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anyone want to play with me? I’ll be the “punching bag” as long as my opponent isn’t DeirdreSkye or WilliamShookspear!

Hi all,So I've introduced the concept of playing with other members, but I think it would be cool if we were all on the same page as to goals. Please register your interest below, and information like what your preferred time control is and what you're hoping to gain/offer/both.Thanks!

Hello all, and welcome to this study group. Before I say anything else, I call this group mine, but it really couldn't have happened without the very kind Karnakatz, who made the group, and DierdreSkye, who organized it. Many thanks to both of them, and I hope they get something out of this. Also, it wouldn't be much of a group if it were just the three of us, so I would like to heartily thank you for deciding to join!With all that said, here is the outline of how I see the group running...1) Lower rated players get a chance to play higher rated players.One of the best ways to improve is to play against people who are better than you. Cutting your teeth on a seemingly immovable wall and seeing why you're losing is a great way to fix mistakes. Unfortunately, many people don't get that opportunity as much as they might like. This group aims to cater to that, with a wide spread of ratings. (Not all of your games HAVE to be with someone way higher or lower rated than you. That makes it an obligation, which isn't fun, especially you're a higher rated player and you feel like you HAVE to play all these less strong players all the time.)2) An analysis area.Let's say you play a really good, interesting game, either with someone in this group, or outside, and you want to share it, but you really don't want to deal with trolls or, worst of all, resounding silence. This is a place you can submit your game to be analysed by a mature and active group. (I'm crossing my fingers that this group remains active.) So, just as if you've played a game and want to share it, if you've some time feel free to mosey on down here and have a look at what people have posted. (There's a lot of trolling to sift through in the deep dark forest of the public forums. Here, we're all eager to learn.)3) Please keep it mature and civil.In the forums, you see a lot of snobbish mudslinging, people disparaging and degrading other people, either about how they played or other less relevant things. This is not to mention the many forum members who live under bridges and wait for little sheep to pass by over head. This is exactly what I don't want to happen here. We're all here to honestly learn. You can provide honest commentary and analysis, but there is always a way to do it kindly. ("I don't like this move because it doesn't seem to do anything" instead of "This was stupid and pointless.")That's pretty much all I had in mind for the group, but I would not be unhappy to see it grow in other ways as well.Let the party commence!

who wants to play with me now?

This is a game between myself and Kieran, we will start when Kieran accepts the challenge.

Posting an analysis is such uncharted territory

This is a forum where you can post any and all games that you've found interesting, instructive, or if you just want to show off. You don't have to annotate if you don't have time, but if you want to, that's wonderful; it helps everyone when you write down your thought processes. Let the posting... Begin!

This is a forum for spectators' discussion on the game between Deirdre and Lukas. Anything you wish to say about the game may be said here. (Within reason, of course.) The reason being, we want Deirdre's forum to stay as on topic as possible. Let the commentary begin!

I usually never play d4 when I’m white, but I am thinking of doing so especially in blitz because queen pawn openings are more solid and less likely to erupt in difficult-to-calculate-in-little-time tactics. Could you guys help explain some of the goals and general plans associated with the QG? Like, what is the general idea? And what should I look out for? Additionally, a bunch of lines would be helpful too 😊 thanks!

Game 2:

This was a daily chess game played between myself and DJM473, that ended in a draw. At one point we almost had 4 queens on the board!

Hi guys,This is a simple three step guide to help you analyse any position, no matter what your strength might be. Hope you find it useful!Step One: Assess the position.This can be considered by a series of questions.#1: Do me or my opponent have hanging or undefended pieces? Can they be taken advantage of? #2: Are there any positional weaknesses? (To the best of your understanding; these can be tricky to assess for any player.)#3: What is my plan? Assuming neither you or your opponent has blundered some kind of tactic, you can now turn to developing a plan. In the opening, most of these plans follow the guidelines of development, central control, et cetera. In the middlegame, they can be very diverse, and this is why it helps to know some of the patterns that can result from various openings. (I suggest studying entire master games from start to finish to help in this regard. Choosing a plan could be a separate post, and might not be best written by me.)#4: What is my opponent's plan? You don't need to obsess over preventing every little thing he does, but it is important to keep an eye on his ideas and understand what he's doing. (Or try to at least; some players make odd looking moves, and all you can do is try your best to understand the rationale, see if you can punish it, and make your best move.)Step Two: Establish candidate movesBased on your assessment of the position, you can now start to consider candidate moves. (Targeting weaknesses, or progressing with your plan.)My recommendation is that you pick at least 2 candidate moves, even in the most obvious looking circumstances, as long as the move isn't the only one you can make. The idea is to help you look at the whole board, and not tunnel-vision by only focusing on one thing. (Tunnel-visioning is one of my pitfalls as a chess player; I want to spare you the pain and suffering!)Step Three: Calculate your lines!This is the last and arguably most neglected part of the analysis process. I neglect it sometimes, and unless you've made a momentous effort to discipline yourself, I bet you do too. It's quite a simple process, but it takes consistency to do properly.Start with your candidate move, and look for your opponent's best response. #1: If there's a response that worries you, you MUST come to a resolution that this response either does or does not refute your move by calculating until there are no more forcing moves.If it does refute your move, tick it in your head as refuted, turn to another candidate, and repeat the process. If the considered response does not refute your move, you should still examine your other candidates, and make sure they won't yield better results.Example from one of my own OTB (Over the Board) games, where I failed to calculate properly: I had to calculate 4 moves, albeit not the hardest ones to see, in order to see that 6... e6 didn't work. This usually takes a lot of practice to be able to do thoroughly, and may not be easy for you if you're just starting. I might suggest counting, out-loud or in your head, to help you get the moves in the right order. Or "if bang, bang, bang... Bang... then bang?" often helps me when I'm trying to calculate. (Only online of course. Verbalising in such a way otb would be incredibly distracting to your opponent. )[For the record, the move was evidently 6... a6. Perhaps meant to prevent 10. Bb5+ in the line with 7... Bg6? I have honestly no clue.]The most important thing to do is: trust yourself! After you have come to a conclusion, double check it, then trust that it is true and move on. Mistakes happen. (As you can see from the above.) But learning from them is where improvement comes in. That wraps it up, if you found something less than useful, or at least improvable upon, please let me know. (I wouldn't object if you told me it was wonderful and couldn't be improved on in any way. But that would probably not be truthful )Cheers,~ William

Hello all! I am @cyboo, a well known member of this club. In case you are not aware, we have an amazing and skilled trainer amongst us: @chessmaxusa! This guy is one of the best people on chess.com. He continually goes out of his way to help whomever requests it of him: one example is how he spent three days trying to help me find the answer to the infamous Q10 in the 2018 holiday puzzler. He is not condescending like many of the titled players here on chess.com, but communicates and associates with us “commoners” by actively participating in club activities and discussions. @chessmaxusa is also very kind. If you challenge him to a short unrated game, it’s almost guaranteed he will accept...unlike all the high-and-mighty titled players who can’t be bothered. And @chessmaxusa isn’t like a lowly CM....he is an International Master (IM) and has an online blitz rating of 2500+!! He has also played in two GM norms. I have personally played with him over 5 times, and I must admit I was kinda nervous...he plays incredibly well and will crush you without holding back! But each game is a lesson and he has given me a few good pointers! @chessmaxusa is IM Dejan "Max" Maksimovic and lives in the Chicago. He comes from the strongest chess country in the world-SERBIA!!!!!!!! 3: He teaches in schools and has a lot of private students who are amongst the TOP PLAYERS IN THE U.S. He is available for private, group and school lessons, ICC -lesson and over the phone. If you want to achieve the highest level in CHESS, contact @chessmaxusa!!!! Please visit and read his Website as well: www.maxchampions.com. @chessmaxusa has extensive knowledge as a chess trainer, and has (as of 2018), over 25 years of coaching experience, and 12 years of online coaching experience. So don’t wait any longer! If YOU want to grow in your chess, don’t hesitate to contact @chessmaxusa and arrange for lessons/training (unrated) games! You won’t regret it! Send @chessmaxusa a PM if you are interested, and of course you can learn more on his website. Thanks for reading this! I hope you will progress much in your chess journey! -@cyboo

https://www.chess.com/analysis-board-editor?diagram_id=4850278 Here is a game that I played against DeirdreSkye for practice and training purposes. I've made some comments/analysis, and she asked that I post it here. I'd love to get some more opinions on this game, so if anyone else wants to comment on my play, that would be great!

at 13..b6 I meant BLACKS light squared bishop!!! I would like to share a game I analyzed. It is really difficult for me to say at which point white went the wrong path. The best wins are those were your opponent didn't make a mistake. Obviously in the endgame white did make some huge tactical errors, but positionally I think e5 was premature, and white should rather went for a plan with Na3-f2-d4. or Na3-f2 Bd3-c2 Rd1 setup.

Vote Chess Played As a Team Dear Teammates, Let me begin with a short historical note. Vote Chess is a modern, internet-based variant of what were once – and still are – consultation games played by correspondence (or radio) in chess. One of the most famous instances was the game played in 1824 between the London Chess Club and Edinburgh, during which the Scotch Game has been played for the first time. Hence in order to be able to play Vote Chess games we can learn from and also to learn from each other and together please try to play them as consultation games, or as a team, by following the guidelines listed below: Check the ‟Follow” box below the Comments section of each game You joined. This will allow You to track the discussion and participate in it. At later stages of the game, You can also consult the archive to remember/refresh what has been discussed earlier. At the beginning of each game, suggest an opening or move, depending on the colour we play with. Furthermore, suggest a move each time it is our turn and state Your reasons for recommending the respective move, or supporting it, if somebody else has already suggested it. You can also insert a line, a variation, Your analysis (as a diagram) etc. After reading the evaluations made by Team Members, the Coordinator/Captain of the game selects the move (or the best two to four moves) recommended by Team Members. If there is a clear preference for a move (s)he will post a comment asking everybody to vote for the agreed move. If there are more moves that seem to be equally good, another short round of consultations could follow. (In the early phases of the game, the Coordinator/Captain may also ask Team Members to select by majority vote one of the seemingly equivalent lines.) Finally, the Coordinator/Captain will post the agreed move or the competing recommendations in Bold at a decent time interval before time control in order to allow all Teammates to vote. In competitional VC games it is advisable to play openings and lines familiar to the top board players on the Team. It is a good idea to allow two thirds of the consideration time for discussion and one third for voting. Thus, the call for voting the candidate move(s) should be made 24 hours before the time control in 3 days per move games and 16 hours before time control in 2 days per move games. (The 24 hours mark can be used is slower VC games, while 1 day per move games should be avoided.) If necessary or prudent, the Coordinator/Captain may postpone the call, in which case (s)he shall signal this in the Team’s Private Chat. Please, play as a Team and do not vote independently (before) the agreed move was posted! Please communicate Your vote and the vote tallies in the format shown at the end of these guidelines. However, if the Coordinator(s)/Captain(s) fail(s) to make the call (in time), players are free to vote any of the moves featuring in the discussion, provided the respective move has not been refuted or proven wrong. Failure or unwillingness to observe points 7 and 8 shall entail warnings sent as PMs to offenders. (If they do not accept messages, posts shall be written on their walls.) If a player does not mend her/his ways, (s)he will be eliminated following the fourth offence. Players, who vote early inadvertently and apologise, shall be excused. Be polite and civil! If You don’t agree with another Member’s suggestion, argue in a polite manner, and refrain from negative comments. Even if a suggested move is an obvious blunder, explain this in a way that will help the other Teammate to learn and become a better player. A short note on cheating. (I think it is commonsense that we do not want to be cheated against. Hence, we should not cheat either. Not only because of this. But mainly because it is both morally and practically wrong. In the latter sense: we also deceive ourselves, or – at least – run the risk of doing so.) Engine analysing our ongoing games by any computing means is cheating. This should be done neither by our Coordinators/Captains, nor by any of the members who joined a certain game. (However, post-mortem analysis is permitted.) A short note on techniques that do not count as cheating. Using databases for checking statistics and particular lines, move orders does not count as cheating. Nonetheless, the databases shall not contain engine evaluations or allow engine evaluations to be TURNED OFF. The use of books, of other printed or electronic material (CDs/DVDs) as well as internet resources on chess is not cheating either. Hence, Vote Chess Game Coordinators and participants should take advantage of these resources. (After all, these are learning, not cheating tools, we may use in correspondence chess.) The format for communicating Your vote and the vote tallies: Your vote 3. d4 Bb5 (36%, 4 votes), Nc3 (36%, 4 votes), Bc4 (18%, 2 votes), d4 (9%, 1 vote). Finally, this material has been inspired by experience and similar texts from this site. Feel free to suggest improvements, additions etc.

Here's the most recent encounter between me and boo... 30. Rf7!! is one for the books! Well done, cyboo!

Hi all,So the game I started with blueemu is finally over, and I'm pleased to announce it ended in a draw! Here's the game. (For the record this is probably the biggest achievement of my chess career so far. ) Feel free to share your thoughts, everyone!