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1500 questions
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3 answers

Does a draw on the board need to be declared before the time flag is reached?

I was participating in a FIDE-rated rapid tournament a while back (15+0, if it matters for the rules), and had finished my match, and was watching another board. White had about 10 seconds remaining on the clock when black moved a pawn which put the…
Aaron Morefield
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Is 1...d5 ever a bad move?

I notice that as Black, I virtually always play d5 as my first move. It's usually in response to 1. e4 (Scandinavian Defense) or 1. d4 (Queen's Pawn Game). As a hypothetical, if I premoved 1... d5, what is the worst that could happen? Are there any…
Steve Bennett
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3 answers

What is the earliest queen move in any strong, modern opening?

I have noticed a tendency of weaker players to move their queen out very early (e.g. move 2-5), and conversely, a tendency for strong players to move their queen much later (usually later than move 5, but often not until move 7/8/9 or even…
stevec
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14
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1 answer

Can you castle twice in Chess960?

Consider this Chess960 game. (Warning: moving backwards through this replayer will result in an incorrect board state. See Board playback and Chess 960 for details.) [FEN "rnkqbbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNKQBBNR w KQkq - 0 1"] 1. d4 Na6 2. e4…
Joseph Sible-Reinstate Monica
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14
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2 answers

How is time measured when a player is late?

When watching The Queen's Gambit I noticed that some players were late to their game. How is time measured in this case? It is simple when the player playing black is late, because the one playing white would have done their move and switched the…
WoJ
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14
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8 answers

Why is flagging considered a win?

Let's say I totally dominate my opponent, but simply run out of time, then I lose the game right? But doesn't it make more sense to be given 51% of the rating adjustment (not 50/50 as for a draw). The criteria would be simple, that is if a user is…
lbragile
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14
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2 answers

What is Indian Castling exactly?

Western castling doesn’t exist in historical Indian Chess (Chaturanga). Instead, in some versions, there is a cool move whereby each king can once in the game make a knight's move. I read that it is can’t be used after check. But is that correct? Is…
Laska
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14
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7 answers

How can I deal with defenses I don't like?

I like to play 1. e4, as I favor open and dynamic positions, and feel comfortable with most black responses, but I there are some openings I don't like, e.g. Sicilian or French. My aversion might be unreasonable, but I would like to know how to deal…
Landei
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3 answers

Why does Black want to trade off their King's Bishop in many d4 lines?

I feel that in many lines starting with d4, such as the Queen's Gambit Declined, or especially the Nimzo-Indian, Black is more than happy to trade their King's Bishop for White's knight on c3. For instance, one frequent line in the Nimzo-Indian…
Marc Vaisband
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14
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Outside-the-box mate-in-one challenge

I've received an (I would say impossible) mate-in-one challenge and I have already checked all movements, but couldn't solve it yet. It came from a trustable source and they say you need to think outside the box, so certainly there's a solution.…
artu-hnrq
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14
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2 answers

How do chess engines decide which best line to play when the game outcome is within their horizon?

Inspired by the Hot Network Question "In this puzzle, why does white play dxe5?", when a chess engine is in a position that it can definitively call lost, drawn, or won, what policy is used to decide among lines that lead to the same outcome? In a…
which-line
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14
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1 answer

How to convert PGN moves to long algebraic notation (in python)?

I want to read a PGN file and then advance to a certain move number, and feed that to an UCI engine. Turns out engines work using long algebraic notation, and PGNs are in short algebraic. What is an easy way to make the conversion? i.e. from SAN…
fastmultiplication
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14
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3 answers

Is the "Pawn Box" possible in standard chess?

Is it possible to create a "pawn box" as shown below (using legal moves and the help of black) in standard chess? The positions don't need to be exactly as shown, and there can be more pieces on the board if required. [FEN…
TheSimpliFire
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14
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1 answer

What is a "tornado" in chess?

I am going to ask and answer this question since I played in one for the first time in almost 40 years yesterday, and because I find it surprising that no one has asked this previously. So, "what is a "tornado" in chess?"
PhishMaster
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14
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7 answers

How to play against higher rated (much stronger) players

I am about to play a master. This is an important game, and I want to win it. What should I do and how to prepare? Is there something special I can do, such as special openings, sharp lines, etc.?
Slobo Janjić
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