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Hello everyone! This club has reached more than 100 people so it is time for……. ELECTIONS! Here is how it will work: Nominations First you will have to nominate. This means that you will have to choose a person (or yourself!) to apply to run for a position. 10 people will be nominated for each position: Super Admin, Admin, and Coordinator. One person can only be nominated for one position. If you already have one of the above mentioned positions, you can be nominated for a promotion or double promotion. All nominees will have to be reviewed and accepted by current SA’s, in this case Scattered and Trees. Elections After being accepted by SA’s, the elections will begin! Since this is our first ever election, I think it will be fair to have 3 SA slots, 1 admin slot, and 1 coordinator slot open. This means that the 10 nominees who got nominated for SA will be competing in votes for 3 SA slots, the 10 nominees who got nominated for Admin will be competing in votes for 1 Admin slots, and so on. Winners of the elections will be promoted to their slots! Future Elections Elections will happen for every 100 people who join, so if you don't get elected in this election, you can try again next time! Every time there will be slight variations in these rules, so beware! Corrupt Council Members If a council member becomes corrupt, the member will be demoted as soon as possible and will be taken action on by either kicking, banning, or any other punishment depending on there actions. We hope this will not happen but if this does happen, then a smaller election will be held to replace the member. Well that's it folks! Nominations will start when one of the SA’s gives the go ahead! P.S. - None of this has been approved yet so we are waiting for one of the SA’s! P.P.S. - I decided that SA’s, Admins and Coordinators together will be called “The Council”! Nominations: SA-Sparshg, ChessPawn921, sljcelal, travisqiu Admin-ultimatepandaofchess

In 1970, grandmaster and world-renowned trainer Alexander Kotov published his most famous book, "Think Like a Grandmaster". In this book, Kotov introduced the concept of candidate moves. One of the first things that you learn in chess is the importance of considering multipled options. The main cause of mistakes is not considering something, so naturally, it's helpful to consider more options. Some trainers say you should always have at least 3 candidate moves. This is the most basic level of candidate moves: you come up with multiple ideas. Instead of a single variation, you now calculate 3 variations! Now, there's an obvious problem here. You can compare and contrast your three different ideas, but what if you miss your opponent's reply? You need to consider your opponent's responses as well. That's 9 variations... not that bad, right? But wait, you need to consider different options on every single move. In non-critical positions, the recommended depth of calculation is 2.5 moves, or 5 ply (why 2.5 and not 3? because you want to end on your move). If we have 3 candidate moves on every single move, we have a total of 3^5 = 243 variations. That's ridiculous, and we aren't even considering sharp positions where you have to calculate until the position is clear. Unless you are a computer, you cannot handle that. In fact, many books in more recent years have criticized Kotov's system for being ridiculous and inhuman. The first to make a new system was Jon Nunn. How should I explain his system? If you are familiar with computer algorithms, then this will make sense to you. Kotov utilized a sort of depth-first searching algorithm, going all the way to the end of each line and then on to the next. John Nunn's idea ("Secrets of Chess Calculation", or "Secrets of Attacking Chess", I forgot the name) was to use breadth-first searching instead; essentially, he advised players to look a little bit into one line, then switch to another, all the while comparing the two. This idea is widely accepted by the chess community to be the best way to approach calculation. Funnily enough, though, it will take just as long as Kotov's method, unless you end your lines early, which is a great way to make blunders. Even more recently, books have criticized Jon Nunn as well, perhaps seeing that his ideas are not so effective, although these books (For example, "Move First, Think Later", by Willy Hendriks) are not very popular. So then, what do I suggest? First of all, a disclaimer. You have to figure out what works for you. I'm sure Kotov had great success with his ideas, and Jon Nunn with his, since they became grandmasters. However, it doesn't work for everyone, and people who write books often fall into the trap of justification, imposing their ideals on situations. Simply put, most book writers are pretty biased (or they just want to make more money, and suspicious generalizations sell well). Personally, I think that your calculation needs to have a goal, a direction. The ideas should always come before the moves. At first, you may be skeptical, since you probably think in moves, not in plans (your first thought is probably a move instead of an idea). However, your subconcious is guiding your consicous with ideas. While the subconcious mind is a powerful thing, rational thought is needed for chess, so you should make an effort to actively think about ideas. Pick out a few ideas, and only look at moves that help your ideas along (note that I am not telling you to ignore your opponent; your ideas can be prophylactic), as well as forcing moves. Never ignore forcing moves, no matter how stupid; you will either overrule them in seconds or discover an amazing possibility, and they are easy to calculate becuase they limit the opponent's options. With your search for candidate moves narrowed down to a few specific ideas, the process should be much easier and faster. However, we still have to consider all of our opponent's possibilities. The issue with this system is that if you miss an idea, you won't be finding it. Therefore, instead of coming up with a specific number of ideas, come up with as many logical ideas as possible. This is by no means an optimal system, but it's what works for me. How do you guys structure your calculation? I'm very interested to know since I might eventually write a book about the thought process...

Most people don't discuss and vote whatever moves they want, effectively lowering our club's strength.

In 1987 Mikhail Tal was able to solve it after only about one hour, so no excuses!!

Back in January, @Gserper made an interesting article called "Unusual Chess Puzzles For Creative People." It features a fun story involving chess hustlers (with a link to another one), and then some unorthodox puzzles. Read it here: https://www.chess.com/article/view/unusual-chess-puzzles-for-creative-people

5|1 time control, had the guy on intense time pressure in the end and they didn't have premoves turned on

Hey everyone! I was thinking about making a live tournament someday. Before I make a tournament revolving around the standard position, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Is there any fun or crazy position you'd like the tournament to based upon? Also, what time control do you want? Here's an example: Looking forward to seeing your ideas!

We're forming a new Alliance in MW. We have 3 name suggestions: PDF (Puzzle Dino Forces, a combination of all clubs we are forming an alliance with) Imperial Front Checkmate Federation The club owners have decided to allow all the members to vote. What are your guys's thoughts?

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/50864995923

Hey everyone! I was thinking about making a club banner. However, because of my tiny brain I have no knowledge on making club banners. However, my amazing friend @CHESS_WIZARD_3 stepped in and volunteered to make one for us! However, before we make this the official club banner, I'd like to hear other people's opinions. What do you think of the font, the logo, the color, and the background? Thanks!

by @Mugo345

Hey friends! I'm searching for the perfect club background. Of course, if you don't like any of the options below, feel free to post your own background in the comments! Here are some of my options: I appreciate your opinion!

I made my first puzzle today! Its a very common idea though Anyways here it is:

I got a brilliant in a game!! https://www.chess.com/game/live/50274640467

WARNING: Do not fall for this mate in an actual game. It's called Fool's Mate for a reason! White has literally played two pawn moves in this position. However, he has already lost the game. Can you mate the fool? Let me know in the comments if you got it right

Hello everyone, in this position white's king is in a bit of a pickle. Black's king and rook have the threat of mate, yet white can save this position. Can you find the winning strategy? (Originally taken from this article.)

Hello everyone, you might think that I made a typo in the title. However, this is not the case. Someone actually managed to make 30 "brilliant" moves in the game. Take a look at the position below. White's pawns are storming down the board. However, black has one last chance. Can you find a way to save the game? Analysis link: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/20874037197?tab=review Note: It used to be 38 brilliant moves, but due to analysis revisions that changed the definition of brilliant, it now contains 30 "brilliant" moves.

This position is from one of my games. Note that every move of the puzzle is forced; white has a few opportunities to repeat moves, but this is the only way forward. And yes, I got a GM norm from this tournament

Put down your Chess.com puzzle rating here: 1086-----I'm trying to get it raised to like 1500