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1500 questions
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3 answers

King's Gambit, Fischer's Defence 6. Ng1. Wait, what?

I'd like to play the king's gambit without getting into piece sacrifices, but Fischer's Defence is unsettling me. This appears to be described as the "main line". [FEN ""] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng1 * Attempting to be…
Rebecca J. Stones
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Opening book series with "complete" explanations

I am looking for opening books, preferably a series that explain different openings, where the opening is explained with a complete view: strategic plans for main variants, main tactical ideas, usual pawn structures and how to play them (e.g.…
zunbeltz
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Why is the centre of the board considered important in chess?

Yes, we have all heard phrases like 'control the centre'. I would like to know the concrete reason why the centre of the board - in particular the 4 squares - e4, e5, d4, d5, are considered important in chess. What makes them different from any…
guru
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Sherlock Holmes vs Professor James Moriarty, A Game of Shadow-Chess Game Position Reconstruction

The chess scene between Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty in the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time. What intrigued me even more was discovering the fact that the moves for this chess…
NM Wesley Falcao
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12 answers

Is chess a sport? If yes, then why?

Sometimes (e.g. at some schools) chess is considered to be a sport. Is chess a sport? I view sport as a physical activity. For instance, if a doctor asks you "Are you doing any sports?" would your answer "Yes, I play chess twice a week!"? It sounds…
otisonoza
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14
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Kasparov's Immortal Game. Flawed? 24...Kb6! Suggest an improvement for White

Kasparov's immortal game vs Topalov is often regarded as one of the best games in chess history. However, after analyzing it, I find that objectively speaking, Kasparov played some bad moves and got into a slightly worse position. Here, in this…
NM Wesley Falcao
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Why is it better to take with the knight than with the pawn in this position?

[fen "r3k1nr/p2b1ppp/4p3/3pP3/8/1p1B4/2PN1PPP/R3K2R w - - 0 1"] I recently had a chess game in which I played as white and the position was as shown in the picture. I chose the move cxb3, but the chess engine states that the move Nxb3 is better.…
Rasmus Andersen
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Why did Magnus Carlsen not play the World Chess Championship in 2023?

Why did Magnus Carlsen not defend the 2023 world chess title? He claimed it was too easy, but is there a deeper meaning/reason that he chose not to participate?
MrChessR
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Why can't I move my knight from d5 to c7?

I am a foreigner learning to play chess with my computer. The blue move is the last move and the red one is suggested to go. I wonder why I can't move my knight anymore. The computer doesn't allow me to.
Mona Evans
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Checkmate in ω² moves with finitely many pieces

The post Checkmate in ω moves? has inspired a lot of discussion and mathematical research into positions on an infinite chessboard where white can mate in a transfinite amount of moves. The current record for a game value of a position with finitely…
Andreas Tsevas
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What is the shortest possible game with 18 queens?

This question demonstrates a game in which all 16 pawns promote for a total of 18 queens on the board. It takes 80 moves... What is the shortest sequence of moves that achieves this goal?
yrodro
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2 answers

Why does FIDE still use Elo?

I've been impressed with the way the Glicko rating system works. In particular: more games played recently cause your rating to stabilize fewer games played recently cause your rating to fluctuate until you get several recent games under your…
Eve Freeman
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What is the FIDE Arbiter's exam like?

According to the FIDE Handbook (B.06.1.3.7), one of the requirements to become a FIDE Arbiter is: Attendance of one (1) FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar and successfully passing (at least 80%) an examination set up by the Arbiters’ Commission. What's the…
Robert Columbia
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A specific draw etiquette

In one of my last games, I offered a draw. Now for what the rules don't say... He had quite to chew on the offer. Half an hour he was sitting and pondered whether he could risk to play to win. I, on the other cheek, always have ants in my pants.…
Hauke Reddmann
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Should I learn openings as a beginner?

I'm very new to regularly playing chess while actively trying to improve (only ever played here and there casually before). I'm ~600 rated on chess.com and many times I feel like I'm making mistakes/un-ideal moves in the openings that leads to my…
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