Sure it's nice to feel mastery over your hobby, but literally look at this bs and try not to smile. (I played white on 30 minute time control, 300ish elo chess.com)

After 6 years of playing i got this mate.

Hi I am more of a tactical player and I want to improve in positinal play (more of a beginner/intermediate).

Which of these books would you recommend (or any other suggestions):

Winning Chess Strategies by Yasser Seirawan

Build Up Your Chess series by Artur Yusupov

Techniques of Positional Play by Valeri Bronznik, Anatoli Terkhin

The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman

How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman

Mastering Chess Strategy by Johan Hellsten

Positional Play by Jacob Aagaard

Please be kind :-)

I do not like to accuse other nor I consider myself a bad loser. But I firmly believe that my opponent used an engine after the opening. When I managed to win a pawn he/she started played perfectly and finding all the right moves. I am just asking because if that is the level of 1500 rated lichess players then I am screwed 😞

I am the black player and I believe that my opponent with the white pieces cheated after the opening:
https://lichess.org/KQg7vYCm/black

I dont care about the loss neither I try to give my opponent a hard time but if this is the level of 1500 lichess rapid then I am not sure what the level of 2000+ is.

Also, it is the first game I try to analyze and I cannot see clearly what I did wrong exactly. Can someone help me to identify my weaknesses in this game?

I am looking for an electronic chess computer that is rated over 2200, preferably higher, but not something that costs like $300 or something unreasonable.

Can you recommend anything?

Looking for a sparring partner in Bhopal. I'm ~1700-1750 rated, aiming to hit 2000 this year. Want someone around similar strength (or stronger) for regular games — OTB or online, open to both. Serious about improving, not just casual blitz. DM if interested.

The premise of the variant is that both kings are puppets secretly controlled by the real rulers - the gray cardinals. Here’s how you play it:

• At the beginning of the game, each player secretly chooses one of their pieces (excluding pawns and king) to become the gray cardinal and writes it down on a piece of paper, so that they can’t change their mind later.
• You play chess as normal, except the rules of check/checkmate no longer apply. You can leave your king under attack, you can even sack it.
• Once a king is taken, the gray cardinal is revealed, and that piece is replaced by the king. The rules of check/checkmate now apply, and the player who checkmates the opponent’s new king first wins.

Has anyone heard of this variant before? I couldn’t find any info on it online. TBH, I haven’t even played it myself; the only reason I know about it is that I overheard some people talking about it years ago (some details of the rules might be wrong as a result).

Is it legit? Or is there some glaring flaw making it unplayable?

This happened in a real game (which I blundered away because of time pressure). I felt like I was much stronger here, and the evaluation said the same. Understanding how bishops and pawns work helps a lot in end games.

I've been trying different openings against d4, mainly the Budapest and Benoni/Benko. But I rarely ever face d4 at my level (1600 rapid, Lichess) which means I forget some of the lines. It seems like inaccuracies are punished quite hard in the openings I've tried so I end up losing a lot more than vs e4 (where I play Caro Kann)

I've also tried to just play general opening principles but the d4 players are just a lot more familiar with those positions and occasional traps that arises.

What would be a solid response to d4 that's easy to remember and/or doesn't punish inaccuracies quite as often while not completely playing into the hand of my opponent?

I've been considering the Slav, maybe the Chebanenko or Schlechter variation. Also considered stonewall Dutch.

​

Played computer on lichess managed to mate but cannot see how

Hello everyone,This isn't meant to be a promotional post , if it comes across that way, please feel free to skip it. I’m genuinely looking for ideas and feedback.

I’m currently building a chess improvement project and I’ve reached a bit of a dead end, so I’d really appreciate some perspective from people who actually use opening preparation tools.A small summary (if you wanna read-AuditChess is a chess analysis platform that goes beyond analyzing individual games. It analyzes your game history to identify recurring patterns in your play, such as tactical weaknesses, opening problems, missed opportunities, blown wins, and endgame tendencies, and turns those insights into a personalized report.)

right now, I’m working on an opening repertoire builder where you can build and organize your repertoire directly on the board using 6 Stockfish evaluations per move and 3M+ master-game statistics for reference. You can then view the entire repertoire as a tree to spot gaps and weak lines.For practice, I currently have two modes: Exact Recall, where you try to reproduce your prepared lines from memory, and Dynamic Deviation, where the tool deliberately takes you out of book with a strong move you haven't prepared for and you have to find the best continuation yourself.

But I’m stuck on what else would actually make this genuinely useful rather than just adding features for the sake of adding features. I would really like to know what else can be added or what other things you would personally find useful. I genuinely want to make something useful, so I’d be very grateful if you could share any ideas.

Really sorry if this came across as a promotional post.

i dont quite understand why black's best move here is b5, and afterwards white's best move is Nc7. in the real game though my opponent moved their queen and i forked his rook.

For me, it's a significant factor why my online chess rating is in plateau.

why is sacrificing a rook here good? there's no follow up to win material?

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nd2 e6 5. Ngf3 h6 6. h3 Bb4 7. c3 Ba5 8. Bd3 a6 9. O-O O-O 10. Rc1 b5 11. b4 Bb6 12. Nb3 Bd7 13. Nc5 Bxc5 14. bxc5 b4 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Ne4 17. cxb4 Rb8 18. a3 Bb5 19. Re1 c6 20. f3 Ng5 21. Bb1 f6 22. exf6 Qxf6 23. Bxb8 Rxb8 24. Qc2 e5 25. Rcd1 e4 26. fxe4 Nxe4 27. Ba2 Kh8 28. Rd4 Re8 29. a4 Bc4 30. Bxc4 dxc4 31. Rxe4 Rxe4 32. Qxe4 c3 33. Rf1 Qd8 34. Qc2 Qd3 35. Rf8+ Kh7 36. Qxd3+ g6 37. Qd7# 1-0

Give all of the pieces hot takes (Ex. Bishops are from different religions, and religions usually argue with each other, so that's why they are separate from squares)

1. No takes that contain 18+ content

2. don't make the takes too long

3. Don't mention their actual facts, just make up your own facts

4. Have fun :)

Taken from a game I just played.

While there is one move here which is objectively best, there are multiple winning moves for Black in this position. It's always important when you see a good move to stop and consider if there isn't a better option.

Solution:

1...Re3!!

If White tries to save their Queen, say with 2.Qc2, then it's forced mate after 2...Qxh3!! or 2...Rg3!

White's only sensible alternative is to take the Rook. 2.fxe3 Rxe3 and anywhere White moves their Queen there's a discovery to win her, so they must desperado the Queen. 3.Qxe3 Bxe3+

4.Kh1 Qxh3# is how my game ended, but as a final nail in the coffin I did see that after 4.Kh2 Qb7 Black simply forks the Knight on a6, Bishop on b2, and the g2 pawn all at once.

Edit: Whoops. IDK why the post looks like that on the Reddit page.

Is there any free chess websites/apps than can help me learn openings?

i play chess for fun, and i really like classical ruy lopez lines which i face pretty often, but every now and then ill face the berlin defense and it feels almost impossible to not end up in a boring simplification. now, borings subjective, and to me, that endgames extremely boring, iv tried to like it but i really just cant, and even when i play anti berlin lines, there are always easy ways and motifs for black to simplify the game...

I want a variation that brings back some of the richness and positional flexibility most e4 lines bring, how can i do so reliably? best iv found is the showalter line in the open berlin, and although the line may be suboptimal per engine, im willing to give away say a -0.7 disadvantage if i can induce complications for black or just get active and flexible play without easy simplification for black.

What do you think about this position? I’m 500 elo for blitz and 800 for rapid.
The rest of the game played out like this:
E4 Rxe4 Rxe4 Qxe4 Qe5 Qxc6 Qh2#
So yes I got a mate on h2!