23
votes
Is it more helpful to play with a titled player than to play with a chess engine?
Yes, as long as you go over the game with them afterwards.
A titled player can explain why another move or idea is better, and not just point out what you did wrong.
The engine can't explain in human ...
- 4,187
21
votes
Accepted
How not to use a chess engine?
What's the purpose of this question & answer?
I see a lot of misuse of engines in this community. I see topics where people do opening "analysis" by copy pasting engine outputs. Even worse, I saw ...
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12
votes
Is it more helpful to play with a titled player than to play with a chess engine?
The common advice that you shouldn't play against a computer has a few facets.
It is true that chess AIs play differently from humans, not because they cannot play like humans but because most of ...
- 2,779
9
votes
Accepted
What chess games have violated commonly accepted principles?
Here are some principles we teach beginners but grandmasters regularly break.
Don't bring your queen out too early.
This principle was successfully broken by Korchnoi in an important match.
[FEN ""]...
- 8,996
9
votes
Accepted
Checklist before you make a move
1) Did my opponent’s last move contain a threat? Is the threat real and something I need to respond to? Or am I able to ignore that move and continue with my plan?
2) Do my pieces have sufficient ...
- 3,122
9
votes
Accepted
Are blitz or bullet games better for improvement?
What improves your chess is the time you spend thinking on chess and solving chess problems (either during a game or when doing exercices).
As a consequence, if your concern is to make progress, a 5' ...
- 15.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Can playing too much chess make you see everything as chess moves?
Quite possible- this would be a special case of the Tetris Effect, as would what you described with your experience with Breath of the Wild.
Anecdotally, someone I knew once played a lot of chess ...
- 1,858
7
votes
Is it beneficial to play themed practice games?
It really depends on what your end goal is. Themed games in a specific opening are good to get familiar with a specific opening, and get a "feel" for the positions arising in the resulting middlegames....
- 7,988
7
votes
Accepted
What do the dollar, plus, brackets and hash symbol indicate in chess moves notations?
Q1: The + means the move gave check to the enemy king.
Q2: The brackets indicate variations. So 17...hxg6 is a variation to the main move 17...Rf7. It starts at move 18 after the closing bracket since ...
- 19.8k
6
votes
Can I become a GM by playing 100 games per day without studying books, strategy, etc?
By spending that much time on something per day, you will inevitably become very good at what you practice!
Unfortunately, what you'll be practicing is moving pieces around on a chess board, based on ...
- 27.8k
6
votes
Is it beneficial to play themed practice games?
A great practice routine if you have a willing partner is to take a position from an opening you wish to study and play a series of blitz games from both sides. For example, when I was younger me and ...
- 1,976
6
votes
Are blitz or bullet games better for improvement?
For the 1300-1400 level, none are useful if you want to improve. More often than not, blitz and bullet (especially the latter) just develop bad habits, such as moving too quickly or having little ...
- 19.8k
5
votes
Can you objectively determine who was the best chess player of all time?
I'm posting a sample answer to my question to give others an idea about what I'm thinking about.
First, you have to define what you mean by best. For example, does best mean you are the most ...
- 947
5
votes
Accepted
How to exploit an opponent's time trouble? (no increment)
Don't try to blitz him by playing fast; now you both are playing without thinking much and you've lost the point of the time advantage.
In general, you should still just try to play the best moves. ...
- 14.7k
5
votes
What chess games have violated commonly accepted principles?
GM Miles's 1...a6 2...b5 against the World Chess Champion, Karpov.
Karpovs vs Miles, 0-1, St George Defense
Full Game
- 22.4k
5
votes
What chess games have violated commonly accepted principles?
Anand beat Ivanchuk in a famous game at Linares in 1992 by:
Voluntarily doubling his pawns with 17... gxf6!.
Exchanging off his "good" bishop and proving his "bad" bishop was better than his opponent'...
- 231
5
votes
Accepted
Practicing against an engine vs practicing over the board?
Engines do not make tactical or blunt mistakes. However, their calculation range is given by their predefined strength.
People behave differently. In general, their game is rather stable. But they ...
- 186
5
votes
What is the best way to research openings and endgames in a browser?
Three options I can think of immediately:
https://chess-endgame-trainer.firebaseapp.com/home is a fantastic chess endgame trainer.
Chessable also lets you create your own courses (for free) which you ...
- 1,858
5
votes
Accepted
How to train tactics methodically
I'm wondering, what is the equivalent method of practicing tactics methodically in chess? Would it be to practice one motif repeatedly? Or is it to practice blitz+standard?
Neither.
In the chess ...
- 94.5k
4
votes
What chess games have violated commonly accepted principles?
For every "rule" there must be a standard opening variation that violates it.
For example, the "Bishop's gambit" invites Black to force White to move the King
as early as move 4:
[Title "Bishop's ...
- 6,524
4
votes
How to exploit an opponent's time trouble? (no increment)
Do not play fast.
This is a common pitfall. He/She is the one who has to play fast, not you. Take your time and find a good move. Your opponent can't compete with you as he/she doesn't have enough ...
- 4,434
4
votes
Checklist before you make a move
There are not so many books that talk about the thought process of selecting a move.
There is a section about this in Michael de la Maza's book Rapic Chess Improvement: A Study Plan for Adult ...
- 1,113
4
votes
Is it more helpful to play with a titled player than to play with a chess engine?
Several factors are at play here:
Humans tend to be more interesting to play against. Therefore, you will play more and learn faster! If you regularly play a bot, you will typically always win or ...
- 141
3
votes
Accepted
Endgame training for a 7 year old kid
When he is mating, is he just following a method blindly or does he understand it?
For instance in the two examples you mention, zugzwang and opposition are important themes, which are also relevant ...
- 20.7k
3
votes
Checklist before you make a move
1) Checks
2) Captures
3) Threats (I'm threatening to check, capture, tactic like fork, skewer etc. on my next move or the move after)
4) Stop my opponent's plan
5) Improve my position
After ...
- 94.5k
3
votes
Accepted
How or what to practice when mentally exhausted?
Yoga.
Failing that watch your favourite TV programme.
- 94.5k
3
votes
How or what to practice when mentally exhausted?
When you are tired but want to study it is probably a good time to watch chess videos. You don't have to be sharp to absorb someone explaining some positional ideas, or get some exposure to theory.
...
- 6,111
3
votes
Are blitz or bullet games better for improvement?
Neither of your alternatives is much use for learning anything except bad habits and sloppy thinking.
Bullet chess is completely useless for improvement. Magnus Carlsen might pay better chess than ...
- 417
3
votes
Blunder checklist for strong playrs
Disclaimer: Every person has their own way of approaching these situations, but I think my experience is similar to the experience of most other (stronger) players.
In an implicit way everyone uses a ...
- 681
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