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you higher rated guys will probably find this silly but maybe you remember a time when you struggled with tactics.. I finally recovered the nearly 600 rating points I lost in the tactics trainer the first three days I started on this site (it only took me 2 months)! I know I could have reset my trainer rating (and history) at any time but what's the point of that? I feel like im a much better player as a result. anyway I thought I'd share this minor success with my fellow students of chess :)

Anyone want to challenge me to some online chess games that we can analyze afterwards here?

I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on cheating. Obviously we all think it's terrible for both players, but what if you suspect an opponent in an internet game of cheating to save their game? What is appropriate action if any? To be clear I don't suspect someone at the moment, yet. But the thought has entered my mind more than once since getting into chess over the internet..

This thread is about rook vs pawn endgames. First of all I am showing you some of the basics and then give you some exercises for your own :) Have fun! Rook vs Pawn, example 1: pawn vs rook, example 2: pawn vs rook, example 3: pawn vs rook, example 4: Bodycheck pawn vs rook, example 5: Now some exercises for you. Good luck! :) Thanks for all comments, Till :)

I am going to post some puzzles! This one is easy. black to play and draw

is it me or is the tactics trainer here infuriating some times??

This thread is about tactics.You can post tactic postions for other players or ask questions about tactical motives. Have Fun :)

Here are some of mine and other players games of the German Youth Championsship. Hope you enjoy them. Here my win against the 2205 rated opponent. I wrote down all my thoughts I had in the game in the analysis: I will add more games over the time. Have Fun, Till :)

Many of you noticed, the group leader Till has a rating of 2000 in fast time control chess. What does this mean? To me, it means he is fast at spotting tactics and has good intuition which is what I believe 2 things that are needed to be good at Blitz. Being bad at blitz does not necessarily mean you are a bad player – it only means you need more time to think. Today, I would like to talk about playing fast games to improve your chess. First off, playing memorized lines in Blitz is pointless, because your opponent is likely to deviate from theory very early in the opening. In fact, I see more bullshit openings, rather than openings like Sicilian Najdorf or King’s Indian Defense. A model Blitz game that illustrates my point. Play by both sides looks anti-positional, and game was decided by tactics. Personally, I was stuck at 1300~1400 Blitz until I started playing weird openings like 1…b6 2…Bb7. With less time to think, my opponents couldn’t think up of ways to punish my off-beat openings and therefore I started to win games. So in short, openings do not matter in Blitz, its all about spotting tactics. I also mentioned intuition- even though openings do not matter, it is better to play moves that help your position than random moves. It is still better to know your opening’s main ideas so you play your game with a plan. In General if your opponents play something offbeat, just follow opening principles (move King pawn or Queen pawn, knights before bishops, only move pieces once in opening unless attacked etc). A good article that I looked at is this: http://www.chess.com/blog/NimzoRoy/chess-opening-principles My opponent played something offbeat and I responded by trying to gain control of centre. I think I played reasonably until the unfortunate mouse slip that ruined a good game. A good mouse and internet connection is not always necessary but is always good to have when playing Blitz. Losing streak – it is normal to deviate 100 rating pts in Blitz so don’t worry about your ratings – they are only rough indicator of where you are at.

Hi all, I think it would be good if, so we can get to know each other and our styles of play, we should have a competition within the group. It doesn't need to be an actual competition; it can be organised unofficially in the group with games being sent as challenges. The format that I would recommend is correspondence games with a time limit of 3 days. We can have round-robin groups so multiple games can be played at the same time, so if there are 5 players in a group, then each player can play 4 games at the same time; 2 as white and 2 as black. The actual format would need to be decided after we know how many players are interested; so post here if you are interested; the quicker we can organise this, the quicker we can play! List of people interested so far (Let me know if you would like to be removed or added to this list): ThomasJEvans CardSure vadsamoht learning2mate Oraoradeki (I assume you're interested) DanoMulligan96 spyv007 SquareShot Moles123 PimpSlap t_taylor

so the last week or so I seem to fluctuate at around 1000 on the tactics trainer. I can't seem to break the glass ceiling of 1030(ish) .. which is pathetic obviously. I'm trying the tactics trainer at chesstempo but am still getting used to the differences, most notably the inability to pass on a puzzle. are there other things I could be doing to improve my chess vision and tactics skill?

Hi, I'm new to chess study and am looking for foundational information and peer guidance. What I've learned so far is that a student of chess needs to: study masters play practice tactics read read read play play play And to a degree I'm doing all of these things. But, with so much info out there, I could use help focusing my efforts on what's important and quality (as defined by enlightened minds). I'm also curious to know if there is any kind of exercise to improve consistency since that seems to be the key to anything where success is determined by one or two mistakes (and my biggest weakness)? Thanks guys and glad to be part of the group.

I've never seen this before so my play was pretty problematic. Thankfully he blundered and I took him but... I'm sure I shouldn't have had this much trouble getting an attack going. What would you do in this situation? also is this a legitimate strategy? i can't find anything immediately on this kind of thing

This post is about candidates moves and finding plans. This topic is very important because it is needed in every chess game. Here are some tips about finding candidates moves and plans in concrete positions: Step 1.Understand the position (weaknesses in both players positions, strategical aspects...) Step 2.Find plans and candidate moves ( 3 candidate moves are perfect) Step 3. Calculate the lines for every candidate move ( tactics and positional understanding is needed-you have to understand whether the position is tactical or strategical) Here is a example for a strategical position: (its whites move) The position has a kingsindian structure and is strategical. Here are the 3 steps: Step 1. Understand the position: Positional aspects for white: Only pawn break/plan with h5, bad bishop on d3- perspective to get to h3 and e6 after the move g5, space advantage in the center Positional aspects for black: No pawn break/ plan ( b5 is never possible), Bad bishop on g7- no good perspective, space disadvantage, Step 2. Candidate moves/ plans for white : Only plan is the pawn break h4-h5! 1. h4 2. g5 3.Bf1 Step 3. Calculate the lines for the 3 candidate moves : 1. h4 is answered by blacks move h6 and after h5/g5 black can always close the position with g5/h5! 3. Bf1 with the idea to bring the bishop to e6 is also answered by h6 and the position is a draw! 2. G5 is the right move ! After it white can improve the bishops position, play h4-h5 and double the rooks! Here is the position with the lines again: It also is very important to find the right candidate moves in the position! Here is a example for this: Hope you learned something about the importance of candidate moves. Now its your turn. I will give you some exercise positions and you have to do the 3 steps method I showed you in this thread. After you found your candidate moves you will have to decide for the move you would play in a game. Good success and please write me your solution with the 3 steps in the comments. And do not just write 1 move as your candidate move but also the ideas and plans behind this move and some lines you calculated:) Exercises: Candidate Moves: 1.position:white to move 2.position:black to move 3.position:black to move Please tell me in the comments if you like these training threads and if the exercises were to "hard" for you. Cheers, Till

In this thread you can get help about your openings. If you want to learn a new opening or improve in one then just write here. Have Fun :)

Here is my go at analysis. I happen to specialize in King's Gambit so I decided to do some detailed analysis. Please feel free to correct my mistakes and ask questions. I think resigning was premature, but Black certainly did not let go of the advantage after White's tactical miss on move 15.