50
votes
Accepted
Chess PhD topic in machine learning?
You have little chance in your dissertation of surpassing state of the art chess engines. Perhaps you could find a hook which hasn't been explored so much. One idea is to train your program to play ...
- 2,481
46
votes
How do you keep chess fun when your opponent constantly beats you?
There are many people who want to play chess with you. You can play chess online! Online sites such as chess.com and lichess.org will match you with opponents of similar rating so you should win about ...
- 5,011
40
votes
Accepted
Why does the engine tell me to sacrifice a queen for bishop after a failed Scholar's mate?
It's basically a trade. After you take the bishop, if the opponent takes your queen with the knight, then your bishop is no longer blocked by the knight and you can take their queen too. The advantage ...
- 524
39
votes
How to learn chess if you're still a 3-digit rating after a few years
Very simple.
Join a chess club and play people face-to-face. You'll improve rapidly after that.
- 93.7k
39
votes
How do you keep chess fun when your opponent constantly beats you?
There are lots of ways to play with a handicap in chess. One way is to give one player a starting material advantage, where the weaker player starts with an extra queen, or the stronger player ...
- 538
39
votes
Accepted
What should I do when I have no ideas and no strategies?
This is very hard to answer since the question is very broad, but in the opening, always ask yourself "what piece haven't I moved out yet?" If you move pieces twice or three times in the opening, and ...
- 32.4k
38
votes
Accepted
"Chess is 90% tactics" - should a player focus more on tactics in order to improve?
Although I agree that chess is 90% tactics when actually playing at the board, it really depends on where you are strenght-wise as to how much time you spend on tactics. By the way, when they use the ...
- 32.4k
36
votes
Accepted
Advice for breaking Lichess's 2000 rating mark
"PhishMaster's Complete Guide To Improvement": What to study, and how.
Every player has times where they "plateau", and have trouble moving on, but they usually get past it eventually if they are ...
- 32.4k
36
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Why does the engine tell me to sacrifice a queen for bishop after a failed Scholar's mate?
As @Ibrahim explains, you'll win the queen back, but after that White can even take the pawn on f7:
[FEN ""]
[StartPly "10"]
1. e4 e5 2. Qf3 c6 3. Bxc4 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. Bg5 Bg4 6. ...
- 24.7k
34
votes
How to improve from ~1200?
@Arka Mukherjee, I find most players under 2100 weak tactically, so at 1200, you are certainly weaker than you understand you are. I do not say that to be mean, but just as a very logical person, who ...
- 32.4k
31
votes
Accepted
Is there a trick to help kids know which direction pawns are going?
At 5 years old a child's brain is still very immature. The good news is that it is also developing very fast. The easiest and most effective solution is just to wait. Within a year or two the problem ...
- 93.7k
31
votes
Accepted
Why do points matter in trading pieces?
The point system in chess gives a rough indication of how strong each piece is. So the short answer to your question is, yes, a rook is more valuable than a knight, and so in the vast majority of ...
- 398
30
votes
Making my own chess engine for a college project
The number 1 goal is to make an engine that makes a legal move. The immediate next goal is to make an engine that calculates all legal moves - you can choose one at random.
Next up is an evaluator - ...
- 461
26
votes
How to learn chess if you're still a 3-digit rating after a few years
The first thing to learn once you know how the pieces move is basic tactics and general strategy.
Tactics: In certain positions it is possible to gain an advantage doing a certain move or sequence of ...
- 20.7k
26
votes
Basic "mate in one move" puzzle - what am I missing?
You are absolutely right! The black king can move to d8 and e7 and then there's no follow up mate. Most probably there's a white queen/bishop on h4 to prevent the black king from escaping (which is ...
- 1,430
23
votes
Accepted
Should I learn openings as a beginner?
My suggestion for new or lower rated players follows from advice from GM Benjamin Finegold: "Stop giving away your pieces."
Learning openings is fine, but at lower levels games are usually ...
- 3,467
22
votes
Accepted
Would studying the games of old players hurt my progress?
The answer from SmallChess is good. There's also an illustrative tweet from Garry Kasparov on the subject:
For beginning chess players, studying a Carlsen game is like wanting to be an electrical ...
- 7,484
22
votes
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What does it mean to ''analyze grandmaster games''?
I agree with you, more than your coach. Just analyzing a GM game, even with a computer, is not helpful just by itself if you have no idea what is going on.
For example, just earlier today, I answered ...
- 32.4k
21
votes
Accepted
Improving the observation skill & making less blunders
I will go back to what Artur Yusupov, three-time World Championship Candidate, former top-10 player, and one of the greatest living trainers recommends in the first book of his 10-volume series. In ...
- 32.4k
21
votes
Accepted
Do grandmasters think on every move?
I will try to answer this in a different manner, the way I understand this topic.
Do we think on every signal, turn, fork when we drive?
Do we think every time we eat food or walk on the street?
The ...
- 620
20
votes
How do you keep chess fun when your opponent constantly beats you?
If you can change your attitude from this being a competition that you are "losing" to this being a tutorial, that should help a lot. Every time you play a game, you get more famailiar with lines and ...
- 2,262
20
votes
Where can one find a complete chess curriculum?
The closest thing to this is a series of books by Russian-born German GM Artur Yusupov. This is what Yusupov wrote in the introduction:
In 2004 I began a 3 year training programme in my chess academy....
- 93.7k
20
votes
Where can one find a complete chess curriculum?
In addition to the Yusupov series, another complete curriculum is the Chess Steps series. It is the official method of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation (source) and comes recommended by The Perpetual ...
- 3,467
19
votes
How to learn chess if you're still a 3-digit rating after a few years
I recognize that attitude.
Remember, first, that chess is HARD. That's why it took so long to get computers to be able to play it well. The rules are simple enough but understanding how those rules ...
- 291
18
votes
Accepted
How are the scores decided in Chess?
Those aren't scores; there are just three possible scores in chess: White wins, Black wins, and draw.
Those are evaluations of the chess engine; a score of +0.62 means the engine thinks White's ...
- 24.7k
18
votes
Accepted
En passant for beginners
How can we teach this rule to a Beginner? (in a plain language or
simplified way or associating any story to it)
The history gives the story.
At one time pawns could only move one square at a time ...
- 93.7k
18
votes
"Chess is 90% tactics" - should a player focus more on tactics in order to improve?
There's another famous quote you need to pair with "Chess is 90% tactics." Spielmann was reported to remark, after hearing one too many people exclaiming about an Alekhine combination, "I could find ...
- 5,216
18
votes
What is right way to set up King & Queen In the beginning of game?
It starts with the board being setup correctly, and that means a light square in the right-hand corner. Then, the queens each go on their own color.
[FEN ""]
- 32.4k
18
votes
How to pass 1000 elo
Probably the number one thing that can improve your chess at that level is better tactical awareness, both offensively and defensively. Here are some positions from just one of your games:
[FEN "...
- 18.4k
18
votes
As an amateur, how to learn WHY this or that next move would be good?
I'd like to add an important point: "Move", singular.
Obviously, chess truth rarely is inside of single moves. I'm quite a strong player and frequently exclaim "What?" if the ...
- 15k
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