Any Chess players in our Emporium?

[filip85]

chess.com is the only way to play I’ve tried. Are there other, better ones?

I like lichess.org

my profile filip85 (1500)

 

[Osprey]

Download Chess Shredder app for a small fee on the Play store. Or use Droidfish based on the immensely powerful Stockfish chess program. Both have tutor, openings book, tips, teach how to analyze positions.build strategy and prepare for the endgame. As you play against the programs you get indications of the relative strength of both sides. As usual practice makes you better. A lot of it is down to rational thought and spotting patterns.

From my short bit of use the other day, chess.com appears to have some of that and I believe that it's free. Paid options might still be better, but I'm just pointing out that the most popular free site has tools for cheapskates who want to learn.

We should all play. That’d be cool.

I'm pretty sure that it's a game for only two people.

 

[robertmac43]

Holy smokes am I consistent when it comes to blundering pieces away mid game!

 

[x Tame Impala]

Holy smokes am I consistent when it comes to blundering pieces away mid game!

Do you have a certain play style? Before I started slumping I would win so many games because it seemed like so many players would be way too focused on doing there specific setup.

Instead of just playing the game they get tunnel vision amend you take away one of their bishops or knights they just crumble.

 

[PK Cronin]

I don't know what's happened to me this week. I went from 860 down to like 730. Just keep losing game after game after game after game.

Also annoying that just about everyone i'm playing tries to do that "Checkmate in 4 moves" crap. It doesn't work but annoying nontheless

I've been playing for a few months, probably the first time in my life I'm taking it a bit more serious but I've always enjoyed the game. Each time I incorporate a new element to my game my rating takes a hit. I just broke 1100 on chess.com recently and have now dropped back below it because I've been more aggressive and trying some new things out. Hopefully once I get a little bit better of an understanding I'll bounce back up again.

Do you have a certain play style? Before I started slumping I would win so many games because it seemed like so many players would be way too focused on doing there specific setup.

Instead of just playing the game they get tunnel vision amend you take away one of their bishops or knights they just crumble.

This happens to me sometimes for sure. I see what someone is playing and I know I should do [x] but I don't know where to go from there so I fear I'll make a mistake and won't do it. I'd rather play the systems I know and am more comfortable with than freestyling myself into hanging my queen like a dope.


I do notice that since Queens Gambit there's been an explosion of people playing, and many of those people are watching the same popular youtube videos so you get a lot of repetition in openings.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I've been playing for a few months, probably the first time in my life I'm taking it a bit more serious but I've always enjoyed the game. Each time I incorporate a new element to my game my rating takes a hit. I just broke 1100 on chess.com recently and have now dropped back below it because I've been more aggressive and trying some new things out. Hopefully once I get a little bit better of an understanding I'll bounce back up again.



This happens to me sometimes for sure. I see what someone is playing and I know I should do [x] but I don't know where to go from there so I fear I'll make a mistake and won't do it. I'd rather play the systems I know and am more comfortable with than freestyling myself into hanging my queen like a dope.


I do notice that since Queens Gambit there's been an explosion of people playing, and many of those people are watching the same popular youtube videos so you get a lot of repetition in openings.

Pawn to E4. 90% of the time

 

[Hadoop]

Played chess competitively when I was young, and have been playing online again during the pandemic. Play mostly on chess.com (my username on there is loose_moose) so it would be great if there was an HFBoards club on there.

 

[PK Cronin]

Played chess competitively when I was young, and have been playing online again during the pandemic. Play mostly on chess.com (my username on there is loose_moose) so it would be great if there was an HFBoards club on there.

Looked up your account and you're so much higher than me. I'm jealous. I've been following some different youtube channels to learn, do you have any recommendations for things that have helped you?

 

[blue425]

I have a few people I play with. One of my friends and I have pretty much started playing 960 full time. It is a hell of a lot more fun imo.

 

[SuperScript29]

I love chess, but I go with periods of either playing it like an addict or not play it at all. Lately I've been playing it more.

In the past I used to enjoy long games, but lately I'm learning to play with shorter times games. Recently I've been getting into blitz and it has been a lot of fun. Ideally though a 10-15 min game is best.

 

[Osprey]

You kids and your 10-15 minute games. Back in my day, we used to send our move to our opponent via e-mail. Games took weeks or months to finish.

 

[Hadoop]

Looked up your account and you're so much higher than me. I'm jealous. I've been following some different youtube channels to learn, do you have any recommendations for things that have helped you?

At your level I would say that doing more puzzles (I think you're allowed rated 5 puzzles a day on a free account) are still a great way to improve you tactical ability and general board awareness. Also while you cannot save your analysis on a free account you can still analyze your games on a free account and I would suggest doing that as well. The caveat is that some computer recommended moves are way beyond you (and even my) skill level, so in the analysis focus on computer-recommended move that make sense to you.

In terms of opening and strategy I think (not sure but an educated guess) poor/lack of piece development can be an issue at the 900-1200 rating level, so that is one additional general tip.

 

[Hammettf2b]

made 1000 in rapid today. woohoo!!!

 

[PK Cronin]

At your level I would say that doing more puzzles (I think you're allowed rated 5 puzzles a day on a free account) are still a great way to improve you tactical ability and general board awareness. Also while you cannot save your analysis on a free account you can still analyze your games on a free account and I would suggest doing that as well. The caveat is that some computer recommended moves are way beyond you (and even my) skill level, so in the analysis focus on computer-recommended move that make sense to you.

In terms of opening and strategy I think (not sure but an educated guess) poor/lack of piece development can be an issue at the 900-1200 rating level, so that is one additional general tip.

I have a paid account so I get a few more puzzles, just never really got into it. I'll give it another shot though.

The analysis with the computer recommended moves are pretty funny sometimes. Missed win on move 7 because on move 20 your opponent will lose their queen for nothing, like I'm Nostradamus over here.

 

[x Tame Impala]

The 10 minute games are great but the time-factor can kind of take away from the game itself. Obviously that's the point but i know I've won a ton of games based on time crunch and I've lost some that way too. Not necessarily the best way to learn the game.

 

[PK Cronin]

The 10 minute games are great but the time-factor can kind of take away from the game itself. Obviously that's the point but i know I've won a ton of games based on time crunch and I've lost some that way too. Not necessarily the best way to learn the game.

I find that a mix of times works well for me. Shorter games help me get a bunch of reps in against different openings and helps me recognize patterns or areas of weakness in my game. Longer games help me really think out my plan and what the best moves are in complex situations.

 

[SuperScript29]

At your level I would say that doing more puzzles (I think you're allowed rated 5 puzzles a day on a free account) are still a great way to improve you tactical ability and general board awareness. Also while you cannot save your analysis on a free account you can still analyze your games on a free account and I would suggest doing that as well. The caveat is that some computer recommended moves are way beyond you (and even my) skill level, so in the analysis focus on computer-recommended move that make sense to you.

In terms of opening and strategy I think (not sure but an educated guess) poor/lack of piece development can be an issue at the 900-1200 rating level, so that is one additional general tip.

Any tips on how to deal or get out of super losing streaks? There are times when I'm on a roll and winning most my games. But other times I go through these terrible streaks where I lose to everyone and their mother. I'm actually going through one right now, just lost 5 in a row, though 3 of those were 3 mins blitz so I don't care much there, but rapid losing streaks annoy me.

I find that a mix of times works well for me. Shorter games help me get a bunch of reps in against different openings and helps me recognize patterns or areas of weakness in my game. Longer games help me really think out my plan and what the best moves are in complex situations.

The best thing about faster games is less ppl cheating. I lost a good number of games to low ranked players that were playing like super grand masters. I have been notified multiple times by chess.com of this and they fixed the record. But there are some good cheaters that get around that too.

 

[Hadoop]

I have a paid account so I get a few more puzzles, just never really got into it. I'll give it another shot though.

The analysis with the computer recommended moves are pretty funny sometimes. Missed win on move 7 because on move 20 your opponent will lose their queen for nothing, like I'm Nostradamus over here.

Oh you also have a paid account. Nice! In that case I'd highly recommend the 'Guided Lessons' on there - pretty much all of the beginner level lessons should make sense to you and perhaps some of the intermediate lessons as well.

 

[Hadoop]

Any tips on how to deal or get out of super losing streaks? There are times when I'm on a roll and winning most my games. But other times I go through these terrible streaks where I lose to everyone and their mother. I'm actually going through one right now, just lost 5 in a row, though 3 of those were 3 mins blitz so I don't care much there, but rapid losing streaks annoy me.

Yeah losing streak can get me on tilt as well. Sometimes the best thing is take a break whether it's an hour or a couple of days.

 

[PK Cronin]

The best thing about faster games is less ppl cheating. I lost a good number of games to low ranked players that were playing like super grand masters. I have been notified multiple times by chess.com of this and they fixed the record. But there are some good cheaters that get around that too.

I got one of those the other day too. I played against a guy who just seemed off. I'm playing the same openings until I master them and then I'll move on, so I've seen a lot of similar things from my opponents. This guy starts making moves all over the place that just don't make sense for a normal person at my level, then it pays off in really weird sequences later on. I played fairly well in terms of my accuracy, but he was at like 98% or something. I review the game and every move he's making is the best move or one of the best moves. Then I check the rest of his games, he's winning every game at our level with an insane accuracy rate.

Next thing I know, I'm being refunded points because he was cheating.

 

[x Tame Impala]

What kind of f***ing loser do you have to be to cheat on chess.com? Reminds me of the people who would cheat in Halo 2 with “standby”

 

[PK Cronin]

What kind of f***ing loser do you have to be to cheat on chess.com? Reminds me of the people who would cheat in Halo 2 with “standby”

I think it's worse than in other games because the only way to cheat is to just flat out win. Other games you can have wall hacks or some other type of "aid", but it doesn't ensure victory. If you're using a computer to calculate chess matches you're not doing anything but wasting both people's time.

It wouldn't surprise me though if people use chess engines sparingly throughout a match to get themselves out of difficult situations though. Slightly less lame, but lame nonetheless.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I think it's worse than in other games because the only way to cheat is to just flat out win. Other games you can have wall hacks or some other type of "aid", but it doesn't ensure victory. If you're using a computer to calculate chess matches you're not doing anything but wasting both people's time.

It wouldn't surprise me though if people use chess engines sparingly throughout a match to get themselves out of difficult situations though. Slightly less lame, but lame nonetheless.

There's definitely been some games with a very steady back and forth between my opponent and myself (each of us taking about 20 seconds at most to make a move) and out of nowhere they'll take 2 minutes to move and it's something obscure...then i lose.

Can't say if it's cheating or not but it's always been interesting. One of the things i like the most about Chess.com though is that i never really care about my rank. I want to be a better chess player, period. So losing a game on some bullshit hasn't ever been the end of the world.

 

[SuperScript29]

I think it's worse than in other games because the only way to cheat is to just flat out win. Other games you can have wall hacks or some other type of "aid", but it doesn't ensure victory. If you're using a computer to calculate chess matches you're not doing anything but wasting both people's time.

It wouldn't surprise me though if people use chess engines sparingly throughout a match to get themselves out of difficult situations though. Slightly less lame, but lame nonetheless.

People using engines sparingly to get ahead is actually a lot worse than using the engine the entire game. At least with the latter it's easily flagged by Chess.com and you get your points back. With the former it really sucks because people get away with it and you lose.

For that reason I'm mostly playing Blitz nowadays. I find 3 minute games with 2 second add on with every move is plenty of time to think and act, but I used to suck at that until I got more comfortable with some good openings.

There's definitely been some games with a very steady back and forth between my opponent and myself (each of us taking about 20 seconds at most to make a move) and out of nowhere they'll take 2 minutes to move and it's something obscure...then i lose.

Can't say if it's cheating or not but it's always been interesting. One of the things i like the most about Chess.com though is that i never really care about my rank. I want to be a better chess player, period. So losing a game on some bullshit hasn't ever been the end of the world.

Unfortunately you will never know if they're using an engine or not. But sometimes in longer games it's not unusual for opponents to take a pause and think. This tends to be the case when the game is getting tight. I know I've done it many times when the board get's crowded and I need a second to think, though two minutes seems kind of long, but I guess some people take longer than others.

 

[PK Cronin]

People using engines sparingly to get ahead is actually a lot worse than using the engine the entire game. At least with the latter it's easily flagged by Chess.com and you get your points back. With the former it really sucks because people get away with it and you lose.

For that reason I'm mostly playing Blitz nowadays. I find 3 minute games with 2 second add on with every move is plenty of time to think and act, but I used to suck at that until I got more comfortable with some good openings.

Definitely true, but I can at least see a shred of an argument for using one sparingly. If a computer is doing the playing for you the entire time, why bother at all, ya know?

Unfortunately you will never know if they're using an engine or not. But sometimes in longer games it's not unusual for opponents to take a pause and think. This tends to be the case when the game is getting tight. I know I've done it many times when the board get's crowded and I need a second to think, though two minutes seems kind of long, but I guess some people take longer than others.

I take a long time in tight games for sure. I'm calculating as many different lines and scenarios as I can, sometimes that takes a few minutes...then I do it all again because I can't remember the original ones...then I eventually get frustrated and hang my queen.