All Questions

NCM plays each Stockfish dev build 20,000 times against Stockfish 7. This yields an approximate Elo difference and establishes confidence in the strength of the dev builds. As of time of writing, one ...

I have often (or this one video just got it stuck in my head) heard Youtube videos (time 2:37, nothing else relevant) refer to this kind of pawn structure as a “crab” pawn structure (below, white ...

On the one hand today's chess engines will stomp those from five years ago no problem, not to mention hardware improves; on the other hand, correspondence chess players emphasize that one can't just ...

I know this sounds like a really basic question, but I couldn't find it anywhere on the site... On the following board, is the black king actually in check (assuming it's his move)? My thoughts are ...

Doubled pawns are usually bad, but are they when they are near isolated and backward pawns? Are there any reasons why this could be good? I would like to see what you can find.

How many solutions does the Knight’s Tour puzzle have when the knight first moves from square a1, through all squares (on each square once), and return back to a1? Please give some solutions. Also, ...

chess game won after 10. Bc3 by white was there any better move than f6 to stop the bishop from capturing the center pawn and by not blocking the d file for the rook. I am black in this game.

I feel like a better plan in the position is 1.g4 followed by g5 then after black responds with hxg5 follow that with Bxg5 then Qg2 followed by Qh3+ and then Bf6. After black replies with Bxf6 then ...

I played a game on lichess recently. Afterwards, I used the analysis feature, including the "learn from your mistakes" feature, and it said that 6. a3 by white was a mistake, with 6. Qa4+ as best. I'd ...

I am currently playing in a tournament and my last game was a total disaster. Without going into details, I missed a two-move threat my opponent had in the position (I'd expect a ~1600 Elo rated ...

For (endgame) training purposes, I would like to write a python program (using python chess) that generates all pairs of corresponding squares in a pawn endgame. Following the definition from ...

Sometimes, I'll be in a position where my opponent is threathening to do something and I cannot stop it. So, in response, I play a move that looks pretty dangerous and clever, but which I in fact have ...

Instead of 'a1', why not '11'? First file, first rank. Instead of 'g6', why not '76'? Seventh file, sixth rank. And so on. Why not just use two numbers to represent the square, as opposed to 1 ...

Depending on the situation, some pieces that are ordinarily worth the about same value (say a knight and a bishop, or two of any piece) have different practical values because one piece is stronger ...

[fen "5k2/8/1R6/5r2/P7/1P4P1/6KP/5n2 b - - 0 40"] With black to move, remarkably it's mate in 2 (at first glance, it looks like black may struggle to even draw). It occurred in a recent LiChess game ...

Nakamura castles with two hands. But I saw one of my students taking their king and "tipping" their rook towards f1. Is this USCF/FIDE legal?

In Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin counter-gambit, Lasker trap, black ended up with three knights, which should be rare. Here white should not capture the additional knight in the next move (8. Rxg1 ...

I have recently got back into chess. I only really get to play online these days (May get the odd game OTB with the kids but I have only just started to teach them) I thought it might be a nice idea ...

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 ...

The Sodium attack is characterised by the move 1.Na3, tending to be followed by the fianchetto of the bishop. This opening has never been played by myself, but I seem to encounter it quite frequently ...

I’ve read up on Babson tasks, and they mention that all known tasks are not perfect because they are duals. I’m not sure what this means exactly. Does it mean that the problem takes place in two parts ...

I'm looking for a program or website which offers to create chess diagrams using custom piece sets. I know many sites and programs that offer this but with a preset types of pieces. This is the case ...

I was just wondering how to play chess.

Quite simply, is this the longest possible series of consecutive captures in a legally reachable, legal game? I composed this particular party myself. [FEN "q1kr2q1/1qnqnb2/2prp3/q2pK3/2P1P3/1QNQNB2/...

Sam Loyd, 1860 [fen "8/8/8/8/B6n/7p/6k1/4K3 w - - 0 1"] 1.Bd7!! h2 2.Bc6 Kg1 3.Bh1!! Kxh1 4.Kf2. (Ke1, Ba4; Kg2, Nh4, h3) says mate in 54 after 1.Bd7!! h2 2.Bc6 Kg1 3.Bh1!! Kxh1 4.Kf2. This is a ...

Is there an objective measure of the superiority (or otherwise) that the strongest computer programs enjoy over the strongest human players which can be compared across the four main forms of chess, ...

In the below position, I played pawn from g7 to g5, trapping the white bishop. The computer didn't like that at all, and gives white a huge advantage. Instead, it wanted me to just simply develop my ...

The en passant move can be utilised when a pawn is offered the option of being able to capture an adjacent file’s pawn, which has advanced two ranks. However, surely the game of chess would be fine ...

I am 1700-ish player and have too much time to play and I didn't choose a study plan. I searched on the web about it, but no one has clearly defined study plan except chess.com and their study plan is ...

Is this the highest possible number of pinned pieces in a legal position? This is the most that I can find. [FEN "3RnknR/4pnp1/3Q1Q1Q/1q1q1b2/2PNP3/rP1K1Pr1/2NBN3/1q1q1q2 b - - 0 1"] This position ...

I like to study my games after I've played them. Often, I find myself identifying mistakes and moving on to play another game or study something else. I was wondering if it is worthwhile to continue ...

How do you keep chess fun when the only person that wants to play against you beats you all the time? I am struggling to want to keep playing, because I get smashed all the time, and it is not fun ...

Is learning the opening 1. c4 e5 as white helpful in learning the opening 1. e4 c5? How about vice versa? Are the ideas behind the Sicilian Defence as black very similar to the ideas behind the ...

I recently played a game with my friend I wish I had memorized the entire game, but, unfortunately, my memory isn’t too good. In summary, I was in a really tight position, and playing as black. I had ...

From what I’ve found,vaccording ot this website, http://ajedrezsinduda.blogspot.com/2012/ the shortest sequence, starting from move one in a professional chess game, to quadrupled pawns is 18 moves. ...

What is the role of the president of the International Chess Federation? What does he or she do, and what is he or she supposed to do? I have looked at sources such as Wikepedia

I'm looking for a database or a collection of the chess results of all FIDE-rated games (standard time control). The data I'm interested in is: the white player, the black player, the result and the ...

1n3r2/q4pbk/3p2pp/r1pPp3/1pB1P3/1P2BP2/2PQ2PP/3R1RK1 w - - 0 1 I was white in the diagram position in an OTB game I played recently. However, I couldn't find a satisfactory plan. Playing f4 is always ...

Is there a quicker way in Chessbase 15 to create a variation based on the current position than pressing t and re-entering the same move?

I am working on the English version of a Polish website for kids to learn chess. The exact literal translation into English of the Polish original name is 'chess to children'. I know that 'chess for ...

Why is typical move order for QGD among top grandmasters 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5? Why does not black immediatelly go 1. ..d5? Also, why is QID via 3. ..b6 almost never played?

I'm a hobby chess player with a rating of about 2050 FIDE. I would like to get to 2300 in the long run, but I don't have too much time on my hands, since I'm a busy university student and I also have ...

Normally I'd pester the/a computer chess forum, but I couldn't register yet... On a problem chess forum (MatPlus), the following came up. Both White and Black are on the brink of losing because the ...

Note: My frequent edits are to either upgrade what I have found or to fix an illegal position or a flaw. It is a known record for most number of mutual checks in a row. This made me wonder what the ...

NOTE: I asked a similar question at the ai stackexchange, but didn't get any satisfying answers, so I will post an updated version of the question here, to see if someone with more of a chess ...

I have a Chess.com tactics rating (default blitz setting where time to solve is instrumental in getting points) hovering around 1750 but for some reason I can't get beyond 1550 on the Chess Tempo's ...

EDIT: What’s with all the downvotes people? I accept criticism, but I feel that someone needs to at least a say a little bit of why. What’s the total number of KNN vs. K checkmate positions? I ...

Sometimes the reason a piece should not be captured isn’t the recapture, but rather the threat of a fork because the capturing piece would find itself in just the wrong spot. The 1926 game between ...

I had an idea for a type of stalemate: One side cannot move at all because the king is trapped and all of that side’s pieces and pawns are pinned. This means that that side has no legal moves, and ...

After 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7, by far the most common third move is 3. Nc3. This goes against the principle of not blocking the c pawn with the knight as white, now of course principles can be broken but I ...