1. You can consult books and databases during the game.
2. You can use them as far as you want. (edit: although usually you'll find that your opponent plays something not in the book pretty quickly)
3. The analyze button is just a board on which you can move pieces around, just like on a physical board. That's actually encouraged to do during the game, it's good for your chess.
Thank you, kwaloffer, it does make sense.
Thanks.
1. You can consult books and databases during the game.
2. You can use them as far as you want. (edit: although usually you'll find that your opponent plays something not in the book pretty quickly)
3. The analyze button is just a board on which you can move pieces around, just like on a physical board. That's actually encouraged to do during the game, it's good for your chess.
I disagree, I can't see how using an analysis board during a game can be anything but bad for your chess
Are you saying, Arctor, that it is better for learning to move the pieces in your head?
Well yes, clearly. You don't have the luxury of an analysis board next to you while playing a real game
Thank you, guys, for your input... I've just discovered the Game Explorer. Can one use this tool during an online game?
Thanks
Wow!--so technical!--Guess I learned many, many years ago by playing (over a real chess board) and a book or 2.
Yes, this topic has been discussed many times but the Chess.com doesn`t seem to be willing to give an answer. They just keep repeating their rules. Many players believe we can use DBs (including the Chess.com Explorer) during online games (not in Live Chess) for as long as we like. I`ve just found an interesting blog post.
Yes, we may use the Game Explorer; otherwise it wouldn't be shown in your games under "DETAILS."
One thing I sometimes do is once we have left the database, look at games with similar positions to that on the board and make similar moves. It can be pretty helpful. Of course, if it has never been played and another move shows up 5,000 times, perhaps there is a way to take advantage. "One never knows..."
I guess everyone has to decide on this for him/herself. Having waited for answers and having played for some three months now (including several games with a computer engine), I feel that running an engine even for such an innocuous thing as blunder check or using the Game Explorer during a game before making a move is cheating yourself, irrespective of what the rules might say or imply.
However, while practicing this and hoping that others do, I would not expect everyone to follow the same interpretation of how online games should be played on chess.com. I have felt a few times that I was playing an engine instead of a person; my take on that is that, ok, I played a computer before (and typically lost :), so I'll give it another shot.
If I were the boss however, I would make the rules very clear for the online chess and would introduce, at signup, a pledge to play on your own (starting with, say,--arbitrary--move 8). I wouldn't close accounts of those suspected in cheating, I'd create something like a "Cheater Board" and place their handles over there for a while for everyone to see. That would give them a chance to clean their act by... playing other members of the Cheater Board, assuming that most other players would avoid playing them...
well, I could dream on, but I'd better go make my moves :)
Turned-based chess has a history - before the age of the Internet, it was simply known as correspondence chess or Postal Chess.
Some of the arguments here against some of the tools allowed in online chess forget this fact. If you compare it to regular live chess across a board, then using an analysis board is not in the spirit of the game (besides, your opponent could look too). However, think about receiving your next move in the mail - K-f7. What does that mean? You need to setup the board and see what it is. You need to play it back to see where you were going with this game and what you had planned to do. It's not like a chess puzzle where you start with no history, it's a real game with give and take.
It you wanted to be "pure" about online chess, you'd not even allow the "back" or replay buttons allowed under online chess. But that's not reasonable, is it? You need to catch up on a long-duration game, especially if you're playing several or dozens of them.
It's a slightly different way of playing. And if you're concerned about an opening database (or a book on an opening) - you're focusing on the wrong thing. Because a database will only get you so far. And the databases give both good and bad examples. You reach a point where such tools might be helpful, but can sometimes cause more trouble than they're worth.
I'd prefer my opponent to have a good way to walk through unfamiliar openings - because a fools mate is kind of a waste of my time. I'd rather him have a strong opening than a poor one and a win due to early mistakes. After all, I want to get better too.
If you don't like it, there's always live chess, or going down to your local club (a good idea).
This topic has probably been discussed to death, but I'm new here, and I couldn't find an answer to this particular set of questions, so please bear with me.
In the "Cheaters & Cheating: What You Need to Know" section of the FAQs, it says the following regarding online games (as far as I understand, turn-based chess inlcudes online chess here):
Here's my questions:
1. What consitutes opening moves? Does this mean that one can consult books or databases only BEFORE the game starts (and I'd assume that before the game one could do whatever they wish), or DURING the opening?
2. If the latter is true, what constitutes the end of the opening? In other words, for how many moves one could use a book or a database? (btw, I don't have books yet, not do I have access to any databases -- I just want to play by the rules)
3. What about the "Analyse" button that shows next to the board (or below in the iPad)? I'm not sure how to use it yet, but is it intended for a post-game analysis, or could be used during an online game?
Thanks,
iChessYa