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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What are some of the present and past GM known to be Neuro-Diverse?
As an Asperger player, I played from 5 to 10. I won at school and at regional tournaments. I left it
I returned at 18. I spent 15 years playing online and OTB (a lot of daily hours).
My best:
2900 in ...
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Do top players get discouraged if they cannot beat the best player in the world?
Magnus Carlsen has been the best player in the world for a decade. The other top players try, but they haven't been able to beat Carlsen, who's consistently 50+ elo above them.
Do the other top ...
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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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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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How does opening preparation work at GM level?
From what I can gather, one studies what the opponent has been playing, and prepare responses for their favourite lines. The problem is, there's no guarantee the opponent will play a given opening. ...
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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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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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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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Can I become a GM by playing 100 games per day without studying books, strategy, etc?
Some things in life you learn by simply doing, not just doing it, but doing it a lot. Practice makes perfection. I don't believe no-one is born a GM. Even Kasparov had to practice a lot.
So has ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Is it possible for any titled player to beat a chess engine?
This topic has been discussed before but I want to reopen this thread because of Stockfish vs Nakamura. I watched the series live on chess.com a few days ago
In Game 2, I was hoping to see if ...
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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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"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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Why do miniature games happen at the grandmaster level?
It is often said that grandmasters calculate many moves in advance before moving a piece.
If this is so, why do miniature game (games less than less than 25 moves long) happen?
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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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Why and how do great chess players become "crazy"? [closed]
I know that this question may be for a more psychology-focus forum, and "great" is an understatement for players such as Fischer; yet, I want to know your opinion on this question. Is it intelligence? ...
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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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Is a team of GMs stronger than a single super-GM?
For example Magnus Carlsen is currently the world number 1 and favourite to win a match against any other player in the world. (Similarly for Wesley So in chess960.) Is he also favoured to win a match ...
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What is the most queens that have been on the board in a grandmaster game?
There are quite a few grandmaster games with 3 queens or 4 queens, but what is the highest number of queens on the board in a game between two GMs?
I'd be interested in both the most on the board ...
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Full "reverse checkers" position in GM game with 12 or more pieces per player?
In yesterday's Tata Steel tournament in this game between Dubov and Artemiev this position was reached:
[title "Dubov - Artemiev Tata Steel 2020"]
[fen "r1r5/1p1q1pk1/2n1p1p1/2RpP2p/p2P3P/P1Q3P1/...
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Can playing blindfold chess be learned or is it a natural skill?
Any blindfold players here? Just wondering if blindfold chess is a skill that can be learned by amateurs like me or a natural skill by chess GM's, IM's, etc.
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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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What are examples of grandmaster games where both Black and White castle opposite sides and the queenside players loses?
I want to become better at attacking my opponent's king when they castle queenside. What are some grandmaster games where the player who castles queenside gets mated or loses due to a powerful attack ...
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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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Has the King's Indian Defense been refuted at the Grandmaster level?
I know about b4 in the bayonet and the Kramnik-Kasparov games of course.
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Can a grandmaster always draw?
I was watching the Candidates recently and noticed that the commentators talking about Wesley So’s last game got annoyed that he was aiming for a draw and didn’t really have any fight in him.
A draw ...
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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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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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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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Are chess grand masters automatically checkers grandmasters?
I couldn't find what the definition of a Checkers GM is exactly so I was wondering if it has the same requirements as chess (2500 points). Also, I was wondering if chess GMs are automatically ...
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Who were the first GMs, and how did they become GMs?
In order to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, a player must achieve three Grandmaster norms. This is not the place to go into detail about what those are; the pertinent point is that norms can ...
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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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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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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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