Forum

The lounge is now open! The lounge is for off-topic discussion, or anything you want! Much like the notes but now accessible to formatting, pictures, videos, puzzles, and other thread tools, you can post and talk about anything you want here; questions, games, challenging friends, ideas, off-topic, world news, local news, current affairs, your life, politics, science, math, literature, music, gaming, sports, or literally whatever you want. Much like you were in a lounge talking with friends! also, the last one to post in this thread wins!

We all like showcasing our good games, and many of us like viewing them and analyzing them. Yet, in order to keep the forums more focused on questions and lessons, from now on game showcases shall be posted here. Please read over the rules to clarify any questions about whether or not you should post your games here or create a thread. Basically, in short, to simply show a good game, post it here. If you intend to use the game as a quality teaching lesson, OR to ask a quality question about an opening, moves, end game theory, or anything like that, you can create a separate thread for it. Example of a game showcase that deserved its own thread: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/ng5-how-bad-is-it Example of a game showcase that should have been posted here: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/i-just-played-my-best-game-against-someone-500-points-higher-than-me We can still post our games, but let’s do it here from now on. After all, this isn’t a “game showcase” club.

Questions on opening theory can be asked here, and answered! This thread will not only serve as a “one-stop-shop” for any and all questions you have on any openings, but also as a catalog of past explanations, lessons and tips on opening theories!

I am preparing for my first fide rated tournament and if I beat 4 fide rated players I get my fide rating. I'm confused with black pieces what to play I'm good at 3 main openings against e4 which are caro kan scandinavian defence and e5 fighting any white openings like italian scotch ruy lopez etc. Against d4 I have no problem but against e4 I need to decide one fixed opening pls help me out

How do you get better? Is it watching YT videos? Reading books? Playing lots of games? I must have played well over 10,000 chess games and it seems I platue around 1400-1500 if I’m grinding every day, studying, doing puzzles, and practicing against good players. If I don’t play for awhile and come back, I’ll drop back in the 1000-1100 range. Casually, it seems I’ll never break 1200 unless I’m willing to practice and study everyday. it’s weird. Are chess players just getting universally better? Am I doing something wrong? is there any way a casual player could get to 1800 without having to devout his life to the game? Or is 1200 the cap for the casual player?

 

Not that anyone cares, but my net worth just hit $800,000. Last Thanksgiving it was $83,000. I bought two houses in cash recently. I’m in the process of buying a third which would increase my net worth to over $1M. Kinda crazy, still seems surreal. Not a troll post. 

Right now, whenever I get around 1250, I lose, I win, I lose, I win. Then I get frustrated and start tilting back down to low 1200s till I quit for the day, come back the next day and grind back to 1250. Then I start the process over again. Can someone take a look at my games and tell me the most obvious thing I’m doing wrong that’s hindering my growth past the mid-1200’s? Honestly, a lot of the games I’m actually *winning*, sometimes even with substantial amounts, and I blunder one time and lose the entire game. Is it really just blunders? What am I doing wrong?

Scary Puzzle score This Puzzle score made my hair stand up

After tilting in blitz for the past week(s), I finally got my life together and started grinding. Closing in on 1200, this is the game I got at 1195. It is somehow one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played. And also the most D I S G U S T I N G finishes I’ve ever been apart of. First, just take a look at this: Now, with that in mind, feast your eyes for this absolute cluster**** of a game to hit 1200: So after all that beautiful tactics, I have to flag him to get to 1200. Sigh. I really thought I was Magnus Carlsen at the end there with that checkmate pattern. Until I hung the knight. I was considering bishop to attack the pawn, but went with the knight because I thought it was a sure thing. lol. Sleep deprived I guess. Anyway, now I can sleep. I really stayed up until 6am to do this. Time to just rating sit and play rapid for a bit.

It's real. LOL

It feels like I’m platueing at 1250. Feeling a little tired, should I take a day off?  Do great players take days off? Or is chess their life and they simply push through?

After a bit of a hiatus from this club, I hope you all will help me revive it and make it great again! My blitz and rapid rating have tanked a lot. I haven't really done any studying, puzzles, or practice in the past year. Honestly, I took a bit of hiatus from chess for the past year. Excited to get back in to it, and hopefully start chatting on B&M again, too. I wanted to share this game I just played. I think it's my most tactical game I've ever played: Despite blundering my bishop on move 18, I hung in there. I think at the sub-1500 level, the resign button is kind of optional, no matter your position. I really enjoyed the queen-rook checkmate pattern at the end. Actually felt like I was playing chess for a change.

Do you have a favorite memory about chess? It could be online, or in-person.  For me, I have two favorite memories. My first one is the very first time I learned how to play chess. I think I must have been 13/14, freshman in high school. I was bored at lunch and went to the chess club, which met in our history teacher's room during lunch time. One of my friends-friend was there, so I watched him play. It was like watching a wizard do sorcery -- I literally understood nothing. After his game, I asked to play with him. We played a game, and he beat me immediately with a Scholar's Mate. LOL. From there, he showed me (briefly) how the pieces moved and the overall concepts. He was a nice guy, but also took every chance to beat the literal crap out of me on the board. Game after game, day after day, he beat me up with no mercy. But after a few weeks, I started putting up a little bit of a fight. I still lost mercilessly to him, but I remember actually getting to the end-game about 1-2 weeks in, and he was impressed. My favorite memory is that first game where I fondly remember not knowing what the heck is going on at all. The pieces moved like UFO saucers, his hands moved the pieces like lightning. It felt and still feels like a fever dream! My other favorite memory is playing chess at Pebble Beach resort on Christmas morning with my brother. To this day I don't know how my family got a Christmas booking for Pebble Beach (it's in California, very expensive, and we were not very wealthy growing up, but my dad must have saved up for months for the trip). I think my mom bought us a simple glass chessboard for Christmas. That morning, we opened it, and promptly played multiple games on it. At this point, I had been playing for like a year, so I beat my brother up pretty good. But we had fun, all morning, with the crackling fire of Christmas morning. Great memory. What about you? What is your favorite chess memory?