15
votes
2 answers

Is the first game of World Chess Championship 2013 the shortest game in WCC history?

The first game of the 2013 World Chess Championship, Carlsen vs. Anand, ended in a draw after just 16 moves. Is this shortest game in the history of the World Chess Championship?
Pouya
  • 411
  • 3
  • 9
15
votes
1 answer

In which tournament did Karpov play his first move with white pieces and offer a draw?

It had to have happened in the 90s, but I can't remember either the tournament or Karpov's opponent (probably some Spanish tournament, like Linares or Dos Hermanas). Karpov was upset with the organization for some reason, and he complained by…
emdio
  • 2,094
  • 13
  • 22
1 2 3
…
99 100