AMA 2026 Want Chess Advice or have interesting questions? ask away

Hey guys before i used to be very active in the chess.com community probably a bit more toxic than i would have liked but its 2026 and i figured i might at least make 1 forum to close out that bucket list haha.... anyways i am a national master who is willing to answer any question you guys may have so ask away! it could be chess related or maybe something interesting you wanna ask and again cheers!

can you help me in chess

i could give some advice at the moment however i am not a coach nor interested in coaching anyone as i am focused on pursuing other titles like FM/IM in the future

ok can you please tell me some good moves in chess

canyou help me get a tittle

i dont do coaching but as for the other question some good moves would be indicative of your style in choosing openings which could be either dynamic or positional. if you love tactical games with a lot of Imbalances play e4 but if you prefer more long term maneuvering games play d4

How difficult would you say your road to NM was? How long did it take you and what were some of the challenges you faced along the way? Or was it just really easy for you lol.

qn

some yes

the last sentence is one that infuriates me.... any title is never easy even if it is universally deemed to be not that crazy to achieve. for me personally i would describe my journey to NM as one of loss and commitment having to make hard choices and losing many people who i used to have connections with personally. i had to change a lot of things and make chess an extreme lifestyle to get to NM and the financial investments were one of the most brutal things i could describe so much so that i felt like a hobo freelancing whenever there was a local event near me. hardest challenge was simply the lack of resources and opportunities but given that the US is nothing but USCF tournaments i knew that if i worked hard enough it could be realistic despite the odds

I have a tourney in 8 days, a big one for me, i will have to play against many 1600 to 2100 rated players (fide), I am 1500 myself (fide). Any last minute advice pls, i am lost genuinely, i am doing tactics and stuffs but i feel like I am missing something crucial skill even when playing against 1400s, I have a decent opening as white and black ready for the tourney , other than that idk what else to do, i do puzzles but i feel like I wont be facing those kinds of tactics ever in my games lol, The idea of pawn sacrifice for infinitive or positional advantage i have 0 idea how to know or feel it, i mean if i see an attack then i get it, but sometimes my opponents sac pawn for no clear attack and i end up in a bad position, sorry for typing a lot of yap, Any last minute advice?

its really hard to get a "feel" for moves which involve rather counterintuitive ideas like sacrificing for activity or the exchange etc what your doing is pretty smart imo as generally most lower rateds dont prepare much in understanding or positional play. I recommend you to just continue focusing on what your doing as many low rated players just blunder tactics and the opening aspect is partially negated, in retrospect the majority of games are decided either on opening advantage or simple tactics like forks etc you dont need to study much for that and as for 2000-2100 that actually is a lot more different and you will have to make sure your preparation works out well. best i recommend is focusing mainly on tactics for lower rated opponents and make sure you give your best preparation when facing higher rateds

Would you play 6 year old levy rozman?

if it were a tournament yes but i dont see a point unless i am gaining elo making the travel worth it

Why does imrpovement come in spurts and not consistently?

Improvement is not the same for everyone regardless if its chess or anything else really.... it just comes naturally at some point with hard work and time. there are many "talents" or "prodigies" who simply excel as they work and do a lot of things quicker and there are people who just work naturally and can do around the same while also those who take longer regardless of talent or hard work. its simply the natural order of reality which is the best way i can describe it and in a very cruel way id argue that if improvement were a lot more consistent for everyone to some aspect we would have a lot more GM's in the world right now