Chess - classic or dud?

or not exactly mate (he can still go Kd7 to block, then i guess Bxd7 check so at the very least you come away w/ the knight

― Mordy, Sunday, January 22, 2017 8:25 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah you can't take with the bishop, it all goes wrong p quickly

take with the rook, hence

... Nd7

Rxd7 Nf6

Rxg7+ Kb8

Bd5

and I'm backing White I think

I've been playing for a few months and am pretty terrible (1068 & on an awful losing streak right now), hit me up if you fancy 3-5 day games, (I usually manage more than one move a day but can't guarantee it), I'm ledgr.

For anyone like me who's been absolutely abysmal every time they play (I'm hyper-aggressive and just start trading pieces), the lichess.org training is great.

woohoo I just played (as acoleuthic) and won my first 10-minute game! it was a blunderthon

the nice thing about knowing yr rating is the ecstasy when you beat someone rated fairly higher than you (i beat someone near 1400 in 15|10 today as black, tho tbf he was blundering like crazy so i assume he was tired actually the engine says he made no blunders - just 3 mistakes and 1 forced which makes me feel even more awesome) - of course the downside is when some 900 scrub beats u and you're like OK NO MORE POT WHILE I PLAY RATED GAMES.

fuck, this will kill my time stone fkn dead

Just sent requests to youse guys
my nick is the same as here

:)

Just played my best game yet, including a (declined) queen sacrifice and no obvious errors, against a guy who'd just beaten me then added me as a friend and asked for a rematch. Suckerrrr

(there was also a rook sacrifice but by then I was about to promote two pawns so he should have really resigned)

Woah avatars. Rad.

i'm happy to play any ilxors but i def prefer time limit games to multi-day ones. if any one wants to add me - i'm generally free for a game most evenings and 10 min blitz or 15|10 or some variation are my favorite formats. i find that a huge key to developing my skills in chess has just been developing my concentration and over a few days i always end up losing the plot. whatever consideration i had on monday i've forgotten by thursday and oops just blundered away a knight :/

nb if you can get a multi day game w/ someone who is willing - they can be good if you both agree beforehand that studying lines during the game is okay (as long as you're not literally using an engine) and i've found that's really helped me w/ openings i'm not super comfortable w/.

speaking of - what openings do u guys like to play? i've been exclusively playing king's pawn as white and scandi as black for the last 6 months.

These days,
White: King's pawn
Black: French defence

But I used to always respond with King's pawn as black too.

i have not studied much french defense but i find that in my rating bracket scandi transposes into french defense fairly often. white should be taking d5 but at least 30% of the time they respond to scandi w/ e5 which i reply to w/ c5 which is at least getting fairly close

i am a scandi liker as well, though i haven't played in ages and am quite bad

https://i.imgur.com/t3pmMoF.jpg

There are/were a couple of pro hotties out there, it's true...but thinking about them wont help anyone's game any

mfw higher ranked player than me 8+ points ahead loses bc of time

https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-03-2015/cvkHBj.gif

chess.com imo

prefer chesstime

people who trashtalk on disconnect from games they're losing on chess.com are the lowest form of human life

chess is classic for the fact that both players are allowed precisely the same resources, must follow the same rules, and can see every move made by their opponent. the only structural inequality is that one player gets the first move. after that it is all applied knowledge.

at least that is the superficial truth about chess. behind that simple phrase "applied knowledge" lies a whole universe of inequalities, based on intensive study of chess problems, memorization, and training. the more rarified the level of play, the more it resembles world-class athletics, where in athletics you must be endowed with the exact body type your sport demands and then train it endlessly, while in chess it is a particular type of mental acuity that one must possess and train for hours each day.

The only games that would be truly egalitarian by your definition are based purely on chance, e.g. Snakes and Ladders.

And even there, there are probably structural inequalities based on eyesight and language skills.

But I mean, definitely. My fiancee basically spent time studying every day after I showed her how openings work and is becoming fearsome less than a year later.

winning a foot race is all about being faster than the other competitors. that is true on its face. the myth is that being good at chess is all about being smarter than your opponent. it isn't. this is what I was trying to address.

it's certainly not a raw intelligence - i know ppl who are v good at chess who don't have a dazzling intellect in other areas, and ppl who are brilliant in their fields and who play crappy chess. there are other important skills involved; memory for sure, pattern recognition, concentration (this is probably the biggest deficit for me - i often want to read something while i'm waiting for my opponent to move & i really should be spending that time thinking about the game bc time is precious but i lose focus), visual intelligence (being able to visualize the board how it looks several moves later - i frequently get caught out trying a sequence and not realizing that 3 moves ago i did something that freed up an additional defender for my opponent that i forgot to account for bc when i calculated the moves i didn't see that eg moving that pawn would give his bishop access to the square in question), etc.

Oh yeah, it's definitely a skill that requires training/practice.

P. sure I'm fucked in both ilx games.

people who trashtalk on disconnect from games they're losing on chess.com are the lowest form of human life

Going 'on vacation' when you're 12 points down is a pretty low move too *raises eyebrow at matt dc*

Oh yeah, it's definitely a skill that requires training/practice.

btw, ledge, I like yr dn

i just played chess super high last night with my roommate and although it was my first game in years i played really well! i lost, but i was really aggressive and was able to frustrate him a few times and put him in some tough spots. chess is fun!

trying to see the board a few moves ahead is really challenging and fun, and when you're able to do it right it feels so cool

Going 'on vacation' when you're 12 points down is a pretty low move too *raises eyebrow at matt dc*

― brekekekexit collapse collapse (ledge), Saturday, February 4, 2017 6:32 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

8 moves into our game he's walked straight into a knight/bishop fork and gone mysteriously quiet

Who's in for brackets for the 1st annual ilx masters championship? submit thy nicks and let's set it up

sure - ilxmordy

you know mine

ah go on then, ledgr

btw, ledge, I like yr dn

knew there had to be some aristophanes fans in this place. n.b. that is all i know of aristophanes.

I dunno if it's just on Android or whatever but the Chess.com app is an excellent tutorial resource but its UI makes it awful for actually playing games.

I believe in uncertainty too much to be good at chess, I find it hard to visualise a few steps ahead because my brain keeps saying "but you have no idea what move your opponent will make". Obviously being able to visualise multiple scenarios would be helpful but that's where lack of concentration comes in. I only really enjoy chess played at speed.

Redhotpawn and chess.com are good that way since the 'Analysis' feature lets you actually try out different scenarios before moving.

What's involved with the ilx masters championsip? Are these live games?

I dunno, just putting it out there

I guess with only about six of us here, a tournament is probably more trouble than it's worth.

That said, I've lost against sund4r and ledgr so far! : )

almost as satisfying as successful fried liver

http://imgur.com/a/StjSP.jpg

http://imgur.com/tBRcCPm.jpg

i think i've got u sund4r

my game against calstars is going perhaps even worse than my game against matt dc is going well

Paul Morphy would often play exhibition games without a rook and win though so I just gotta channel that

My queen is invading Mordy's personal space

i don't think we're playing a game