All Questions
7,731
questions
-1
votes
1
answer
37
views
1
vote
1
answer
20
views
FIDE 2022 Presidential Elections - Runners and Riders?
There is a 4 year FIDE election cycle and with Dvorkovich elected in 2018 everybody knew there would be an election this year. With both the 2022 Olympiad and FIDE Congress due to be held in Russia ...
- 74k
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Game in James Bond film "From Russia with love"
The beginning of the James Bond film From Russia with love (1963) portrays the end of a game between the fictional characters Kronsteen (Czechoslovakia) and Macadams (Canada) in the last and decisive ...
- 2,903
0
votes
1
answer
45
views
Opening suggestion where my side castles king side and has king side majority
I'm looking for a set of openings that are more likely to lead into positional play where my side castles king side and have king side majority. Theoretical advantage is not required.
The plan is to ...
- 2,318
5
votes
2
answers
424
views
Sicilian endgames - favourable for which side and why?
I often come across statements like this:
Generally speaking, Sicilian endgames tend to favour Black for
structural reasons. The extra center pawn and the half-open c-file are
both advantageous for ...
- 564
2
votes
1
answer
85
views
How do I get a FIDE ID?
I’m going to play in my first tournament which have said the following: “Those who don’t have a FIDE ID have to enroll FIDE ID registration under your own federation” and I don’t understand what they ...
- 29
1
vote
2
answers
93
views
Most different mate-in-N depending on black's move
The puzzle (this may have a known answer) is to construct a position such that:
If Black makes move A, it's mate in 1 for white.
If Black makes move B, it's mate in 2 for white.
...
If Black makes ...
- 2,429
-2
votes
1
answer
108
views
Why does Stockfish miss mate in 5 with only two legal moves?
I'm interested to understand what is going on for Stockfish on Lichess here. There are only two legal moves for Black, and it gives the position mate-in-14 for white.
When asked to play its ...
- 2,429
2
votes
0
answers
83
views
I don't understand why this scenario is checkmate. The black rook cannot move, as it's protecting black king. Can someone explain? See photo [duplicate]
So in this scenario the White Queen put the black king in check, which was then blocked by the black rook. So, how is it that the black queen moving to the position of F1 is considered checkmate? The ...
0
votes
1
answer
116
views
What is the best garden chess set?
We plan to buy a garden chess set for outside at our work facility. It should be mobile which means we don’t plan to build a chess board with stones on the ground.
What is a good garden chess set (and ...
- 113
-2
votes
1
answer
43
views
If you play an engine in Arena, how do you send it setoption commands?
I really want to play two engines against each other, one with a tablebase path and one without, but I assume this is just a special case of the question in the title.
- 464
4
votes
1
answer
134
views
Does this tactic (Bxf7+ KxB, Ng5+...QxB) have a name? [duplicate]
I'm not sure whether this qualifies as a trap, but I sometimes do this tactic. My opponent pins my knight on f3 against my queen, but by sacrificing my bishop to f7, I can move the knight with check ...
- 2,429
1
vote
0
answers
50
views
Software with tabulated notation
I am looking for a software that allows tabulated notation.
Example:
Is there any software that allows notation in this way? I would prefer desktop application software.
In ChessBase I can't find an ...
- 119
0
votes
0
answers
72
views
Is there an Android app that can replace pieces by dots?
I would like to learn blindfolded chess. But after about 20 moves I cannot remember the position.
My question: Do you know an app for Android that can replace the pieces by dots?
For Desktop PC I ...
- 21
0
votes
1
answer
97
views
Unique tactic motif? Surely not
Played by me yesterday in the Hamburg team championship.
[FEN ""]
1. d4 f5 2. h3 Nf6 3. g4 fxg4 4. hxg4 Nxg4 5. Qd3 g6 6. Nf3 d6 7. Bh3 Nc6 8. Bxg4 Bxg4 9. Rxh7 Bf5 10. Rxh8 Bxd3 11. Bh6 ...
- 9,886
1
vote
0
answers
59
views
How to play with White against 3...c5 in modern defense after d4 c4 Nc3 from White
I play with White 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3 against many openings for Black including QGD, KID, Grunfeld, NimzoIndian defense, and Averbach variation in the Modern defense, etc. Recently, I have been facing ...
- 938
4
votes
2
answers
151
views
Imagine your (stronger) opponent plays this Botez Gambit. How to strategise?
My experiment is inspired by Hikaru Nakamura's "Botez Gambit Speedrun". The term "Botez Gambit" refers jocularly to the act of blundering your queen.
Let's say you had the black ...
- 201
2
votes
1
answer
77
views
WCM titleholder without reaching 1800 elo
I came across this lady from Japan: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/7001800
She holds the WCM title, which according to the FIDE handbook requires that you have at one point in time reached 1800 elo ...
- 131
-1
votes
0
answers
59
views
Are there any books you'd recommend for understanding how to play the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation as White? [duplicate]
I get the basic idea, but I am wondering if there are any books that really highlight how to play this opening well.
- 27
5
votes
1
answer
104
views
Why not e3 instead of e4 in Grunfeld Russian system?
In the position below White continues with e4 after, say, Black castles. grunfeld-defense:
[FEN ""]
[StartPly "10"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4
...
- 541
0
votes
0
answers
37
views
Was taking the King ever legal and when did it become illegal? [duplicate]
My sense from a Benjamin Franklin chess anecdote (he takes his opponent's king and says, In America, we take kings!) is that in the 1700s, taking a king if your opponent allowed it, was not illegal or ...
- 319
4
votes
3
answers
146
views
Why does f3 weaken white's position here?
Take this game:
r2qkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3pp3/1n1P3N/4P1B1/PPbQ1PPP/RN2KB1R b KQkq - 1 7
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bf5 4. e3 Nb4 5. Nh4?? Bxc2 6. Qd2 e5 7. Bg3 Be4 (7... Bxb1 8. Rxb1) 8. f3 Bxb1 9. Rxb1
I'...
- 311
1
vote
0
answers
63
views
Swiss bye in PGN
Not that it is of earth-shattering importance, but how is a Swiss bye entered in the Result header by default? 1-0? +? +-? +--? Is it different from a forfeit? (The latter can be additionally ...
- 9,886
17
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Was there a chess piece—elephant, knight or rook—rendered as a being looking into two directions?
I have found a chess set of unknown origin with ducks as pieces. Simple ducks for pawns, king and queen crowned and big, okay, but then, for rook, knight and bishop, I don't know.
There is a duck ...
- 187
-1
votes
1
answer
107
views
Did white make an illegal move here?
Black legally moves a pawn to the 8th rank, intended to promote it to a queen without specifying what piece this pawn should be promoted to. White immediately captured the pawn with his piece (as it ...
- 7,705
1
vote
0
answers
93
views
Are there any books on the Reti-Spielmann attack (1. e4 e6 2. g3)?
I tried looking for books on this online but I couldn't find any.
- 27
0
votes
3
answers
199
views
"Highest" level of illegal move
For example, was a GM ever caught on an illegal move? Of course, only standard time control (everybody still remembers Carlsen-Inarkiev, but that was a blitz game) and after FIDE codification of chess ...
- 9,886
-3
votes
4
answers
141
views
Least amount of "points" to mate a berserk king
"Berserk king" is my own invention ;).
It means that you play according to the normal chess rules, until a king is mated. At that point the mated king is allowed to do TWO moves, in a last ...
- 356
2
votes
3
answers
436
views
How to deal with Black's dark-squared bishop on d6 in the London system
I have problems when black places his bishop on d6 in the London. Take for instance the following game:
r1bq1rk1/p2n1ppp/2n1p3/1p1pP3/2p5/2P1P1B1/PPBN1PPP/R2QK2R w KQ - 1 12
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 { D00 ...
- 363
3
votes
0
answers
198
views
Are engines impaired by the 50-move rule?
Are we missing too much from the 50-move rule implementation to engines, whether HCE (Hand-crafted evaluation) or/and NN (Neural Network)?
We know that certain endgames are a win without the rule.
...
- 51
0
votes
1
answer
134
views
What is the longest possible sequence of consecutive checks without captures?
The best known answer (54) for arbitrary checking moves is given in What is the theoretical limit for the number of consecutive checks?, but I'm interested in sequences without captures.
As usual, the ...
- 111
4
votes
2
answers
155
views
"Premoving" in blitz over the board [duplicate]
I'm myself a lightning-fast blitzer, but some (Ha. All.) have better dexterity than me. Some specialists make their move even before I could hit my own clock. This is especially annoying when Fischer ...
- 9,886
2
votes
1
answer
87
views
Testing Mate Possibility Without Use of King
I would like to be able to convince myself of the possibility (or lack thereof) of mate using various piece combinations in which the attacker doesn't use their own king.
I'd like to approach this by ...
- 183
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
can players continue the game on mutual agreement in case of mobile ringing and arbiter noticing
In a situation where a mobile phone rings in the middle of the game should the offender's opponent call the arbiter and claim the win.
If claiming is not needed and if the arbiter decides to mark the ...
- 563
1
vote
2
answers
110
views
Are there any protocols for folding chessboard, where the dividing line should appear?
A folding chessboard will always have a dividing line in between the 2 halves of the unit.
Is there a guideline where exactly the line should appear; Should it be between the armies (seen mostly) or ...
- 309
1
vote
1
answer
159
views
Why is this a Checkmate? Pawn can capture queen?
I am just learning Chess. Why is this a checkmate? It's Black's turn, and White's queen threatens Black's king, so check. But if I play gxf8, the check is gone. Why doesn't the game let me do it?
- 11
10
votes
2
answers
3k
views
History of physical fitness in the world championships
Who can forget this picture from Kortchnoi's preparation for his 1981 match against Karpov?
More on Kortchnoi's physical preparation for the match in Merano in this 1986 documentary made by English ...
- 74k
2
votes
1
answer
477
views
What is the Botez gambit?
A friend of mine told me about this term used when you lose your queen, the Botez gambit, named after Alexandra Botez. It seems this term has arrived to casual, not necessarily young, (on-line) ...
- 2,903
9
votes
1
answer
955
views
A helpmate in 15 moves
I recently came across this ChessBase India article on "engine defying problems." Here's a problem from the helpmate section. We need to reach the helpmate in 15 moves. I thought for a long ...
- 545
2
votes
1
answer
200
views
Find a forced checkmate on dark squares only
In a recent Youtube video, the black player reaches the following position
[White "NN"]
[Black "Chess Simp"]
[FEN "r2r4/ppp2p1k/2n4P/4p3/P3n3/B1P1P2P/P1qPK2P/R6R b - - 0 1&...
- 918
2
votes
4
answers
140
views
What strategic principles contribute to black's advantage in this position?
I calculated to the following position during a game:
[FEN "r1r3k1/5pbp/p2qpnp1/3p4/3P4/2N1PB1P/P5P1/2R1QRK1 w - - 1 22"]
At the time I believed black would have a slight positional edge ...
- 21
-1
votes
1
answer
64
views
The best strategy to win Squid Games [closed]
Squid Games. Four players go in turn (while observing each other), move each their own piece (_ wazir) onto one square vertically or horizontally on the 5x5 board (watch the image below). If one ...
- 111
15
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Why are capturing key moves "frowned upon"?
Wikipedia's article on Babson tasks says:
However, Yarosh's problem has a small flaw: the key is a capture, something which is generally frowned upon in problems.
(The "key" of a chess ...
- 2,429
3
votes
4
answers
704
views
Purpose of h4 on the main line of the Caro Kann
I'm beginning to study the Caro Kann defense and I don't fully understand why white plays h4-h5 on the main line. I can see that you get some space with that move, but the pawn on h5 might be a ...
- 141
2
votes
1
answer
130
views
What to do if in a tournament game with no time control, my opponent plays very slowly?
I recently played a tournament game with no time control. It takes my opponent at least 5 minutes, sometimes longer, to make (almost) every move. The game started at 6pm and lasted 3.5 hours. If I ...
- 7,705
2
votes
2
answers
192
views
Shortest game to "elegant" mate
Define an "elegant" checkmate as one in which
the king is not on the edge of the board
the king and each of the 8 squares surrounding it are each attacked by exactly one, different opponent ...
- 2,429
5
votes
3
answers
200
views
Is this queen vs. pawn endgame position winnable for black?
Came across a puzzle that stopped at this point. How can black win from this position? White to move.
- 51
-6
votes
2
answers
127
views
Is it possible for black to win this?
[FEN "5bbk/5p1p/3b1P1P/6PK/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
How does Black get out and is it possible for Black to win? And if so, what is the least amount of moves it takes Black to win?
It is Black to ...
- 1,021
1
vote
2
answers
85
views
How do you calculate the chess rating of players using the Ingo system?
I have been reading on the references below but could not understand it.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_rating_system
http://www.chessboss.com/chess-rating/
https://chessdelights.com/...
- 1,864
0
votes
2
answers
196
views
How do I evaluate the value of every piece in Mathematical Chess?
This is Vietnamese Mathematical Chess—
http://cotoan.vnvista.com/rules-en.html
The board contains 11 ranks and 9 files. Each side has ten pieces, numbered from 0 to 9. The board initial layout is as ...
- 111