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1500 questions
10
votes
5 answers
What is the difference between a brilliant move and the best move?
As far as I know, nowadays the chess engines can judge that a move is the best or that it is brilliant (usually denoted by ! or !!). I was wondering what is the precise criterion for this classification.
I was reading some forums and stepped on this…
Cyclops
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1 answer
A disagreement between me and my chess engines
In a recent blitz game, I was playing as White and faced the Lasker-Pelikan variation of the Sicilian.
Things were not really going according to plan, I was down a Knight and facing obliteration. In the position below, Black has just played Qxe5…
Cyclops
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10
votes
4 answers
Is Beth Harmon behaviour in her game vs Georgi Girev acceptable (then and now)?
In S01E04 of the TV series The Queen's Gambit, the main protagonist (Beth Harmon) is competing against a young Russian player (Georgi Girev). This happens in 1966.
Beth Harmon is not spending any time at all at the table. Whenever she made her move,…
WoJ
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10
votes
1 answer
What sites have different ratings for different time controls for Chess960?
Both lichess and chess.com and have ratings for live chess960, but this is regardless of time control. Please recommend a site that has separate ratings for different time controls for chess960.
There are always multiple accounts (I actually…
BCLC
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10
votes
2 answers
Can we quantify the handicap for playing blindfolded?
Roughly how much ELO does it cost a GM or top player to play blindfolded? For instance, if a 2600-rated GM were blindfolded, against what rating of opponent would they be expected to score roughly 50%? Or, what ELO games roughly correspond to the…
Mobeus Zoom
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10
votes
6 answers
Mismatch between my puzzle rating and game rating on chess.com
On Chess.com, I recently passed 2000 in the puzzle section. However, in 10 minute games, I can't reach 1600. How do I bridge that gap and increase my game score? Is 10 minutes maybe too short of a game to find/apply tactics? I have some…
Marsellus Wallace
- 573
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10
votes
3 answers
Why is the queen considered lost?
In this game, white just moved the queen from b7 to c6, and the computer marks this as a "critical blunder" (and suggests that the bishop should take the knight). In this position it considers the queen lost, but it doesn't say much how. It says…
Thomas
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10
votes
4 answers
How should I play against the Philidor defense?
As white, I often encounter the Philidor Defense by black:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
I usually play Nc3 or d4 on the next move, but is this the best move? What are some lines (advantages or disadvantages) against the Philidor?
xaisoft
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10
votes
1 answer
A 50-move-rule claim turned out to be incorrect - can the arbiter punish me?
I claimed a 50-move draw, but my claim turned out to be incorrect. Can the arbiter punish me by increasing the opponent's time or reducing mine?
double-beep
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10
votes
1 answer
Is there more than 1 solution?
In this selfmate puzzle is there more than one solution? I think I found one but I was curious to know if there is more than one.
4N2k/5P2/3p1rP1/2pP4/2p1K1R1/2B1P1N1/6Pp/8 w - - 0 0
Credit: J. C. J. Wainwright, first published in Alain C. White's…
dr.vlad lup
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10
votes
1 answer
Is this position a fortress?
I am unsure how to break through as white here. There seem to be no way to get a passed pawn on the e file. Stockfish evaluates this as +3 at high depths but gives no plan. Any plans?
[fen "3Q4/5pk1/6rp/6p1/4K3/6PP/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
Edit: On further…
Yash Jain
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10
votes
3 answers
Big changes in engine's evaluation after considerable time
I hope this question hasn't been asked before.
I am looking for some examples where, say, the latest Stockfish or Komodo engine (or possibly some of the top NN engines) evaluates a position as plus or minus x for some time--possibly oscillating…
the_fox
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10
votes
3 answers
Why is it a mistake to capture the forked rook?
In a recent game, I forked a queen and rook with a knight. After seeing no immediate threats from 8. Qf4 I immediately captured with 8. ...Nxb3. Apparently this was quite a mistake (a 213 centipawn evaluation drop), but it's not clear to me why the…
actinidia
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10
votes
2 answers
Mate in One the Missing King
The post "A mysterious mate in one" made me think of one of my last problems which is also a Mate-in-One with no black King:
[Title "White to move and mate in one"]
[FEN "1B1NB2K/P2RN3/8/1R6/1P5P/4P2Q/1PP2PP1/8 w KQkq - 0 1"]
All the white…
Xavier Labouze
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10
votes
4 answers
How can I punish the "bad" knight on c3?
I play the Caro–Kann Defence against 1.e4 as black, and for whatever reason it feels like I get the following line way too frequently:
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Nc3?!
This line is a "non-critical" line, so much so that I just got an…
aquirdturtle
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