Good posts and rules
Team Match Rules
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thank you for the guide and rules for playing chess 
Apr 8, 2014
0
#4
I agree about the time out part most definitely. The other things are useful tips but of course it is up to th players themselves how much time they can offer on their games and that is also kind of reflected already in peoples ratings. In the Chess Club the match director removes players with high time out rates before the games begin.
Very helpful article, Thank you very much
Jun 20, 2014
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#7
Guilty thank you for the good advice I will step up and change them bad habits!
reviewing the last 3 games that your opponent lost is very intsructive. Sometimes even in just 3 lost games you can see a repeated weakness.
I really like this article. In particular, the point about jotting notes on your analysis before making the candidate move, is something that resonated well for me.
I don't think it too practical to do it for every move, but I think if I begin doing this for the more critical moves (where tactical opportunities for either side seem to be present, where a position has become unclear or complex, or in a position where there is no obvious "strong move" and several reasonable candidates exist), then my game and understanding of it will increase almost certainly.
Also, for maximum benefit, I will start comparing my in-game analysis to the moves played during the post-mortem analysis.
Jun 21, 2014
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#10
I agree with your sediments of playing graciuosly win or lose. Good team advice. Thanks.
agreed
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I was amazed on how far this group has leaped ahead since the last time I was active in chess.com. I like to contribute and play with the group but I really can't play the 3 days time control due to school activities. I wonder guys if we have certain matches here which have long time control (like 5days or more) so I can guarantee that I won't lose on time. I promise I would play my best. :)
By the way thanks for this article. I found it useful to my chess improvement as it gives advices and tips to play effective. Thanks
nyLsel
I just read these. I'm new and it's my first time playing for the club, and I haven't been following the rules, but I will from now on. Thanks also for the pointers! Good luck all.
Team Match Rules
Hey guys:
First, I would like to congratulate you all on the tremendous achievement of now being the 3rd largest group on chess.com- what an achievement that is and it simply could not have been done without all of you. However, our legacy can’t just stop there. It is my hope that we can lead this team to be #1 not only in size but also in ranking on both team matches and vote chess. Because of this, I am writing up these new team match “rules” for future application by you- our active members. Keep in mind that even though all team matches are designed for you to learn, it is your responsibility to play each and every match to your best ability which means that you should follow the rules/methods listed below.
1. When registering for a team match, make sure you can actually play it and WILL NOT TIMEOUT. Timeouts are essentially free rating points given to your opponent for no reason and more importantly free game points that could ultimately decide a close match. If you for some reason are not sure if you will be able to make it through a whole game without timing out (or if you are not sure that you will be able to put enough time into the game), simply don’t register in the first place. Rather, let me know what time control is better for you and I will do my best to set a match up for you.
2. When a match starts, it is your responsibility to play to the best of your ability- which means not only taking advantage of your strengths but also of your opponents weaknesses. In order to do this, one should most certainly research one’s opponent before starting (you have 3 days for the first move, so this is plenty of time). In order to research your opponent, go into their game archive (or game explorer) and find some games and look at the openings they play. Find lines that they struggle with and play those if possible, especially if these line up with your own opening lines. If your opponent seemingly has no clear opening weakness, focus on building to your own strengths by choosing to play a logical opening such as the Ruy Lopez, Queen’s gambit, etc. Try and avoid dubious opening lines such as the Latvian gambit or the damiano defense which can generally lead into bad territory.
3. Following your research on your opponent, and your determination of what opening you will opt for, make your first move and begin the game. If your opponent plays as you expected, continue with your prepared theory. Furthermore, use the game explorer to verify that the move you choose is the most effective- this can be determined by looking at move frequencies and win/draw/loss frequencies as these serve as good indicators of whether or not a move is good. Furthermore, if you own any sort of resource (i.e. a book) that discusses this opening, learn about opening plans that correspond with this opening as this can be critical for middlegame play.
4. After finishing up the opening phase with use of the game explorer, you will begin the middlegame. This phase is perhaps the most important as it is essentially the phase where a game is most often decided. In order to play correspondence chess correctly, you MUST take your time. This means nothing less than finding the best move on the board. Keep in mind that finding the best move on a board can take a lot of time, so don’t just play the first move that comes to mind. Instead, analyze all the candidate moves that you can come up with. Furthermore, make sure that you DO NOT BLUNDER! Blunders are free game points thrown away, especially in correspondence chess. Although everyone makes errors, please do your best to make as few as possible as these can significantly sway a match in one direction or another. NM Aww-Rats has suggested 3 hours per move, although I can attest to the fact that 30 minutes (which although is shorter than recommended.) is enough to ensure no blunders are made and a rather decent move is chosen every single move. Should you reach a winning position because you find a tactic, CONTINUE TO MOVE CAREFULLY as you do not want to give the advantage back to your opponent. Keep on pressing until the endgame.
5. If you followed all the advice given so far, you should be in an either winning or at least drawing endgame. In either case, it is your job to find the best way to proceed in order to secure the ½ or full point. Therefore, continue to take your time in determining moves. Furthermore, feel free to use books as resources as these can definitely sway the game in your favor, especially if the opponent is lazy and fails to take advantage of his own personal resources.
6. Finally, (After you hopefully bring in the win), Please be respectful of your opponent and say good game/thanks for the game/etc. It is always important to be cordial with your opponent as sportsmanship is one of the most important aspects of chess.
7. After the game, it is important to remember what we are all here for: Improvement! Therefore, if you truly want to improve, you will go ahead and analyze the game. Because of this, I suggest that throughout the game, you write notes about why you play each move (perhaps even keep a notebook for a game!) This way, once your game has finished, you can re-evaluate your thought processes and see where, if anywhere, you went wrong, and how you can improve this in the future. This process can really help sharpen your chess skills and it is my hope that you do this in your pursuit to become a chess master someday.