Most Popular

1500 questions
10
votes
5 answers

Which side has the advantage in an Armageddon tiebreak game?

It is generally considered that white has better chances of winning in chess. This is due to white's initiative, since white gets to move first. The difference in chances seems to get more significant, as the level of play gets higher. So, I…
Zvonimir
  • 1,315
  • 1
  • 11
  • 23
10
votes
2 answers

What was the longest World Championship game?

The recently concluded Game 7 of the 2014 Carlsen-Anand match went to move 122 before a draw was reached due to insufficient material. Is this the longest game played in a World Chess Championship match? If it is, what was the previous record…
DTR
  • 3,129
  • 1
  • 18
  • 41
10
votes
2 answers

Good books to learn Sveshnikov Sicilian

I'm a club player around 2100 FIDE rating trying to learn the Sicilian Sveshnikov, with the black pieces, for long time controls (2 hours/game). What books do I need to read in order to learn this opening properly? Themes I would like to see in the…
10
votes
3 answers

What are the motivations behind pawn moves on a and h files?

Sometimes when there are no clearly optimal moves, a computer or a human master player would push their pawns on a and h files (the edges of the board), for no clear reasons. What would be the motivations behind such moves?
Derek Chiang
  • 457
  • 6
  • 10
10
votes
2 answers

What do you need in order to organize a chess tournament?

We have a small local chess club group on Facebook and chess.com, and we want to organize a small event where all the members can play against each other. We will ask players who play for the national teams to join. If they do, it's going to be big,…
Lynob
  • 5,774
  • 5
  • 42
  • 79
10
votes
3 answers

Is use of the gambit the main way for black to win?

I always used to hate playing as black. But recently, I have used gambits more, and I feel it's so powerful, e.g. the 1... d5 response to 1. e4. Most of us know that white has a statistical advantage (about 10% more), so it seems that only through…
Caffeinated
  • 287
  • 1
  • 8
10
votes
3 answers

What is the importance of pawns in the endgame?

How important is it to have more pawns in the endgame phase? Does the power of the individual pawns decrease or increase as the game progresses and why?
speedyGonzales
  • 233
  • 3
  • 8
10
votes
3 answers

Has loser chess been solved?

Loser chess has a benefit of sorts. There are many turns where moves are forced. So my question is, has it been solved? I'd say that the move tree is much smaller than chess. If not: How much would it weight? Have there been any studies on the…
MikhailTal
  • 3,281
  • 4
  • 24
  • 50
10
votes
5 answers

Why did Spassky play the King's Gambit?

If the King's Gambit is unsound, how could a world champion play it often?
CognisMantis
  • 5,031
  • 2
  • 23
  • 43
10
votes
4 answers

Why is d5 the best move in this position?

What is the thought process behind playing d5 in this position?
10
votes
3 answers

Where can I find Pauls' 1874 article on the n-queens problem?

Where can I find the following article, which concerns the n-queens problem? E. Pauls, Das Maximalproblem der Damen auf dem Schachbrete, II, Deutsche Schachzeitung. Organ f¨ur das Gesammte Schachleben 29 (9)(1874) 257–267.
benedito
  • 203
  • 1
  • 5
10
votes
3 answers

How do top players use computers to improve their play?

This question is inspired by yesterday's matches between Hikaru Nakamura + Rybka vs Stockfish. Nakamura was allowed to use an older version of Rybka to help him, and Stockfish was allowed to play with its full strength but not use an opening book or…
user3716
  • 101
  • 3
10
votes
3 answers

Average income for titled chess players

What is the average income for an IM? What about for a super GM? Is there an online site/resource that has these average incomes? Also only the ones that come from chess or chess-related activities(Sponsorships, Commentary, Tournament Organisation,…
MikhailTal
  • 3,281
  • 4
  • 24
  • 50
10
votes
3 answers

Second Troitzky line, where knight and pawn could be located?

I am trying to understand where the pieces should be located for the second Troitzky line (checkmate 2 knights vs a pawn in 50 moves limit) and fail to get it. So from wikipedia: Black's pawn is blocked by a white knight on or behind one of the …
Salvador Dali
  • 4,778
  • 7
  • 32
  • 50
10
votes
3 answers

Which interface protocol should I implement for my chess engine?

I am writing a chess engine in C++ https://github.com/RomainGoussault/Deepov. I know there are several interface protocols out there (UCI, Winboard protocol, etc) and I don't know which to implement. I would like one that: enables my engine to play…
Romain
  • 667
  • 8
  • 15