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If we want to maintain this club, we'll have to work together. I am asking for anyone interested to work as an inviter for the club. With fresh members, we can boost our club activity! Message me directly or below if you are interested 

I started this club roundabout a year ago, maybe just because I could, or to see what would happen, or because it seemed fun, and it was fun. We've enjoyed playing Vote Chess, Daily Matches, sharing games and puzzles, playing forum games, and even getting to know a bit about each other with a few chats and discussions. For me, this club has been fun to participate in and manage; however, recently I found it has lost its 'charm', and I find it to be more of a burden and less enjoyable. Right now, I really do not see any purpose in continuing this club.  I wanted to ask what you guys think about this.  Whatever happens, I would like to keep in touch so feel free to send a friend request. 

It's been a while since I've shared anything bird related, so here's something I found today. These are small 'sap wells' drilled by a pair of Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers (a woodpecker species). I did see the pair of Sapsuckers nearby. They drill these small holes not to get the sap itself, as their name suggests, but to get insects. 

Hey, and happy Friday! I've realized that our 'club chat' forum has reached exactly 500 posts now! This must be one of the oldest forums of the club, and it is still a great place for members to chat. Check it out: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/chit-chat-9?page=25 

Hi guys, I know you've all noticed it, this club has had basically nothing going on for many months now. This is totally my fault since I haven't been nearly active enough to maintain the club. The reason for this is school - with all the homework, studying, activities, etc. I must do, I have often had no time to fit chess into my days. I am making this statement to share that I intend to get this club up and running again, with lots of activity and events. However, It is not possible for me to do this immediately since I have many final exams at the end of June to prepare for. Starting in July, I will be devoting much more time to this club. Over the summer, I hope that our club will reach milestones such as 250 and 300 members, but most importantly I hope that we will regain and surpass our former levels of activity! Of all of you reading this, I ask for your continued support of Pickle Jar. I am sorry that Pickle Jar has been a dud recently, but bare with me and we will see it 'reborn' in a month or so. Questions, or any feedback, for example on how you would like to see the club rebuilt, would be appreciated. Thank you, @DillWithThePickle

"I’m the one to do you good,Out of sleep, out of foodOnly thinking nights and days,How to make the best chess aids...*" in the original version,the fox thought about helping animals....Jan Wiktor Lesman (Jan Brzechwa)“The Mischiefs of Vitalis the Fox” A Practical GuideA few practical guidelines can facilitate the decision-making process,but without doubt they only present a certain problem in simple terms.Chess, however, is a highly complicated game and each general rule containsa lot of exceptions. It is our task to spot the moment in which one of theseexceptions occurs. Look for weaknesses! When driving, drivers use traffic signs as a form of guidance. For chessplayers, such traffic signs are weaknesses.Squares in the centre and in one’s own camp, which are not defendedby pawns, can easily become weak. Avoid exchanging pieces which defendthese squares. If your opponent has a weakened complex of squares ofa given colour, try to exchange the Bishops that control these squares.Isolated pawns or especially doubled isolated pawns become a long-termtarget for enemy pieces. The square in front of an isolated pawn is oftenweak and can become a perfect outpost for the opponent’s piece. Do notweaken the pawn structure unless doing so will bring you tangible benefits.Remember that pawns do not move backwards!Pawns can also be potential tactical weaknesses, especially when thedifference between the number of attackers and defenders of a given targetis equal to or greater than zero. In such case, each additional and unexpectedattack of the opponent, especially double attack, may result in our materiallosses.Pieces can also be tactical as pieces are easier to move around than pawns,they are considered to be more strategical than tactical weaknesses.More often they are considered to be strategic weaknesses when their acti-vity is limited by our own or our opponent’s pawns. Do not let that happen! You should consider your moves in the following order:a) forcing movesa1) checksa2) capturesa3) attacking weaknessesb) non-forcing movesWhen you have a space disadvantage, try to exchange pieces. This willincrease your chances of finding a good spot for each of your chessmen.When you have a space advantage, try not to exchange pieces.Play on the side of the board where you have a space advantage.If you have a lead in development, open up the position. The enemy King caneasily find himself in trouble. The opening of a position is also good whenyou have the Bishops and your opponent has the Knights.When you are the side with the Bishops, try to establish an asymmetricalpawn structure.Do not leave your King without any defending pieces. Also, make sure thatthe King has an escape square, where he could take refuge in case of a checkalong the back rank.

Share some chess games which you thought you would lose, but unexpectedly ended up winning here!

We don't know each other, so you may have trouble believing what I'm writing. The old chess rule says "believe but verify", so I recommend this method. I have almost 50 years of chess experience, which I pass on to people in the form of my books and guides. I sold over a thousand books in Poland. I believe I can achieve this in other countries too, which is why I have created English and German versions of my books. The greatest advantage of my publications is their simplicity. You will understand them easily. How can I help you? 1. The guide that you can download from my website will help you look at chess better and not lose pieces unnecessarily. 2.The books, excerpts of which you will find on this website, will teach you a strategic approach to chess. Spend some of your time and you won't regret it. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. Best regards, IM, IA Witalis Sapis https://witalis-sapis.com/en/homepage/ "These strategic manuals by two experienced trainers are a must for any instructor! I recommend using them for students with USCF ratings ranging from 1300 to 2500. I have read many instructional books since my junior years but never have I come across such an easy-to-digest way of presenting examples—only a few moves with simple, clear verbal explanations of the ideas from the players themselves! The examples used vary in level of difficulty and going through all of them will only solidify one’s strategic understanding. The exercise chapters (Chapter 3 for Vol 1 and Chapter 7 for Vol 2) add more instructive value as it can be used either as in-class group exercises or individual homework. Any club leader, camp instructor or chess coach will be able to find the topical chapters useful when preparing for their regular lessons. And I won’t be surprised if they improve their strategic intuition as well in the process!” GM Julio Sadorra Coach of University of Texas Dallas Chess Team „Much appreciated. I have over 2,000 books in my collection now. Nothing quite like yours, which are nicely direct and concise, very appealing. So many others are well written but are very long or not quite clear.” Mark Warriner

Daily match for players under 1300 daily elo: https://www.chess.com/club/matches/1624657 3 days per move

You may have noticed how I haven't been very active for the last 2 weeks, but it was because I was traveling abroad in a school trip. We visited the cities of Paris and Barcelona, each for 4 days! Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip. If you have questions, I can certainly answer them. I hope to be more active now!

You can create your own puzzle and share it in this forum! (If you aren't sure how, just ask) Please don't reveal answers to puzzles, say something like: Good tactic! or whatever Here is my first one; a tactic from a blitz game I just played:

I'm excited, is anyone else? Anyone planning to go see it? Hopefully there will be good weather

Hey! This is a thread where I'll be posting games of note that I play on my journey to 1800 Rapid, right now my peak is 1705, and current rating is 1685, hope somebody gets some value out of this! I'm currently going through somewhat of a "reset" of my Chess style, before now I've played openings like the Caro Kann, Alapin, Vienna, Scandinavian, English and openings of the like, basically anything to avoid e4 e5 and d4 d5 which I always pegged as "boring". But after coming back from a break from Chess, I've decided to build up my foundational knowledge of Chess, to hopefully to 1800, and hopefully oneday 2000. Upon reviewing the games of my two high rated friends (2100 and 2300 Chess.com Rapid) I found that they play alot of e4 e5 and d4 d5! And after reviewing their games the middlegame looked anything but boring. So, I've been studying some free courses on Chessable and grinding puzzles, and I feel ready to tackle my next 100 Elo! Edit: I'll be playing 30+0 games, hopefully giving me enough time to calculate

If you know the reputation of the French Defense Exchange Variation, you'd know that this opening is considered to be extremely drawish and boring, but this game goes to show that there are in fact opportunities for black to attack, and win, in this opening. Very useful videos I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIErXoHh2p4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG3ld9wUlLM

I'm trying out tennis for the first time at my school this spring season. It's turned out to be very fun so far - but tiring. It's made me wonder, do any of you all play any sports for school, or just for fun?

Hi all! I had this idea for a funny forum game where we all post ingredients to make a sandwich, layer by layer! Here's the rules: - The top ingredient post is the top of the sandwich - To add an ingredient layer to the sandwich, simply post an ingredient. You can only have 1 ingredient per post! - You can not post multiple times in a row! - You can only post ingredients in this forum topic from now on! (with an exception for questions) Go here if you want to say something else *note: if someone says 'bread', that does not have to be the bottom of the sandwich. We can make this thing double-decker or more! I'm both curious and scared of what we create, so let's start!

What do you think is the hardest part of a chess game, the opening, the middlegame, or the endgame?

What are your goals for chess? For me I have 2: my (hopefully) "reachable" goal is to hit 2000 rapid, but my "shoot for the moon" goal is the NM title

Back in September, around the beginning of the NFL season, I asked the club for predictions on who would win the 2024 NFL super bowl. And the results are... *drumroll* Nobody was correct! That's right, nobody chose the Chiefs! @bananapeelmaster123 and @sleepyzeke were close, both choosing the 49ers.

Hello everyone! I am considering doing monthly arenas in this club for some fun. If you don't know what an arena is, it is a live chess event between participants from this club which would be open for a period of time (ex. 1 hour), and whoever wins the most games at the end wins. These arenas could be standard chess, or maybe a variant or 960 to mix things up. I also believe I could make custom trophies for this, so that could be interesting. In order to make this happen, please let me know the following: Would you participate in an arena event? What time-frame(s) would work best for you? (ex. 3:00-5:00 ET) *including timezone Are you flexible? Any other feedback? - How long? Variants/standard, time format preferences? Leave feedback or questions below