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OFFICIAL FFA Chess thread; The queens we use would not excite you (1 Viewer)

Reginald Cornsilks said:
Anyway, not feeling great about my d4 defense. I've always played Nimzo-Indian or Kings Indian type defense but struggle to get my pieces to dark squares after trading off my dark squared bishop for their Knight (in the Nimzo-Indian that is)

I'll take any suggestions on a d4 defense to research vs intermediate players that might cause confusion at that level?
I would suggest keep studying and playing the Nimzo-Indian, it's very stout against d4 when played with the main strategic concepts in mind, namely:

A. Doubling white's c-pawns if possible, then undermining them.

B. Work to control the d5 and e4 squares. In most Nimzo lines, its all about the e4 square.

C. c4 can be a good outpost for black in many Nimzo lines as well.

D. Close the position to reduce white's bishop pair.

 
Can we talk about ICC? I feel like I've played on every online site, but never ICC....always shied away because of the cost. But I'm starting to come around on the idea that, frankly, if you want to play against real players and get better, you've gotta spend a little bit of money. The $70/year cost isn't a big deal for me like it was a few years ago.

Looking at it right this second....1400+ players. Pretty good crowd. Chesshere has been okay, but most of the invites I've sent haven't been answered.

Looks like they offer a 30-day free trial....I might try it. Thoughts?

 
Can we talk about ICC? I feel like I've played on every online site, but never ICC....always shied away because of the cost. But I'm starting to come around on the idea that, frankly, if you want to play against real players and get better, you've gotta spend a little bit of money. The $70/year cost isn't a big deal for me like it was a few years ago.

Looking at it right this second....1400+ players. Pretty good crowd. Chesshere has been okay, but most of the invites I've sent haven't been answered.

Looks like they offer a 30-day free trial....I might try it. Thoughts?
The best.

Been using it since college.

Can always get a game at ANY level within 30 seconds.

Absolutely try it and PM me your handle.

I would say, I only ever play Blitz

I surmise the blitz and bullet games are MUCH easier to find

 
I'm not much of a blitz player but would like to get into it a little more. Definitely not a bullet guy. Was raised on no time control games and "educated", so to speak, in correspondence with loooong time controls. I've probably played less than 20 games with <10 minute time controls in my life. Gotta start somewhere though, I guess.

 
I'm not much of a blitz player but would like to get into it a little more. Definitely not a bullet guy. Was raised on no time control games and "educated", so to speak, in correspondence with loooong time controls. I've probably played less than 20 games with <10 minute time controls in my life. Gotta start somewhere though, I guess.
The greatest feature for me is you can stockfish analyze your matches right after they finish to see where you went wrong or went right.

Worth the 9 bucks a month, all the way

 
Interesting experience at a local chess "club" tonight. My 2nd time in attendance

It's in a rough neighborhood/suburb of Philly and there were some crazy looking folks in attendance along with a good dozen 80 year olds.

The oldest gentleman in the club is a legit 1900 and apparently hasn't lost in years in the club.

During my first match with a local landscaper someone kept farting loudly. I guess it's no big deal as no one seemed to care or say anything. It was a bit distracting though.

The guy I was playing was terrible but kept telling me how he had some tricks up his sleeve. Usually proceeded by me forking his queen and rook, which happened in every single game.

No big deal, I'm not grandmaster myself. About halfway through out 2nd game he starts to twitch his hand like he is psyching himself up to throw a punch at me and stating how angry he is getting. I debating just tanking on purpose and losing so he wouldn't kill me.

I survived.

Observed another match that was just about over. When the 2nd best player in the club made a winning move, his opponent punched himself in the side of the head as hard as one can. The thud was audible and seemed pretty severe. They end up screaming at each other as I decided it was time to go.

Oy.

I need to find something more "professional" in the Philly area and perhaps look into getting myself rated so I can play in a higher end club I guess.

Anyway, not feeling great about my d4 defense. I've always played Nimzo-Indian or Kings Indian type defense but struggle to get my pieces to dark squares after trading off my dark squared bishop for their Knight (in the Nimzo-Indian that is)

I'll take any suggestions on a d4 defense to research vs intermediate players that might cause confusion at that level?
:lmao:

What's the name of this club?

Lots of clubs in the Philly area. West Chester, Mainline, Masterminds, Woodbury (NJ).

 
Also, the King's Indian is a pretty good defense to play as a beginner. It has clear plans for Black, especially in the Mar Del Plata. f5-f4, g5, sac the bishop on h3 and mate the king. :)

 
ICC is probably the best place if you want serious, standard time control games. They also have some very good video authors that come as part of the subscription. Any serious chess player should have a sub to ICC and ChessTempo, IMO.

 
Sorry to continually Hipple this thread but... blitz is a great way to get a feel for your opening. Especially if you have a regular blitz partner you can play with. Play a few games, look up your moves in a repertoire book to see where you deviated, and make slight improvements each game.

In the words of Bobby Fischer (regarding attacking the fianchettoed King) "I had it down to a science. Pry open the h-file, sac, sac, mate!"

 
Interesting experience at a local chess "club" tonight. My 2nd time in attendance

It's in a rough neighborhood/suburb of Philly and there were some crazy looking folks in attendance along with a good dozen 80 year olds.

The oldest gentleman in the club is a legit 1900 and apparently hasn't lost in years in the club.

During my first match with a local landscaper someone kept farting loudly. I guess it's no big deal as no one seemed to care or say anything. It was a bit distracting though.

The guy I was playing was terrible but kept telling me how he had some tricks up his sleeve. Usually proceeded by me forking his queen and rook, which happened in every single game.

No big deal, I'm not grandmaster myself. About halfway through out 2nd game he starts to twitch his hand like he is psyching himself up to throw a punch at me and stating how angry he is getting. I debating just tanking on purpose and losing so he wouldn't kill me.

I survived.

Observed another match that was just about over. When the 2nd best player in the club made a winning move, his opponent punched himself in the side of the head as hard as one can. The thud was audible and seemed pretty severe. They end up screaming at each other as I decided it was time to go.

Oy.

I need to find something more "professional" in the Philly area and perhaps look into getting myself rated so I can play in a higher end club I guess.

Anyway, not feeling great about my d4 defense. I've always played Nimzo-Indian or Kings Indian type defense but struggle to get my pieces to dark squares after trading off my dark squared bishop for their Knight (in the Nimzo-Indian that is)

I'll take any suggestions on a d4 defense to research vs intermediate players that might cause confusion at that level?
Weird club experience indeed.

Below the top level, you are generally looking for a d4 defense that will give you active play and chances to play for the win. Usually easier said than done.

Semi-slav and King's Indian are the 2 defenses that I feel give right mix of established theory and creative chances at the intermediate level. Grunfeld might also be a consideration, but I personally have never been a huge fan.

 
ICC is probably the best place if you want serious, standard time control games. They also have some very good video authors that come as part of the subscription. Any serious chess player should have a sub to ICC and ChessTempo, IMO.
I'm on ICC if you ever want to kick my ###.

 
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You're up two pieces, he should resign. You may not have a forced win in 5 moves, but you should be able to easily beat him with those kind of material odds, especially with a 20 second increment.
hmmm, this makes me think I should start joining these tourneys and once I am down two minor pieces (maybe those are the short ones) I just start running away instead of trying to win. Wonder how long I could survive.On a serious note, my son is 5 and was thinking about him joining the chess club in his kindergarten in the fall...what is a good tool for him to learn? iPad app? Book I can read and teach?

I have no chess skills other than I know how the pieces move but don't know the "double Monte Carlo gambit" or whatever the various strategies are.

 
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You're up two pieces, he should resign. You may not have a forced win in 5 moves, but you should be able to easily beat him with those kind of material odds, especially with a 20 second increment.
hmmm, this makes me think I should start joining these tourneys and once I am down two minor pieces (maybe those are the short ones) I just start running away instead of trying to win. Wonder how long I could survive.On a serious note, my son is 5 and was thinking about him joining the chess club in his kindergarten in the fall...what is a good tool for him to learn? iPad app? Book I can read and teach?

I have no chess skills other than I know how the pieces move but don't know the "double Monte Carlo gambit" or whatever the various strategies are.
Get him a local coach if you can.

Let him do the teaching.

Well worth it, if you find the right one and could afford it. But chess lessons do exist.

 
Fabiano Caruano is done.

He'll be competitive but he lost the fear factor.

Looks like MAgnus is out of the woods.

turkish :coffee:

 
You're up two pieces, he should resign. You may not have a forced win in 5 moves, but you should be able to easily beat him with those kind of material odds, especially with a 20 second increment.
hmmm, this makes me think I should start joining these tourneys and once I am down two minor pieces (maybe those are the short ones) I just start running away instead of trying to win. Wonder how long I could survive.On a serious note, my son is 5 and was thinking about him joining the chess club in his kindergarten in the fall...what is a good tool for him to learn? iPad app? Book I can read and teach?

I have no chess skills other than I know how the pieces move but don't know the "double Monte Carlo gambit" or whatever the various strategies are.
Buy the book Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess and read it together. Do a couple of pages each night as a father-son type thing. It's generally one short quiz per page and is a very good instructive method. You'll both learn something from it. Chess club at the school will be good for his progress as well, if the teacher is competent. I wouldn't go all gung ho with private coaches until he shows genuine interest in the game.

 
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SacBob - Any analysis videos or live videos for the Tata games?

Unfortunately, Jerry is busy playing 15/2 chess these days.

 
SacBob - Any analysis videos or live videos for the Tata games?

Unfortunately, Jerry is busy playing 15/2 chess these days.
chess24.com is the place to go for most live commentary of international tournaments. Yasser Seirawan is fantastic in that role. He doesn't use engine analysis, just goes with his experience as a former top 100 player. English IM Lawrence Trent is another of their frequent commentators, although I haven't seen him for this event.

 
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Couple good international tournaments going on now.

Gibraltar Masters Open is the big one, with Nakamura, Topalov, Svidler and rising star Wei Yi.
Grenke Chess Classic with Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana and Anand.

 
Anyone keeping an eye on the US Chess Championship?

Akobian had a nice game to start.

Kamsky with a draw as white.

Nakamura destroyed Holt after gambiting off his king's pawns in the first 15 moves (big blunder by Holt at move 24)

 
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Anyone keeping an eye on the US Chess Championship...

Akobian had a nice game to start.

Kamsky with a draw as white.

Nakamura destroyed Holt as black with a nice Kings Indian after gambiting off his pawns protecting his king in the first 15 moves
You wouldn't happen to have a link to that third game, would you?
 
Anyone know the story as to why Finegold doesn't play in this? Surely he's rated high enough. Is it just a matter of him trying to qualify and not making it?

He's always asking for donations to his gofundme page to keep making shoddy chess analysis videos and is one of the top rated US players (or was, maybe?).

Just curious really - the prize pool is pretty large.

 
Anyone know the story as to why Finegold doesn't play in this? Surely he's rated high enough. Is it just a matter of him trying to qualify and not making it?
Not nearly strong enough. He'd be the lowest rated in the field and wouldn't have the benefit of being a young improver like Troff, Naroditsky or Sevian. He's 2500 when over half the field is 2660+.

 
Anyone know the story as to why Finegold doesn't play in this? Surely he's rated high enough. Is it just a matter of him trying to qualify and not making it?
Not nearly strong enough. He'd be the lowest rated in the field and wouldn't have the benefit of being a young improver like Troff, Naroditsky or Sevian. He's 2500 when over half the field is 2660+.
Gotcha.

He has his own channel now that he's trying to fund through gofundme instead of just playing on twitch like the other big 2 (chessnetwork and kingscrusher)

 
Are there any fat chess players?
Ben Finegold is one of the best players in the US and is a house.
Alex Fishbein is big as well. Thinking about it though, most top chess players tend to be in pretty decent shape. Not surprising since most top chess players aren't American. Finegold has a pretty hot GF IIRC. It's like Jerry's wife on Parks and Rec.

 
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Are there any fat chess players?
Ben Finegold is one of the best players in the US and is a house.
Alex Fishbein is big as well. Thinking about it though, most top chess players tend to be in pretty decent shape. Not surprising since most top chess players aren't American. Finegold has a pretty hot GF IIRC. It's like Jerry's wife on Parks and Rec.
Yep.

She's a chess player too. Good looking pull for him.

Anyone know the French variation Akobian is playing vs Nakamura? Looks bad for him already with 3. dxe4 instead of Bb4

He's been in the tank for already 15 minutes on move 9. :loco: C'mon Var

 
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Way too much coverage of the women's side so far this tournament. I'd say more than the men even.

I thought it was due to Shahade being up there with Yaz but even with Alejandro in place of Shahade is been non stop women's coverage

 
Looks like a Rubinstein French? Not 100% familiar with e-pawn openings. Very, very similar looking to the Smyslov variation of the Caro-Kann when White doesn't play critical lines. Database says it's pretty rare but good for White.

 
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Looks like a Rubinstein French? Not 100% familiar with e-pawn openings. Very, very similar looking to the Smyslov variation of the Caro-Kann when White doesn't play critical lines. Database says it's pretty rare but good for White.
Yep - stockfish does not like it already.

I'm a big fan of Var. His lectures are great, especially when he laughs at kids for giving a stupid answer.

 
Pawn sac by Var in opposite sides castling position. Probably the reason he took so long on his move, he was trying to remember some preparation and decide whether or not he wanted to use it.

 
Managed to run my ICC Blitz rating to near 1500 this month :thumbup:

Started by really hammering down knowledge of just 2 or 3 openings.

Switched from the Nimzo Indian to the Slav vs d4

And vs. e4, there's a good chance if you let me get into the Caro Kann advanced variation vs e4, you will lose.

The biggest thing was starting to understand which pieces are strong vs weak in the various openings/defenses.

Still vacillating on when I play white. I always play d4 and Queens Gambit. The computer seems to love e3 on move 4 without getting my dark squared bishop outside of the pawn chain. Guys like chessnetwork and Serawain seem to always strive to get their bishop outside of the pawn chain. Would love to see any database games with white playing pawn to e3 on move 4 to see how they worked their bishop.

The simple answer is b2 to b3 with your pawn, but this winds up bad for my bishop in most games.

 
Also - whats the BASIC principle of the Smith Morra gambit? Kingscrusher loves offering it, what's the draw here? Bishop freedom? Looking for why it's used in general principle terms. Is it a blitz only move?

 
Managed to run my ICC Blitz rating to near 1500 this month :thumbup:

Started by really hammering down knowledge of just 2 or 3 openings.

Switched from the Nimzo Indian to the Slav vs d4

And vs. e4, there's a good chance if you let me get into the Caro Kann advanced variation vs e4, you will lose.

The biggest thing was starting to understand which pieces are strong vs weak in the various openings/defenses.

Still vacillating on when I play white. I always play d4 and Queens Gambit. The computer seems to love e3 on move 4 without getting my dark squared bishop outside of the pawn chain. Guys like chessnetwork and Serawain seem to always strive to get their bishop outside of the pawn chain. Would love to see any database games with white playing pawn to e3 on move 4 to see how they worked their bishop.

The simple answer is b2 to b3 with your pawn, but this winds up bad for my bishop in most games.
There's no reason to play an early e3 in the Queen's Gambit. Don't take engine advice in the early opening unless the eval is really high.

 

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