Questions tagged [strategy]
Questions relating to reasoning behind a move, plan, or idea
590
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What is the next best move for white?
Is there a possibility that white can win this game as long as both players are playing the best of their game?
What should be the next move for white to play if white wants to win the game?
avoid ...
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I developed all the pieces I could. Now what?
I was playing chess against an AI, and found myself in this position (Black/me to move):
r1b2rk1/4n3/p1p1p1p1/1p1pPp1p/1PnN1P2/2NB4/2PP2PP/1RB2RK1 b - - 0 1
The only moves I could think of were ...
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What was the best move for white? Could white have won?
Could white have won this game? What was the best move in this position for white?
Or could Black have won?
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Why does the engine dislike white in this position despite the material advantage of a pawn and other positional factors?
After a trade that sacrified a bishop and a knight for two pawns and a rook, the game reached the following position: (White to move.)
[FEN "2r2qk1/1b1n1pb1/p4n1p/1p4p1/4P3/1BN2P2/PPP3PP/R2Q1RK1 ...
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Why is the engine suggesting this move?
[FEN "r1bqk1nr/p1ppbppp/1p6/n2P4/8/2N5/PPP1QPPP/R1B1KBNR w KQkq - 3 7"]
1. g4
With White to move, the Lichess engine suggests g4 in this position. Can someone explain why it's a good move?
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Josh Waitzkin chessmaster mastery quiz - spatial advantage, trading bishops
Update: The computer aspect of this can be answered with showing more lines such as in the lichess engine where h6 is slightly preferred to f5.
Based on: Josh Waitzkin Chessmaster Strategy Section 7 -...
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Josh Waitzkin on trading pieces ('the art of the trade')
Based on: Josh Waitzkin Chessmaster Strategy Section 6 "The Art of the Trade." A video can be found here.
[Event "From Josh Waitzkin Chessmaster Strategy Section 6 'The Art of the Trade'...
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1
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What to do with space?
I sometimes find that after an opening, I have created "space" for myself, and control most of the board. But then I'm not sure what to do next.
For instance (0 6 time control on Lichess, me ...
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Is there a good strategy to achieve a draw?
Background
Sometimes I face players who are much stronger than me and my first thought is, 'I just need a draw in this match' so I play "carefully"
My Current Strategies
Offer a draw
It ...
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How could I have prevented this long drawn out game?
Consider the following game. I am black.
[FEN ""]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 e6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. Bg5 Be7 7. h4 Nc6 8. Bd3 Qd7 9. Qd2 O-O-O 10. Nb5 f6 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. a4 h6 13. Bxf6 ...
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2
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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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What chess openings should I play If I am an offensive and aggressive chess player? [duplicate]
What chess books should I read If I am an offensive player? I have read a few chess books and they usually are opening books and I'm quite not sure on which openings I should play. Currently, I play ...
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Why is this a better move?
Playing on chess.com against the first advanced bot, "Antonio", I've lost a game and looked at the analysis.
The following is the state of the game not far from the beginning, where I had ...
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Can luck be used as a strategy in chess?
Consider below games where white looses a clean rook quite early in the opening but fights on hoping that they will be lucky and escape. Lucky enough, they escape and win the clearly lost game.
[Event ...
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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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Sites to understand errors
There are several sites where one can analyse his/her game. I often use lichess at the end of a game to see where I made mistakes. What I miss, though, is some kind of explanation of why a certain ...
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Comments and advice on a game that I played against 1.h4
I was playing a game with the Black pieces the other day against 1. h4. The reason why I wanna discuss this game with you is that during the game I always felt that my position is not stable, and at ...
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Why would you want to trade pieces?
To preface this, I am very new to chess. I knew the rules for years but I started actually taking the game more seriously and learning strategies just over 2 weeks ago.
One thing I consistently see in ...
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Being an Anti-Sicilian vs. Sicilian player
So I have been developing my opening repertoire on ChessBase recently and established that, as a 1.e4 player, I have to properly memorize Open Sicilian main line, Dragon, Hyper Dragon, Taimanov, ...
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How does his 3 step plan by Petrosian works?
[FEN "r6k/3q2bp/1p6/2pPp1p1/2P1QpP1/5P2/1P2R2P/2B3K1 w - - 0 1"]
Here Petrosian gives the following 3 step winning plan:
Stage 1: Tie down the black pieces to defense of the e pawn: 13.Bd2 ...
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Is there any obvious disadvantage of not castling in a game?
The opponent has the option of castling but can I still play a solid game without castling either side? I won some games in bullet time controls but only because position was too complex and opponent ...
4
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How do I create sharp, tactical positions?
It is said that you shouldn't simply look for combinations every move; rather, you should create positions that tend to create tactical opportunities.
But what does this actually mean? I think my ...
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Why should black trade knights in this position?
After playing the following game, Stockfish advised me to play ...Nxd2 after white played Nd2 (which I did not play during the game).
However, I am not sure why. Certainly, in the worst case, this is ...
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Why is it a mistake to capture the forked rook?
In a recent game, I forked a queen and rook with a knight. After seeing no immediate threats from 8. Qf4 I immediately captured with 8. ...Nxb3. Apparently this was quite a mistake (a 213 centipawn ...
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votes
1
answer
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How can I minimise my opponent's chances to make use of a weak square in my position?
For example, the Nimzo Indian where I don't want black to use the c4 square or the Benoni where I don't want white to use the d6 square. Is the only way to prevent this to have pieces tied down to ...
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votes
2
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What are the benefits of having a space advantage in a closed position?
I notice that in my closed games when I find myself with an advantage in space, I have more mobility for my pieces and thats all good but once I reach this position I'm never really able to find a ...
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vote
1
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Tips for converting my advantage in the middlegame and the endgame
I'm fairly new to chess. I'm practicing against 1500~ rated opponents/engines on chess.com. My openings and middlegame seem to go well. After every game, the engine analysis says I'm always up +1 ~ +3 ...
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How can chess be applied to other fields like politics or football tactics?
I just think that a strategy game such as chess can be applied to the real world and in that chess can make you a better strategical person, but how so?
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Could a top ranked GM draw against Stockfish using drawish opening lines in classical chess?
We know that are many lines which White can choose which are very drawish at 2700+ level. Drawing is easy to a very good chess player such as Carlsen, who knows dozens of forced draw lines. When I say ...
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Black Lion opening plans for White's 5. Bc4 line
The Black Lion is a line that can be transposed from a Philidor or Pirc defense. I play with White this line.
[FEN ""]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O c6 7.a4 Qc7 8.Re1 ...
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At what level does being very aggressive stop being useful?
Aggression is excellent against weaker players. But too much is bad. The higher the level of play, the more you need to dial it back to be safe.
What is the point in ratings in which one should look ...
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Is White in a weaker position?
Is White in a weaker position than Black? How do I analyze this position?
[FEN "2rq2kr/p1ppbp2/1pn1p1pP/4P3/3P2Qn/2PB4/PP3P2/RNB1K2R w - - 0 1"]
From this point onward, I tried a mobile ...
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4
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Can Black punish a provocative h-pawn push against fianchetto setups?
This question might sound ridiculous, but I think it needs to be discussed.
[fen ""]
1. c4 g6 2. h4!? (2...h5 3. d4 Bg7 4. e4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Nh7 (6...O-O) 7. Be3 O-O) (2...e5 3. d4 ...
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How to win it in less moves
From this point I tried to win this match but it took a very long chase. I know there is some shorter way to win it as my mobile chess-free app asked to resign after moving my white knight, but couldn'...
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1
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A castling variant-how would it change the game?
In chess, castling can't be done if the king or relevant rook have moved. How would the basic strategy of the game change if the king and rook could castle after moving? Also, how would the game ...
user24344
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2
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Does this process ever becomes a second nature?
I have started playing "real chess" but the problem is it takes too much time. How will I able to win in small time-controls? Does this process of searching the opponents threats and looking ...
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2
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Chess variant-Is it strategically good?
In this chess variant, the number of moves made both chess players are 1 & 2 alternatively. Here is a showing of it.
White Black
1 2
2 1
1 ...
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When is a queen better than 3 minor pieces (or vice versa)?
Obviously a lot is going to depend on the exact position, but I'm asking if there are any general signposts - e.g. bishops usually get better than knights if the position is open, or in an endgame, ...
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How to win a rook endgame with two extra pawns-4 vs 2 general plan
In this diagram it's White to move. Black should be winning in this endgame. I want a simple plan on how to move the Black pawns in a way that I will avoid the horizontal and vertical checks from the ...
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2
votes
2
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134
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What should be the next move in this position?
[FEN "2r1r1k1/pb5p/1pp1qb2/3p1p2/3Pn1p1/1Q2P1P1/PP2NPBP/2RRB1K1 b - - 0 1"]
What is the best move for Black in this position. Everything seems defended here.
What method is applicable in such ...
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How does b3 prevent e5 here?
[FEN "rnbq1rk1/ppp1b1pp/3ppn2/5p2/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 1"]
White plan is to play b3 and then Ba3 to render the move e5. But how does it prevents e5?
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Plan against pawn formation of c4, d5, e4, e3 in the Nimzowitsch defense (or similar positions in the Dunst opening)
I'm a 1700-ish player who plays opening systems starting with 1.Nc3 as white and 1. ... Nc6 as black, and generally I'm pretty happy with my results. But there's one type of setup that I struggle ...
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Why is the evaluation of the move h5 dependent on position of the bishop?
[FEN ""]
[startply "50"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. d5 Nd8 14. a4 Ra7 15. Nf1 g6 16. Bh6 Re8 17....
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Rossolimo 3.Bb5 vs open Sicilian against c5-Nc6 sicilian
Many chess players nowadays recommend the Rossolimo against c5-Nc6 Sicilian:
[fen ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
However, I find the open sicilian to be easier to play:
[fen ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 ...
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1
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Why this move is good here but not few moves ago?
[FEN "r1bq1rk1/p2p2pp/1pn1p3/5p2/1PP1n1P1/P4N2/1BQ1PP1P/R3KB1R b - - 0 1"]
Here, 1... fxg4 gives White an advantage. But 1...Nxf2 2.Kxf2 fxg4 is equal. Why is that?
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0
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How do I counter 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5? [duplicate]
I am a new player and a particular move that I have encountered multiple times playing as either black or white is:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 g6 3. Qe5+ Be7 (3... Ne7 4. Qh8+) 4. Qh8+
This was the ...
14
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3
answers
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Why does Black want to trade off their King's Bishop in many d4 lines?
I feel that in many lines starting with d4, such as the Queen's Gambit Declined, or especially the Nimzo-Indian, Black is more than happy to trade their King's Bishop for White's knight on c3. For ...
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4
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Why doesn't Lichess' Stockfish suggest this bishop sacrifice?
I arrived at the following position in an online game after the opponent left a queen hanging.
[FEN "r1b2r2/pp1p1ppk/2n1p3/6B1/2P5/5N2/PQ3PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 16"]
In the game, I played 16. Bf6 with ...
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6
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1
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281
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What should my plans be in a Carlsbad pawn structure?
I often find myself in positions with the Carlsbad pawn structure, and I really struggle to come up with a plan. I am usually the one with the pawn chain pointing toward the queenside, so I assume ...
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