Ask Me Anything with CM Can Kabadayi!!

Passion for teaching and receiving amazing feedback from my students and the community.

My cousin taught me when I was 8.

You should replace the cats with the ravens.

What is more important the intelligence of the game or the concepts and theory in chess? Thank you.

Everything is context-dependent. But generally: 2 rooks, and a bishop.

Intuition is almost equivalent to pattern-recognition. And chess is mostly a pattern-recognition game. So intuition plays a huge role behind master's decision-making. This explains why they are so good even in bullet chess. Chess mastery mostly involves accumulation of those hundreds of thousands of chess patterns and chunks in our long-term memories. Once they are there, the calculation process becomes much more efficient (Carlsen will tell you he sees the best move instantly in any position).

Thanks. It is a vast ocean indeed, and you should not get overwhelmed by tackling something that is too complex for your current level. Generally, there are good beginner books/courses on Chessable, including Checkmate Patterns Manual and Common Chess Patterns. I also recommend The Chess Elevator and Breaking 1000.

Working with a coach can also be helpful in creating a personalized training plan, given your specific weaknesess.

My first ever Elo rating was 2153. But it was back in 2006. Then life happened and I did not play in many tournaments. After I finished my Ph.D., I had a chance to study again. Then I saw around a 70-point jump in a short period and became a CM in 2018. The GM title is unrealistic, as it is a mountain to climb. I can aim to become a FM

Loved the game passionately and kept studying it.

I am not aware of such a mental shift. I simply had more time to work on chess once I completed my Ph.D. Also mentally I felt more secure and relaxed I believe. It was a good period in my life, mentally. Then I saw around 70 70-point rating jump that led to the title. I remember reading Dvoretsky's book titled "Chess Tests" and doing lots of guess-the-move training on master games during that period.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Sure, I can always have a heart attack...

I love them. The best part is to have the annotations written by the masters themselves. I also do a guess-the-move training on those games sometimes, before looking at the actual game. Then the moves become more relevant. In my YT channel, there is a playlist titled "Instructive Chess Classics". You can check it out.

By following the golden opening principles:

1) Fight for the center

2) Rapidly develop your pieces and avoid playing with them over and over again

3) Safeguard your king

Done subscribing. imma watch it later thank u

1) Offline is preferred IMO, but online is much more convenient & available.

2) Catalan with White, Slav with Black

3) Keep the grind and passion for the game. You will see the results eventually. Don't focus too much on the rating but love the process of learning.

4) Their support is obviously very important. We are a social species after all.

5) GM is unrealistic, I can aim for a FM title.

Sure, there are several different ways in our current day and age. There are several best-selling Chessable authors without a title. You can become a great teacher, specializing in beginners. You can coach beginners or write courses targeting those. You can create a YT channel, etc. There are more options now compared to a couple of decades ago.

I predict Gukesh will win.

It depends on the mental state of the player. It can offer a calm, flow state when you are deeply immersed in this activity - feels like meditation. Long hours of intense concentration without distraction are so valuable in our modern life - just think of the effect of smartphones and other distractions in our daily lives!

But if you let rating anxiety and fear of losses into the picture, it can also become a stressful activity. 'All the suffering for what?' you may tell yourself, especially after a painful loss. Ego can really blur the judgment, also given the game's connotations to intelligence in our society.

Learning chess pattens and chunks and storing them in our long-term memories are more important than 'intelligence' or 'iq'.