Forum

Ok, not my first books, but the only one I have right now is practically useless to actually learn anything Ignore my filthy desk I do need to clean it 1. Endgame course: I bought this with the intention of being able to definitively win slightly better endgames produced with the Catalan as I always end up with a lightly better position once some pieces and pawns are traded but I'm never able to convert that into a win. (The reason why I'm currently playing Colle (Which I'm also getting a book on but it hasn't arrived yet rip). 2. I bought this on the recommendation of @B1ZMARK (thank u sir), as I think the Alekhine is a good fit for me. I'm good with the Budapest gambit, which kinda has the same principles in it, and I desperately need a weapon against 1. e4 as black (And I have had good results with it in the past, I was just too scared to actually play it). And tbf I am very tired of everyone playing the bc4 d3 Sicilian all the time

I often see beginners saying that the King's Indian defense is their entire d4 repertoire, which 1. I do not believe (Playing a Fianchetto and playing d6 doesn't make it a King's Indian) and 2. Disprove of as it's just too complicated of an opening to be employing at lower levels. I had been studying this particular variation before and still ended up in an extremely pressurized position in this game. Beginners, please play something simpler Context: Me and @krazeechess wanted to practice with longer time controls, so we agreed to play a 30|0 game. That's about it

Was a bit disappointed to see the engine ruled 22. Ba6 a blunder. From this exchange I win a rook from a bishop and trade off the queens. The engine says Qc5+ is the best move… but black easily defends that with Kb8, which in turn stops bxa7 and promoting, like the engine said is the best move instead of 23. Bxb7+, winning the rook. While it seems there’s other moves available that lead to a better winning advantage, I can’t see how winning a rook for a bishop and clearing the queens in a winning position is a “blunder”?

I spent a lot of time making these annotations fyi In conclusion, you just need to work on avoiding simple pins and tactics, and do a better job of keeping your pawn structure intact

Used Daniel Naroditsky's advice on beating the Stafford Gambit. It worked wonders

After two miserably failed attempts at playing the Traxler against the Fried Liver, and with help from my friends @DaBabysBurner & @little_guinea_pig & @ninjaswat & @ricorat & @icyboyyy who graciously helped me understand the concepts of the Traxler better, I can finally say I’ve used the Traxler to win a game! Almost 95% accuracy got me feeling like a GM - no better feeling than “check check check check check mate”! Wow! BUT, I have another question for all of you experts on this Traxler. There was a moment when I said “I wish I studied the Traxler more”, but thankfully my opponent did play the move I thought he would.. that move would be 8. Qf3, which would force me to trade queens, and then lose the rook - totally putting a stop to my Traxler. The engine says 7. Qf6+ was actually a mistake, which I can see now because 8. Qf3 pretty much wins the game. The engine wants me to play 7. Qh4 1. why? I see that I have mate in 1 if white takes my rook with his knight, but what if white plays d3 blocking my queen? I can see Nxd3 and if white takes back with h2xg3, I win the rook but if he doesn’t take back where am I? 2. I was wondering what you do if white doesn’t take the bishop after Bf2+. Are you suppose to sac the rook and play Qh4? Am I right to assume Qh4 seems to be the main move no matter the position for black in the Traxler after Bf2+? thanks again lads, I can’t believe I actually used the Traxler! This is proof this club really does help make you better

So, inspired by DaBaby and b1z (now he doesn't play it ig) I thought of trying the colle system. I won the game due to a blunder but had problem in making plans and understanding opp moves. So, masters of the colle, pls help me analyse the game and tell the main ideas behind colle and some resources for it are also welcome Here's the game

Something I've been wondering is if it's a good move to take a "free" center pawn with your adjacent pawn, or if it's a bad move - hence why you often see "free" pawns being left alone While it seems the top move here is to actually take, plenty of master games show they don't take. This is a bad example, but often you'll see positions similar. Is it bad for black to take here? Why? Because it's weakening kindside defense? I just wonder why i dont see more people taking towards the center, even though it doubles up the pawns doesnt it give more center control and win a free pawn? or am i confused I mean, there's tons of different positions too not just my examples (which are pretty bad tbh). Overall, should you take towards the center with the adjacent pawn and double up your pawns, does this equal center control? Or is it a mistake

Can someone help explain what is the main idea of playing c4/d4 as white? I’m coming across this position often now as I study the KID & the Réti, as well as just generally seeming to be a strong move against openings like the Sicilian or the Bird. Also, for black, what is the main idea with d5/c5? Is it the same idea as for white? Im just trying to understand what the goal playing these two pawn moves are, as I’m actually finding I really like the positions I get out of them but am wondering what I should be looking for while playing them. Examples: ALSO, as it pertains to building fundamentals, I often find myself wondering why it’s bad to take a “free” pawn such as this below; Does this damage the structure too dramatically to make up for the free pawn grab? Is the center really that important?

I played pretty bad in this game. I was just playing random moves because I was putting most of my energy into our discussion. He requested for me to post this, so I'll try my best to do so.

FOR BLACK this for people under 1,000 for 1. e4 play 1..e5 1.d4 1...d5 1.c4 1...c4 by the way the dots mean its black's move anything other move TAKE THE CENTER after e4 e5 or something, just develop naturarry and your fine WHITEplay 1.e4 and play italian to e5 and develop naturary against everything else

Hi there! I started playing back in February. I've been stuck in mediocrity for months now (850-to-950 rating in rapid, closer to 850 honestly). I'm very slow and often run out of time in 15|10 and 30. I even managed to run out of time in a 60-minute game! The other times I lose I make dumb blunders. I do my puzzles and I eat my peas, I've read a couple of books, but I'm not seeing much improvement. Frustrating. I do not play a high volume of games, as I don't have much time and I get tired/can't focus for too long. I've started playing daily games recently, which I hope will help. But I think I need to play some games with stronger players who can give me pointers on how to improve. Or maybe I can post some of my games here for commentary? Anybody interested in helping this poor soul? 15|10, 30, daily... All work for me.

It’s games like these that make me seriously want to quit chess. I played so well and end up getting force mated, despite being up +8. Every time I get up big, I always get nervous about an inevitable checkmate. That’s why I try to trade off queens, but it didn’t work this game. I FREAKING LOST LIKE THIS MAN golllyyyyyyyyyy sometimes I reallyyyyy don’t like chess even though I know this is entirely on me

in this thread I will be showing some of my old games with the KG. My overall record on CC with the KG is 12:1:1, and most of the games were done in 10-20 moves. I hope you enjoy the games!: Game 1, Muzio Gambit: Game 2, Panteldakis Countergambit: Game 3, Macleod Defense: Thank you for reading I will keep updating this with more games in the future!

Guys my opening was only good but middle game was very very bad . I was losing game but in end game his one mistake and I beated him. So did you like my game and you can comment open heartly.

We did it lads! Special thank you to everyone for all the great help along the way! This was my goal for rapid to reach by the end of July I have to say, as you increase in rating, you start to really notice the importance of opening knowledge, theory, tactics and endgame knowledge. So, be disciplined and keep grinding, you’ll be glad you did! The advice, insight, and help you receive from members in this club will be your greatest resource for improving your rating, I can attest to that. Thank you to all of our experts who selflessly offer knowledge, support, games, analysis and help to all of us beginners day in and day out! We appreciate it more than we may show sometimes Here is the game that for me to 1100+. It’s not much, and sadly chess.com paired me against a 990 so it’s kinda sus, but there was still some interesting tactics played by both players that’s worth sharing: In retrospect, taking with the King is much better than the bishop, but I was too focused on wanting to maintain my castling rights I blundered the knight. What I did enjoy was seeing how useless black’s knight and bishop were stuffed away on the Queen’s side of the board. This made it really easy to attack King side.

How would I win this position as black, or is it drawn?

I was pretty proud of this comeback win in which I was able to sacrifice material in order to promote, while previously finding an initiative that would win me the game

In this puzzle, see how you can exploit an opponent's weak king, despite being materially even.

@MLP8 I saw you considering switching from Scandinavian to Caro so I thought this would interest you Conclusions: Scandinavian can still be effective against higher rated opponents as the "refutations" require white to play all the best moves which is hard to do in a defense which is so open and complex 1800s still blunder I need to work on my time management