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 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 ...
Roland's user avatar
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Why Rashid Nezhmetdinov didn't achieve a grandmaster title? [duplicate]

Rashid Nezhmetdinov is one of the greatest chess player of all time. He destroyed Mikhail Tal many times. I know he was a great attacker but Tal also a great attacker. But why Rashid did not succeed ...
Imran's user avatar
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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 ...
NotSJR's user avatar
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What is the typical move prediction accuracy of human chess grandmasters?

I couldn't find any data about the percentage of moves that a typical human grandmaster would be able to predict in games of other human grandmasters. To clarify my definition of accuracy: The ...
user2845840's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
270 views

Does some GM or notable coach consistently employ "hand and brain" as a teaching tool?

I've seen some streamers do what they call "hand and brain", meaning that one person plays while the other chooses the kind of piece that they must move. All cases I've seen were intended for having ...
Aloizio Macedo's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
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Why do GMs look up during calculations?

I saw some grandmasters looking up or sideways during calculations. Why don't they just look at the board and visualize? Wouldn't that be easier?
bretlee's user avatar
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17 votes
12 answers
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Why do people even play chess?

Why do some of the world's best intellectuals spend their whole lives just on a wooden board, rather than working on the betterment of society ?
Aditya Sharma's user avatar
29 votes
14 answers
9k views

How are humans good at chess?

It is estimated that the total number of legal positions in chess is somewhere between 10^40 and 10^50. This is of course an enormous number. Computers today with reasonably good chess software can ...
Klangen's user avatar
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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, ...
Enrique's user avatar
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24 votes
4 answers
3k views

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' ...
Klangen's user avatar
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How many grandmasters have been stripped of their titles?

How many grandmasters have been stripped of their grandmaster titles? I heard about a GM in the bathroom who had his taken away, and was wondering what other circumstances have resulted in a GM losing ...
Stockfetish's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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What is the “Gufeld Bishop”?

I have another question I am going to ask and answer. The other day, I was watching a chess24 video, and GM Jan Gustafsson mentioned the “Gufeld Bishop”. What is the “Gufeld Bishop”?
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What is the best strategy for an amateur to last as many moves as possible against a GM?

As an amateur chess player, I have been pondering this question for quite a bit now: In case of an amateur playing against a Grandmaster, what strategy would lengthen inevitable defeat? I am ...
Lt. Commander. Data's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
290 views

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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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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14 votes
3 answers
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Positional thinking by Grandmasters

How do Grandmasters think in an unknown position and make the best move?
Club Player's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
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Is it possible to reach master level without studying theory?

Wikipedia page for GM Granda from Peru says: Julio Granda does not study opening theory. He has said that he has only read a chess book, the third volume of the General Chess Treaty of Roberto Grau. ...
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4 answers
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Who are the strongest non-professional GMs?

As title above states, who are currently the strongest non-professional chess players? By this, I mean players who have a full-time job outside of chess. For example, I remember German GM Georg Meier ...
A. N. Other's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
347 views

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 ...
user21820's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Cases of grandmasters renouncing titles, tournament victories, etc?

Apart from Bobby Fischer "renouncing", in a sense, the World Championship title in 1975, are there any other famous cases from chess history of strong players voluntarily renouncing titles, tournament ...
A. N. Other's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
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Is high IQ necessary to become a GM?

There is an option in the Swiss Manager pairing program which allows you to download into the program the current list of FIDE registered players (for many individual federations also). Once it is ...
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Was Wolfgang Unzicker the last Amateur GM?

Wolfgang Unzicker was a German GM, rated about 2550 and worked as a judge. In the sense of holding down a job while playing, he was an "amateur" player. So was Unzicker, a GM in the 70's, the last ...
Snack_Food_Termite's user avatar
29 votes
2 answers
10k views

How many chess players are over 2500 Elo?

They say that there are currently about 1500 grandmasters. I was wondering how many chess players currently have "grandmaster strength".
CognisMantis's user avatar
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30 votes
2 answers
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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 ...
Zuriel's user avatar
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18 votes
4 answers
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Why do professional chess players point at the pieces with a middle finger?

I've recently heard and then actually started to notice more and more that professional chess players tend to use a middle finger when pointing at pieces on the board like in this Anand vs Caruana ...
alecxe's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
266 views

Amount of search per decision: GMs versus AlphaZero and Stockfish [duplicate]

In Demis Hassabis' presentation at the the Kinds of Intelligence Symposium in January 2018, grandmasters are compared to AlphaZero and Stockfish along an interesting metric: how many moves are ...
Kortchnoi's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Why did GM Godena resign in this position?

Being an Italian, I am following my team at the Batumi Olympiad, and I was disappointed in seeing that GM Godena had just lost to a mere Candidate Master rated 500 ELO lower (Italy - Nepal). Then I ...
A. N. Other's user avatar
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8 votes
7 answers
3k views

How likely am I to beat a grandmaster through random play?

Understatement of the week: Grandmasters are good at chess. I am not. I was wondering because of this how likely it would be through complete random play to beat a grandmaster, and whether or not it ...
Arkleseisure's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
587 views

Can a GM title be given to someone after he dies?

Can a GM title be given to someone after he dies? For example can Rashid Nezhmetdinov receive a GM title for his contribution to Chess?
Lynob's user avatar
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8 votes
4 answers
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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 ...
Allure's user avatar
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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 ...
Arkleseisure's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
496 views

In the Dubois-Steinitz match (1862), at what point does the match become irreversibly lost for White? And why does the engine not pick it up early?

I am a beginner player (~1400 rating on lichess). I was studying a famous match between Dubois and Steinitz shown below (analysis done by Stockfish on lichess.org). My doubts are: 1) At what move ...
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13 votes
3 answers
4k views

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. ...
Allure's user avatar
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31 votes
2 answers
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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?
A. N. Other's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
887 views

Is it true that GM William Lombardy was homeless in the last year of his life?

As title above, is it true that GM William Lombardy was homeless in the last year or so of his life?
A. N. Other's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Looking for a Gata Kamsky quote - 'you must be playing a different kind of chess'

I remember a really interesting moment from the coverage of one of the past US chess championships (probably 2015 or before). Kamsky had just finished his game and was asked by Maurice Ashley for his ...
A. Roy's user avatar
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-5 votes
1 answer
211 views

How was vishwanathan anand? [closed]

I am fairly new to chess. I don’t know anything. The time I am taking interest in chess it is already proclaimed that this is the time of carlsen (except that yui person). I wish to know about ...
user154547's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
383 views

How do GMs and IMs prepare for tournaments?

I was wondering, how does a normal training day look like for the higher-rated players? How much time do they allocate daily/weekly for opening and endgame preparation, tactical training etc? I assume ...
Ionut Deaconu's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
883 views

Have famous grandmasters ever been checkmated?

Whenever I watch chess games played by grandmasters, they usually resign far before reaching checkmate (often even before a forced checkmate occurs). However, I wonder if there are recent examples of ...
Habbo's user avatar
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14 votes
4 answers
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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 ...
Habbo's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
946 views

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?
Rook16's user avatar
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3 votes
6 answers
2k views

Which chess players are/were best at the endgame? Can you refer me to their exemplary games?

I need inspiration. I'm an amateur. One of the areas that I find least likeable and just plain boring, is the endgame. I sometimes feel like I'm making no improvement there whatsoever. That's why ...
JSavant's user avatar
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-12 votes
3 answers
3k views

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 ...
Saikat's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does any country have as many GM's per capita as Armenia?

Does any country have as many GM's per capita as Armenia? If not which country is the closest? What are the some of the reasons for Armenian success in the chess world with its relatively small ...
David's user avatar
  • 348
5 votes
9 answers
868 views

Does knowing your opponent's personality have any influence on the game-plan

From Reputation and badges should be kept hidden until the question is answered, the below assertion is presented: It is often asked in chess, that does the personality of the opponent player has any ...
manav m-n's user avatar
  • 414
3 votes
1 answer
242 views

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 ...
user122965's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
181 views

Could Karpov defend against Kasparov in 1990 championship?

I have watched this video, where Kasparov explains the variations after his knight sacrifice. However, the position he analyses starting from 3:08, I think I am missing something. Kasparov vs Karpov, ...
padawan's user avatar
  • 1,110
9 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 ...
gerryLowry's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why did Valery Salov quit competitive chess?

Why did Valery Salov stop playing in chess tournaments in the last 15 years?
A. N. Other's user avatar
  • 6,816
0 votes
3 answers
508 views

What's a good website to study recent grandmaster games?

I would like to study some opening theory on the Grand Prix Attack. What is a good website to study recent grandmaster games?
user122965's user avatar
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