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1500 questions
10
votes
3 answers

How should I deal with two siblings in the same section?

How can I deal with two family members who are playing in the same section? For example, my brother and I both played in the same local tournament (one section) fairly frequently. Usually, we could avoid being paired (there were enough people, and…
Andrew
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10
votes
2 answers

Is a DGT Bluetooth Wireless e-Board stable enough to use regularly?

I am considering purchasing a DGT Bluetooth Wireless E-Board for my school's chess club for exhibition games to be broadcast to a room without having everyone hovering over the board. Are these boards sufficiently stable and reliable that, once…
bryn
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10
votes
5 answers

Beginner Openings/Defenses to learn

What are good openings/defenses to study for both black and white for beginners. I've messed around with the sicilian defense and it is not bad, there's just so many variations and different types of defenses/openings its overwhelming. I understand…
CSharper
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10
votes
4 answers

Is there a good method to come up with a plan during a game?

I have started to play chess more seriously recently by playing some tournaments. During all my tournament games, I faced serious problems coming up with plans during the middle game. Is there a methodical way of thinking to come up with a plan by…
dreamcrash
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10
votes
1 answer

Can one make a deal with their opponent over what opening to play?

In official tournaments, are the two players allowed to talk (before or at the start) of a match to compromise on openings, eg. If white is good at the Sicilian but bad at the Caro-Kann and black is good at the Caro-Kann but bad at the Sicilian;…
Ryley
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10
votes
3 answers

"Premove" in OTB game

Lately, a player of mine caused a minor kerfuffle by his habit of touching a piece to counter blitz even when the opponent had not finished the move. Interestingly, I found nothing in the rules (admittedly by a quick browse) prohibiting grappling…
Hauke Reddmann
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10
votes
2 answers

Different chess improvement strategies depending on age

Adult chess improvers are different from children in many ways and have different strength and weaknesses. Also, their life situation is very different (e.g. much time and little money vs. little time and much money). However, this rarely seems to…
Hauptideal
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10
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1 answer

What are FIDE really hoping to achieve by the proposed rating changes from January 2024?

FIDE have published a new article: FIDE seeks public discussion about proposed rating changes. They say: In the past decade, certain innovations have caused rating deflation, a concern that has been raised by professional players and mathematicians…
Brian Towers
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10
votes
2 answers

What are the rules of blindfold chess?

Forcing players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces by using blindfolds seems interesting, but I've been unable to find any official rules for playing blindfold chess. What are the rules for playing?
blunders
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10
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5 answers

How to come up with candidate moves or ideas in positions "with no action"?

Here is an example position: [fen ""] [Startply "40"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Nd5 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 O-O 8. a3 Ba5 9. Bc4 Nb6 10. Ba2 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 d5 12. h3 Bf5 13. Nc3 h6 14. O-O a6 15. Qf4 Bg6 16. Nh4 Bd3 17. Rfd1 Bh7…
Gulzar
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10
votes
3 answers

What is the terminology for a move which allows the opponent to attack two pieces without making another move?

In the position below (Short vs Ponomariov 2003), White has just played Re4-f4, which is allowing the g5 pawn to attack both the rook and the bishop. In general, what do we call a move that allows the opponent to attack two pieces without making…
Zuriel
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10
votes
3 answers

How is white allowed to castle 0-0-0 in this position?

I always thought the rules are you can’t castle if an enemy piece is watching the space between your king and the rook you want to castle with. But according to chess.com castling long is allowed in the following position
josias
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10
votes
1 answer

Stockfish destroys Daniel Naroditsky's endgame variation (from his book (Mastering Positional Chess))

[FEN "7r/p3k3/2p5/1pPp4/3P4/PP4P1/3P1PB1/2K5 w - - 0 1"] 1. Kd1 Rh2 2. Ke1 Rxg2 3. Kf1 Rh2 4. Kg1 Rh6 5. f3 Re6 6. Kf2 Kf6 7. Kf1 Kf5 8. Kf2 b4 9. a4 Re4 $4 * The position and variation was taken from Mastering the Positional Chess by Daniel…
Billy Istiak
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10
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1 answer

Youngest Player to beat a reigning World Champion?

In September 2022 19 year old Hans Niemann beat Magnus Carlsen in the Sinquefield Cup. On the 19th January 2023 18 year old Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Magnus Carlsen in the Tata Steel tournament. Is Abdusattorov the youngest player to beat a…
Brian Towers
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10
votes
5 answers

Why doesn't Stockfish announce when it solved a position as a book draw similar to how it announces a forced mate?

I notice that when Stockfish has solved a position to mate it announces that checkmate is unavoidable in some number of moves so it's impossible to mistaken a position Stockfish has solved as a win for one player for a position that Stockfish has…