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 many steps can a grandmaster foresee? [duplicate]
What makes a grandmaster special? Is it the amount of steps the grandmaster can foresee, or the creativity? How many steps can a grandmaster foresee in average in a game (for instance Carlsen and ...
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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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Does the first-move advantage for White have real meaning apart from the highest levels of play?
Most games that involve taking turns, with one player going first by lot or agreement, have some sort of advantage to going first. Tic-tac-toe, for instance, is a guaranteed draw for player 1, ...
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Can almost anyone become a grandmaster if they devoted their life from age 6?
I hope that some stronger players have some insight or that their are some quotations from notable chess players that relate to the question.
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Why wasn’t Rashid Nezhmetdinov a grandmaster?
He won the Russian championship 5 times, so why wasn’t he a grandmaster?
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How come chess prodigies seem to start at a young age?
I started looking into the history of a few grandmasters such as Fischer and Carlsen, so I wondered: why does it seem that chess "kings" and queens" start playing the game from a young age? Can anyone ...
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Why do Chess GMs need coaches?
Today chess.com did an interview with Carlsen's coach.
Someone like Carlen or Anand, why do they still need coaches? Their Elo is higher than their coaches, they can use engines to analyze the games, ...
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Positional thinking by Grandmasters
How do Grandmasters think in an unknown position and make the best move?
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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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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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Are there any repeated games between GMs?
I know there are almost an infinite numbers of games in chess, which is actually near 10^40.
But had a thought; in the games played between grandmasters, they usually they know what the best move is, ...
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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 is the life of a professional GM with ELO around 2500?
How is the life of a professional chessplayer with ELO around 2500? I mean, someone who is no doubt strong, but hardly a top GM? How does he make a living these days, if he hasn't another job?
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How often does castling occur in grandmaster games?
May I know how to find in all grandmaster games, what the percentage of each of the following is?
Kingside castling
Queenside castling
Never castled by the end of the game but still has the right to ...
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What does it mean to ''analyze grandmaster games''?
I am currently rated 1850. My coach tells me that in order to get better at my game, I should ''analyze grandmaster' games''. On the surface, I understand that he wants me to learn from great players' ...
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Do Grandmasters think using algebraic notation?
Is algebraic notation used just to communicate chess moves in written and spoken form, or should players strive to use it during their thinking process as well?
In Dan Heisman's excellent The ...
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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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What is the average age to become a grandmaster?
On average, what is the age of people when they obtain the title of international master or grandmaster? I also wonder how the age distribution looks like.
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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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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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Has any other grandmaster gone as long undefeated like Capablanca?
Between 1916 and 1924, future World Champion J.R. Capablanca, as of 1921, experienced a period of eight years without a single tournament defeat. He was then regarded as one of the world's best ...
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Which late starters have been able to become grandmasters?
Decades ago, there was a young man who joined the Rochester chess club where he had the frequent opportunity to play against USCF Life Master Dr. Eric W. Marchand if my memory is correct.
Who was ...
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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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First known computer-found error in expert chess analysis
What is the first known example of published expert chess analysis that was disproven by a computer search, with the winning player completely opposite? That is to say, a widely known published ...
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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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