ask a professional chess player anything

I have been losing all the time against an opponent and he is younger than me in tournament games. He has a 2W 0D 0L against me OTB. However, in chess.com all my live ratings are almost 500-1000 rating higher than his. I also come higher than him in OTB tournaments, but can't beat him. He is also national champion is his class.

I hope you will continue answering our questions

I'd like the answer's from achja's questions and i have some questions of my own too

1. It's hard to believe that you got to GM without reading any books, It's not that I don't believe you but could you explain the specifics on how did you improve without books ( like studying games, what games? if they have annotations then who has them? , did you use a tactic training site? etc)

2.What's your opinion on the relationship of chess to things like basketball,maths etc

3.How strong were you when you were 5, 10 yrs old ( or name any # between 5-15 for age) etc

4. Can anyone get really strong without OTB chess and just studying games and playing online long games ( i guess theoretically since this is probably a rare case ) (not much chess culture here, that is why i am asking this)

5.Can you explain how to schedule training (specifics) ?

6.Can you tell us what's a normal day for a GM like? (Includes training for chess & leisure activies & hobbies etc)

edit update: #1 by who has them i mean who annotated them

7. Favorite chess set?

8. Recommended height of table (for chess set) relative to body, like should the table at the level of your stomach or shoulder (hope you understand this part lol) and maybe chair height relative to body too?

Who do you think the next world champion will be?

What's the difference between players at certain elo?

What knowledge makes the 1200 better than a 1000? A 1400 better than a 1200? 1600 and 1400, 1800 and 1600, and so on.

the more ideas you know, the better player you will be

Hola saben de alguien que juegue en Jerusalem por favor?

to build on what somebody said earlier, (im sorry i forgot your name) are there any other games that have strategy like chess? (im thinking games like reversi, checkers, backgammon, poker) would it help your chess to play any of these games? what is your favorite non-chess game?

+1

How many games? Any coaches?

I'll ask a few questions myself:

1. My live standard rating here is 1600 and my blitz is below 1300? Do you have any advice what to do to improve my blitz skills?

2. Do you have any advice how to improve my live standard rating from 1600 to 1800. I use tactical trainer and to be honest I'm not very good, wriggling around 1400. I believe that openings are my strongest side, but in mid game I often blunder.

Do you study games "in general" or games that follow favourite opening lines? For instance, would you study Carlsen's latest games, or all GM/M games in the chess.com database that follow your particular favourite lines?

Most chess books are opening books and are written for players above 2000. Players below 2000 using such books are probably wasting their time.  

can you play some blitz games against me and give chess related advice after those games?

What are the differences in skills, generally speaking, between titled players? I have wondered this for a while. 2000-players to Magnus Carlsen look the same from down here...

Hi!

I'm always curious about this one thing: Can a chess pro who plays (teaches) chess for a living still enjoy the game as much as he did in his amateur games?

Did your enjoyment of chess, or your love for the game, diminish or change in any way after you became a professional chess player?

Are there days when you wake up and think "Oh no, I have to play (teach) chess today... not again... I would much rather read a good novel or go to the beach or take my kids to the zoo... I hate chess! This is no fun anymore. It's work. Hard and underpaid work..."?

Eric inadvertently has helped to add more proof that if Paul Morphy were to magically be transported to the present day he would be at least GM strength.  Why?  Because like Eric he had natural talent and being one of the most naturally talented players of all time Morphy would be able to quickly adapt to modern day chess.  At least that's my opinion.  Since he is offering to answer questions,  I will ask a real life GM himself...

Eric, what do you think of Paul Morphy and how he would rank amongst other chess players today?

What defines someone attaining the title "GM" ?

I hear "Gambit" used say for Queen , King etc...what does that term mean?

thanks

1) A rating over 2500, and 3 performances over 2600 in 3 international tournaments 

2) the sacrifice of a pawn in exchange for activity/faster development or some other compensation.

Haha, I was messing with you bro, good job on the GM title, you're really good :)

For studying games which masters are great for making at least CM?  I'm currently looking at Larsen and Karpov's games (have both their books Larsen's New in Chess book and Karpov's Edition Olms game collection.)

How to best internalize the winning and drawing methods with queen and pawn on the seventh vs. queen?  I have Averbakh's CCE 3: Queen Endings and don't want to draw such won positions if they ever come up. 

Hi! How to make good moves when the position is "normal"? I mean there are no forcing moves, no moves that are putting pressure somewhere etc. this kind of positions arriving to me near or during the endgame. I know quite lot of the theory about endgames, but this stage of the game is the hardest for me anyway and I often find myself going badly from good position because I am going to far in attacking ideas in some games, or I am too pasive in some games. How to recognise if I should attack or wait in endgame "normal" positions? And how to find candidate moves if no one is forcing any serious reaction from the opponent?

And one more question: I often has a very nice position(more the time pawn up or positional advantage) out of the opening and sometimes even after middle game I am standing better even against stronger opponents. And then I am judging this position as winning for me(only if it is a real win - I have an ability to recognise if the position is equal, winning or losing - I alway checking my thoughts and analises with a computer and I am right in judging almost always), then I am relaxing and somehow I am finding myself losing from winning position. How to maintain to focus and make good moves(often in less time than the opponent - I am asking mostly about rapid games) when have winning position(like 2 pawns up)?