Questions tagged [grandmaster]
The grandmaster (GM) title is the highest title awarded by FIDE. It is obtained by both acquiring a 2500 Elo rating, and achieving three "grandmaster norms," tournament performances of a sufficiently high standard.
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How do strong (GM level) players visualise the board?
This question was raised on the latest Chicken Chess Club podcast by a listener writing in who wanted help trying to play blindfold and who said:
What do you see when you try to visualise the board? ...
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Blunders that they didn't realise for some time
Any high-level GM games where somebody makes a big blunder but was in blissful ignorance about how bad the move was until several moves after the blunder?
EDIT thanks to comment: classical time format,...
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How often do strong master level players (2400+) make illegal moves?
In the latest podcast from the Chicken Chess Club, Laurent Fressinet admitted that in his latest tournament, the French rapid and blitz championships, he made an illegal move. He asked the other two ...
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What is the fastest loss by a GM in a FIDE classical game?
What is the shortest FIDE classical game a grandmaster lost? It can be either resigning or checkmate. The opponent doesn't necessarily need to be GM. Forfeits don't count. Only serious games count, ...
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Why does GM Larry claim that this sacrifice is brilliant?
On this webpage GM Larry Kaufman claimed (at least up to 2012) that the following move was brilliant:
[Title "Kasparov vs Shirov (Horgen 1994)"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/...
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How rare are three piece forks in GM games?
In games I play, I realize that sometimes (usually accidentally) I fork three different pieces at once. How common is this in GM games? For example, this would be where a single knight forks a bishop, ...
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Why had T. Petrosian never used Hippopotamus Defence? [closed]
The Hippopotamus Defence is considered one of the most solid defences and GM Tigran Petrosian is considered one of the most defensive players. Apparently, Petrosian knows about Hippopotamus, but why ...
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Moving a piece to a square protected by 5 opponent's pieces
At the 5th round of the 2022 FIDE World Team Championship, in the game between Ivanchuk and Van Foreest, White played the following winning move:
[FEN "1n1q2k1/2r1rp1p/pp1b1np1/3pN3/3P4/BP4PB/...
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Is it possible to obtain the GM title directly without going through norm process in 2022?
I have seen people get direct GM titles especially in Zonal tournaments.
Here for an example achieved the GM title after winning the 2016 African Chess Championship.
Wikipedia page for the Grandmaster ...
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Why do high rated players still take so much time to calculate a pawn endgame position close to a game that they (likely) had before?
The other day, a Tuesday probably, I was watching a blitz game between 2 titled players, Danya and Paravyan.
They have about 1 minute remaining each, and from this moment
they both struggle to ...
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What is the most number of repetitions in a GM game?
In July 2014 FIDE introduced new rules regarding draws. The arbiter was required to step in and declare the game drawn in cases where the players repeated the position 5 times:
9.6 If one or both of ...
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Inspired by Ding's victory over Rapport in round 10th of 2022 Candidate's tournament; victories with a piece not moving at all
So in round 10th of the 2022 Candidate's tournament, Ding beat Rapport, and at the moment of resignation (move 55!), Ding's c8 bishop had not moved from its original square during the whole game.
So I ...
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2 GM Norms in 24 hours - first time ever?
Chess.com reports that 17-year-old Frederik Svane has scored 2 GM Norms In 24 Hours and asks if this is a record:
17-year-old Svane, the youngest of the two brothers (Rasmus recently turned 25), ...
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"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 ...
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How is it possible for a player without 2500 ELO to obtain the GM title?
I recently came across a GM who has a peak rating 2495 and has obtained the GM title after completing three norms.
From my understanding, in order to become a GM one must
Achieve a FIDE rating of ...
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Lowest rated player(s) who earned a GM norm
Who had the lowest rating when they earned at least one GM norm?
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Players who are consistently rated over 2500 but are not GM
How many players are consistently rated over 2500 but are not grand masters?
(I am interested in players who have been over 2500 for a few years while actively playing chess.)
—----
See also Why wasn’...
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Abbreviation: GM or IGM?
Recently I was browsing old issues of my clubzine when I tripped over "IGM". Wait, aren't all Grandmasters international by default? But I'm old enough to remember that the abbreviation &...
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At the Grandmaster level, at what amount of additional time per move do the benefits become negligible?
Naturally, having more time to ponder each move lets skilled players figure out better decisions and avoid errors one might make when there is a pressing time limit, with more time allowing more ...
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Both (at least) WGM and PhD/doctorate
Similar to this question Both grandmaster and PhD/doctorate but for at least WGM (WGM, female IM, female GM, etc)
Among woman grandmasters, who have PhDs/doctorates?
Conditions:
standard WGM only eg ...
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Why do GMs participate in an "GM norm invitational" tournament?
I'm following the current GM/IM norm invitational tournament recaps thanks to GothamChess YouTube channel (IM Levy Rozman is playing).
Such an event (for GM norms) requires at least 3 (1/3) GMs to ...
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Is it true that Grand Master Julio Granda has only read one chess book?
Wikipedia spanish entry for GM Julio Granda says (Google translates):
Julio Granda does not study opening theory. He has stated that he has only read one chess book, the third volume of Roberto Grau'...
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Are all female grandmasters alive (as of the date of this post, 2021Sep01)?
Really female GMs and not WGMs. I notice here there's a 'deceased' list for female IMs but none for female GMs.
Is it really the case that there are only 38 females awarded GM title in history and ...
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Both grandmaster and PhD/doctorate
Who have PhDs/doctorates that are also grandmasters?
Conditions:
standard GM only eg no WGM (see there for WGM version), no International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster
no honourary PhDs/...
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Who was the quickest from "unrated" to GM?
What player attained the GM title in the shortest amount of time, beginning from their entry into organized (rated) chess, to the award of the title (either via attaining norms, or by direct award)? ...
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What is meant by "Licensed" in FIDE website?
I was browsing the candidates' profiles of the FIDE World cup on the official website and noticed something interesting.
On the profile page of GM Vladislav Kovalev, a Belarusian chess GM, has an ...
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Who was, or is, the oldest WGM?
It is well known that (concerning GMs only) Lilienthal set a record - he died 3 days after his 99th birthday. Yuri Averbakh has since surpassed him and may well be the first 100 year old GM.
What ...
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Which countries have the most GMs per capita?
This interesting site has a "World map of chess grandmasters" which looks like this:
Apart from the fact that Russia is very wide (it looks like it crosses 10 time zones), it looks like ...
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Why do GMs repeat moves instead of offering a draw?
Watching recaps of the 2021 Candidates Tournaments, so many games end in consecutive repeating moves. I have a general impression that lots of top level games are drawn by repeating moves. Why do the ...
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Have there been brilliancy prizes awarded to the losing player?
Have there been brilliancy prizes awarded to the losing player? Preferably, it would be at a grandmaster level.
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Do grandmasters think on every move?
While watching Hikaru's Streams/YouTube (GM Chess Twitch Streamer), he's no doubt extremely impressive when it comes to recognizing patterns that win him material and forced mates in like 7+ moves. ...
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Are all grandmasters capable of playing blindfold?
There seems to be no shortage of stories about top rated players playing blindfold, either recreationally, or in tournaments. I'm curious whether all top players have this ability. Are there are GM-...
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Engines tuned to masters’s styles
I saw a stream by IM Eric Rosen where he showed a stronger version of stockfish than the one on lichess.org. He said that it is a version that is given to masters with the evaluation function ...
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Who is this person in this image?
I think many chess players saw this image when playing older versions of Fritz as the option "coach is watching." But out of curiosity, who is the person in the image? Is he a grandmaster?
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Can a grandmaster still win against engines if they have a really long consideration time?
Can a grandmaster still win against engines if they have a really long consideration time? For example, say that Stockfish gets 20 minutes and the GM receives days, if not weeks.
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What's the oldest age at which a grandmaster played their first rated game?
Of all grandmasters past and present, what is the oldest age at which any of them started playing chess?
Define started playing chess:
The day that person played their first (FIDE, or equivalent) ...
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Famous grandmaster games of "torturous" winning or flaunting out of arrogance?
I was originally wondering why we don't see more torturous type of games among masters. For example, instead of proceeding to checkmate, the player in control methodically takes all pieces of his ...
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Do any grandmasters win more with black than white?
Some statistics indicate white scores 52-56% - but I wonder if that differs according to playing style - e.g. perhaps strong defenders prefer the black pieces.
Do any former/current grandmasters have ...
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Benefits of studying annotated grandmaster games
I've started reading about the 1960 Tal vs Botvinnik match and I'm planning on studying many annotated games like these. I was curious about what benefits I can get out of doing this. I've already ...
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Difference between a grandmaster and an international master?
International chess tournaments are played in many cities in the world. What are the criteria that differentiate a chess grandmaster from a chess international master? Dibyendu Barua of Calcutta [...
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Chess movies in Hollywood & Bollywood with GMs in them
Are there any movies about chess in which World Champions or grandmasters have played actually any role? For example, have Kasparov, Karpov, Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik, Polgar, Fischer, Tal or etc acted ...
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Blindfold chess games
Are blindfold chess games playable for chess world champions and grandmasters? Does the ability to do so show mastery for a player?
Blindfold chess is, without looking at board, the player will just ...
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Worst grandmaster by rating
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/fun-with-chess/worlds-lowest-rated-grandmaster
This is a joke thread about the 'world's worst grandmaster', Panko Smoobachuk. Seeing this post, I wondered, what is the ...
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Why are the requirements for becoming a GM so complicated?
Wikipedia's article on chess grandmasters indicates that the requirements to become a GM is complicated, and has always been complicated. For example right now, to become a GM, one needs to have had a ...
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Who was the first modern grandmaster?
According to Wikipedia, the modern system for awarding FIDE titles evolved from the "Dorazil" proposals, presented to the 1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad FIDE Congress. On the same Wikipedia page ...
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What is the idea behind this move?
I was watching Nepomniachtchi - Liren match on Chess24 Legends Day 2. After having a pretty significant advantage [+7.1 (Stockfish 11)], White [Nepo] has played g4, and according to the engine, the ...
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Do grandmasters practice blindfold chess or does it come naturally with practice?
Since grandmasters are good at calculation, do they practice blindfold for improving calculations, or does it come naturally over time by solving a lot of complex calculations?
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How often do grandmasters fail to mate soon when mate in five or less is possible?
The recent question, How often do grandmasters miss checkmate? , turned out to be a bit broad. This question asks about a simple subset of that one, which I hope can be answered with some precision.
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How often do grandmasters miss checkmate?
Although top players are extremely good at finding checkmate, the number of permutations of moves in just 3 moves can be hundreds of thousands, and the farther out the possible mate (e.g. mate in 4, ...
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How many positions does a GM analyze before making a move?
From a research paper:
Chess players search highly selectively. It is rare that they analyze more than
one hundred positions in the search tree before choosing a move.
In the middle game how many ...
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