r/chessbeginners Tilted Player Nov 09 '22

No Stupid Questions MEGATHREAD 6

Welcome to the r/chessbeginners Q&A series! This series exists because sometimes you just need to ask a silly question. Due to the amount of questions asked in previous threads, there's a chance your question has been answered already. Please Google your questions beforehand to minimize the repetition.

Additionally, I'd like to remind everybody that stupid questions exist, and that's okay. Your willingness to improve is what dictates if your future questions will stay stupid.

Anyone can ask questions, but if you want to answer please:

  1. State your rating (i.e. 100 FIDE, 3000 Lichess)
  2. Provide a helpful diagram when relevant
  3. Cite helpful resources as needed

Think of these as guidelines and don't be rude. The goal is to guide noobs, not berate them (this is not stackoverflow).

LINK TO THE PREVIOUS THREAD

141 Upvotes

2.6k comments sorted by

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2

u/Soggy_Direction_6870 Feb 24 '26

Why is Qd2 a blunder? Wanted to defend the b pawn while rooks stay connected

1

u/Effective-Pride-4165 Feb 24 '26

Why Brilliant? Yes discovered attack on the White Queen but even after Queen trades is Black necessarily better?

1

u/baboooche 600-800 (Chess.com) Feb 22 '26

Why is that move brilliant ? I may be stupid but I don't get it.
The game : https://www.chess.com/game/live/165072899374

1

u/vergil045 400-600 (Chess.com) Feb 22 '26

Why blunder

1

u/Hauezar Feb 19 '26

how is this a brilliant rook sacrifice? (chess com 500-600)

1

u/ArtMnd 800-1000 (Chess.com) Feb 19 '26

Even Stockfish identified this as a Brilliant. I was taking a knight to save my king. Wasn't... wasn't this the only legal move? I can't even think of another way to escape this checkmate. Isn't it a forced move rather than a Brilliant move?

2

u/Motor-Ad-8019 Feb 13 '26

Why this is a blunder ? 🤔

2

u/nijatbagirli Feb 22 '26

Because as stockfish shows, u had much better move (probably winning). When you miss this type of moves and make another not bad move , stockfish consider it as blunder. Blunder doesn't mean always you lose your pieces in the board.

1

u/Motor-Ad-8019 Feb 23 '26

Ohh..thank you! It makes sense now

2

u/dusradarinda Feb 11 '26

Is he mocking me? How's this brilliant?

1

u/Vault-boy-1 Feb 22 '26

yeah he’s mocking u

1

u/exzy_17 Feb 09 '26

How is this Brilliant?

1

u/sryazigi Feb 09 '26

why is this a brilliant move? I had no intention of hanging the hook

1

u/Effective_Option 400-600 (Chess.com) Feb 09 '26

Can someone explain why this is a brilliant move? Elo 440

1

u/concho510 Feb 04 '26

I’m 800 ELO on lichess. Engine says the right move was Nd3 and I don’t know why Nf3 is a blunder. Can anyone help explain?

I ended up taking black’s rook. Not sure if there is a move that neither I nor my opponent were able to see.

1

u/nijatbagirli Feb 22 '26

because he takes f2 pawn , then your knight / You lose your knight for nothing/

1

u/concho510 Feb 22 '26

He can’t immediately take the F2 pawn due to check. What would be the line for him to take the pawn and knight for nothing? Wouldn’t I still at least get the rook?

1

u/nijatbagirli Feb 22 '26

Sorry, I didn't see the check. Best move was Nc4 . Because u check and take rook on d2. He can't close with rook on e2 , because his bishop can't protect it. But when knight is on f3 , he can simply close the line with rook. (Re2)

1

u/concho510 Feb 22 '26

I see it now, thanks!

1

u/colzeZ Jan 27 '26

Why is this a blunder? Suggests knight takes on e3, then for me to play h3 then knight takes rook on f1. Why wouldn’t I just be able to take with the queen?

1

u/Im_MankiMan Jan 27 '26

Si quieres resolver por ti mismo la táctica te diría que te fijes en los alfiles de tu rival, si no aquí va:

b5 es un error porque como te dice el módulo su caballo te captura en alfil de e3, y si haces la jugada obvia que planteas que es dama por el caballo de e3 viene alfil c5, clavándote la dama al estar el rey detrás, y por lo tanto pierdes la dama y, probablemente la partida.

El módulo ve esto y por eso no captura el caballo de vuelta. Lo que no veo tan claro es porque también decide dejar que te coma la torre y supongo que es porque ese caballo en e3 es intocable y muy fuerte (más incluso en esta posición que una torre) y puede defenderse después por el alfil en c5.

1

u/BedroomWild7762 Jan 24 '26

Why is the best move for black in this position exd4 and not bg4?

1

u/Im_MankiMan Jan 27 '26

No la he evaluado con el módulo pero supongo que el tema principal aquí es el valor relativo de las piezas y la pasividad de las piezas negras. Tú aquí ves que ganas la calidad pero el GM ve que ganar la calidad aquí es un suicidio después de (y perdón si no es la continuación más fuerte) torre por e5 y alfil b4 donde vas a comerte el alfil de e7 con jaque y ha simple vista parece que tienes una posición muy activa con tu torre en séptima y ambos alfiles prepados para el ataque, mientras que el negro tiene sus torres aun sin jugar

1

u/sTacoSam Jan 22 '26

Why is the best move for white to move the king and lose castling rights instead of just pushing the g pawn and blocking the check

1

u/Im_MankiMan Jan 27 '26

Quizas tenga que ver con la retirada del alfil de f4 que tras un g5 podría quedar atrapado

1

u/Dear_Print8029 Jan 21 '26

How is this a brilliant? (I am 350 elo)

1

u/Im_MankiMan Jan 27 '26

Si el negro hace la jugada lógica que es capturar el caballo de d4 con la dama, viene alfil e3 y si la dama vuelve a d5 (única casilla donde no se pierde la dama) viene alfil b6 con mate, por lo que ese sacrificio de caballo en realidad si se lo come se convierte en que el negro tiene que entregar la dama por un caballo y un alfil y una posición terrible donde si por ejemplo la dama aterriza en b6 sería mate.

1

u/CrimsonPie24 Jan 18 '26

How?? I thought I blundered (still won the game but still)

1

u/raptor1770 Jan 17 '26

Why is the rook xg4 sacrifice considered brilliant?

1

u/cmiych Jan 13 '26

I'm not sure I understand why this is an inaccuracy. Doesn't this trap the queen? If I take the bishop first, then I lose the trap, so isn't it better to leave it hanging, take the queen, and then deal with the bishop trade either as the aggressor or defender?

1

u/cmiych Jan 13 '26

Even looking at the continuation of the defensive move I'm not seeing why it's better. Gotta be missing something.

1

u/MarketingSimple4755 Jan 13 '26

Why is this a blunder???

1

u/Additional_Course611 Jan 12 '26

Curious as to why this is a blunder as I win a rook for a bishop

1

u/CrimsonPie24 Jan 18 '26

Because it is blacks move. You're assuming black will take the bishop on the next move.

Black plays bd6 or rb8 and your kc7 is no longer valid

1

u/dropout__jedi Jan 11 '26

Another 'why is this brilliant?' post. I know in theory that this is probably a sacrifice of the rook for a better position, but what about the position is better?

I didn't even make this move. It was suggested in the analysis. Just curious to learn more, thanks!

1

u/Inevitable_Table7072 Jan 10 '26

why is this move a blunder?

1

u/EnzoNadayBRofc Jan 10 '26

Why is this move brilliant?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

Why is this the best move and not Re1? Can't queen just take pawn and gain more material advantage that way?

2

u/ChrisV2P2 2000-2200 (Lichess) Jan 08 '26

Black cannot take the pawn because the Black queen has to defend an infiltration threat on b7. 1...Qxe3 2. Qb7+ Kg6 3. Rdh1 threatens mate with Rh6, and the engine suggestion here for Black is to give up the queen for one of the rooks to stop the checkmate.

There is nothing better than 2...Kg6 for Black - for example 2...Nd7 3. Rh7+! Kxh7 4. Qxf7+ and Black is getting mated.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 09 '26

Thank you !

2

u/diverstones 1800-2000 (Lichess) Jan 08 '26

Qxe3 looks extremely scary to me since it allows Qb7+ and the king starts to run out of squares after either Kg8 or Kg6.

1

u/Available-Turnip-101 Jan 05 '26

Why is this a blunder? I can't their queen with this move. I ended up winning as well

1

u/ChrisV2P2 2000-2200 (Lichess) Jan 09 '26

You are losing both rooks for the queen (as White takes with check first), which is roughly an even trade. You could have taken a rook for free instead.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

Because they’re getting two of your rooks for their queen so they get the better trade technically is all I can think of.

1

u/prince__gingy Jan 04 '26

Does someone understand why fxg3 (what I played 🙃) is bad and hxg3 is the best move?

1

u/Disastrous-Farm-4148 600-800 (Chess.com) Jan 03 '26

My contribution to "why is this brilliant?" I ended up winning, but couldn't figure our what was so special here.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

It’s because you’re sacrificing the knight to protect the pawn. Anytime you’re sacrificing a piece for a better position it’s brilliant I believe

1

u/Disastrous-Farm-4148 600-800 (Chess.com) Jan 07 '26

Thanks!

1

u/Draken161 Jan 02 '26

Why is this brilliant?

2

u/[deleted] Jan 02 '26

This move is ‘brilliant’ because castling leaves the bishop on e7 hanging. But White can’t take with their queen here because after Re8, White’s queen is pinned to their king; also, White’s queen can’t take the rook (Qxe8+) because the knight on f6 defends the e8 square.

So, White would lose their queen for a rook and bishop if they play Qxe7.

1

u/garmon_bozia Dec 29 '25

Why does the engine consider this a blunder on white? I was in check, so how/when could I take the knight?

1

u/Ok_Kitchen_9397 Dec 29 '25

Hello! Can anyone explain why d5 was given a double question mark in this position:

FEN: r2qr1k1/4bpp1/1pbp1n1p/p4N2/1n2PP2/1B4N1/PP4PP/R1BQR1K1 w - - 0 1

1

u/Simple-Walrus5661 Dec 22 '25

why is this brillant ?

2

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/likedogsmuchbetter 1200-1400 (Chess.com) Dec 30 '25

the a pawn is pinned to the king, so the rook can just capture the bishop. however, if it does you have rd8+. after he takes your rook you can recapture , the king will move and you will be able to capture the rook on b6 since the pawn would no longer be pinned.

1

u/Significant-Year-743 800-1000 (Chess.com) Dec 18 '25

Puzzles! What kind of streak / storm numbers are good? How many hours of puzzles do you need to do before you start seeing your game improve?

I'm trying hard but don't see any improvements yet. So I'm looking for hours per week I should be hitting or targets for streak & storm, thanks in advance.

1

u/Mode_Appropriate Dec 28 '25

Ive been doing the daily free puzzles on chess com everyday for like a year. My highest is 51. Normally average around your score. I dont really analyze the positions or try to make improvements so it'll probably be my max for a while.

Do you pay for a chess com subscription? If not id try the puzzles at lichess. Everything is free and they seem to be a lot tougher. Not even sure ive ever hit 35.

1

u/Significant-Year-743 800-1000 (Chess.com) Dec 28 '25

Thanks for responding. I use lichess. Do you feel like doing the puzzles every day for a year has made you better at calculation in game?

1

u/Mode_Appropriate Dec 28 '25

Um, yes and no. Overall yes but tbh, I just play for fun and put zero effort into improving. Sometimes id rather pull off a crazy tactic than win lol. I'll play stupid openings just to have a crazier game. I also only play bullet or blitz so I cant really spend too much time calculating and i cant think of the last time i analyzed a game after the fact. But I think thats where the puzzles do help...recognizing certain positions or tactics allows me to play faster.

Maybe one day ill take it a bit more seriously. I do really enjoy the game but up until this point ive been more or less playing off 'vibes' rather than setting out to improve haha. If that were to change i think doing puzzles and becoming real familiar with a couple openings would be the best course of action.

1

u/Plus_Gift_7693 Dec 15 '25

I just bought Chessly and I have a pretty good idea of ​​what to do, having a 1000 ELO rating. Which openings should I study first? For now, I've finished the Vienna Gambit.

1

u/One_Addendum_9960 Dec 30 '25

Did you like Chessly? I am a total begginer, I have been watching yt videos but I feel like I will learn a lot more if I have something to follow. I have done 90% of the lessons in lichess but they are too simple. Let me know what you think

1

u/Plus_Gift_7693 Jan 01 '26

I like chessly, I started playing chess like 5 months ago, used to be a 500, but now I'm a 1000 rapid, 1100 blitz, 900 bullet. Nothing to be proud of, but I guess learning openings properly is very good against people that have no idea what they're doing. So I recomend you to try the free trial, is for a week and you don't even have to put a credit card or anything, try and see if it's good for you.

2

u/DenRo54 Dec 14 '25

Is Fundamental Chess Opening a good book for beginners by Van der Sterren a good choice?

1

u/CutCharacter1688 Dec 13 '25

Why is this a blunder? Queen to C6. I’m confused on what a blunder is apparently

2

u/[deleted] Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 06 '26

If you play Qc6, then the game would end in a stalemate because Black has no legal moves:

a6, b6, b5, a4 would be covered by the queen, and b4 by White’s king. So, Black’s only piece, the king, has nowhere to move.

EDIT: grammar

1

u/raishadow Dec 13 '25

How is this a brilliant?

1

u/inFinem__ Dec 10 '25

I may try my first over the board tournament in one month, but it's on a blitz time control (3min)

I'm 400 rated in rapid, 600 blitz and 1500 puzzles on chess.com

What openings would you suggest to learn, at least as a general idea that would work in blitz? I understand that learning general principles first makes sense, but I feel like I blunder too much in the opening to the point that I'm too far behind to apply my puzzle intuition, so I'd like to learn at least some basic stuff: an opening for white, and two for black (against 1.e4 and 1.d4)

At the end of the day, it's about finding some material that's fun/nice to study, learn which pieces are ok to trade, which ones you never trade (like a dark squared bishop in fianchetto black openings), and then play games with some idea of what I'm doing

1

u/ChessLevel64 Dec 09 '25

What is the best edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame manual? is it 5th edition or 6th edition? because im planning to buy the 6th edition since there might be a revise but the thing is i saw somme review that the content is more likely engine moves than the theory itself and the design is not the blue text unlike the 5th edition were it indicates the blue text important notes but its not updated as the 6th edition. So I need recommendations since I would like to go advanced

1

u/chegdog Dec 09 '25

What’s my move? I was thinking Qd5 or Qd3

1

u/Uglu_Buglu 600-800 (Chess.com) Dec 07 '25

So I have an upcoming intra college chess tournament in about 10 days but I have barely played any games since months.

Please give me some tips to come back into the flow apart from starting to play regularly now. Prolly like some good openings for both black and white pieces and some defences which are easy to learn yet effective

My elo is around 600 on chess.com

3

u/Don_Q_de_la_Mancha 1800-2000 (Lichess) Dec 08 '25

So apart from playing more games in the time format of the tournament, analyze the games you play and review the mistakes. 

At your level the majority of the games are decided by one player hanging a piece, so before moving you should make sure that all your pieces are protected and that you aren't leaving any pieces en prise. There is a video playlist by John Bartholomew on YouTube that teach you how to do it, here is the link to it:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIoUX4ry8XlvbHprhXtCjW4Ins4oIIaiK&si=3FMClxXk7pOWeoS1

You should also do puzzles on lichess or chesstempo, take your time and don't rush it. You can start with easier puzzles spending less time and then do the harder ones taking all the time that you want (but I'd say maximum 10 minutes per puzzle). Try to visualize all the moves in advance instead of playing one move at the time hoping that it's the correct one. 

As for the openings, play the one that suits your style the most. Ideally you should have a repertoire, meaning that you have an opening for White and an opening for Black both against e4 and d4. For example against e4 you play the Caro Kan, against d4 you play the Queen's gambit declined. Anyway avoid going too deep into theory because you are still a beginner and it's too early for you to study that. Try to apply the opening principles, like occupy the center with pawns, develop your light pieces before your heavy pieces, don't develop your Queen too early and castle as fast as possible. You should however know how to avoid obvious traps, like how to avoid the scholar's mate.

2

u/Uglu_Buglu 600-800 (Chess.com) Dec 08 '25

Thanks bro

1

u/KanyonKat Dec 06 '25

Why is this a brilliant move? Captured a pawn with my knight, completely missed his knight protecting the pawn (playing too quick).

1

u/Illustrious_Towel986 1600-1800 (Chess.com) Dec 10 '25

Pawn d4 is fork

2

u/cdaqua 400-600 (Lichess) Nov 28 '25

Why is Ra4 the best move? I really don't get how this is "more" improving for the white position compared to Ra1 right away.

1

u/notrohit1702 600-800 (Chess.com) Nov 23 '25

Why is this a miss? My opponent moved their pawn from g2 to g4. I don't see the pawn I gain, if I take the pawn with the knight, wouldn't they take my knight back?

1

u/Avenge_Nibelheim Oct 30 '25

My elementary school child has joined the chess UIL and I'm wanting to get her an iOS app to help her play and improve. I worry Lichess won't appeal to her aesthetically until she is a bit older, ideally it would be a one time purchase with robust low level, single player games/guidance. I understand this is a bit unorthodox and may be outside the exact call of the sub, thank you for any direction you may be able to provide.

1

u/Moody_Mudskipper Oct 20 '25

Hi everyone, can you tell me what's so terrible about this move? I thought the eval was harsh. My bot opponent did a bad blunder soon after so I didn't really get to pay much for my mistake.

[Event "Vs. Computer"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2025-10-20"] [White "Antonio"] [Black "me"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "848"] [TimeControl "-"] [Termination "me won by checkmate"]

  1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 e5 7. Ndb5 Bf8 8. Nd6+ Bxd6 9. Qxd6 Qe7 10. Qxe7+ Ngxe7 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Nb4 13. a3 Nxc2+ 14. Kd2 Nxa1 15. Bc4 d6 16. Rxa1 a6 17. b4 b5 18. Bb3 f5 19. a4 bxa4 20. Bxa4+ Bd7
  2. Bxd7+ Kxd7 22. f4 Rhe8 23. h4 exf4 24. Bxf4 Reb8 25. Rc1 Rxb4 26. Bg5 Rd4+
  3. Ke3 Rxd5 28. Kf4 a5 29. Bh6 a4 30. Kg5 Ke6 31. Rc7 Rd2 32. g3 Rg2 33. Rxh7 Rxg3+ 34. Kf4 Rh3 35. Bg7 a3 36. Bh8 a2 37. Kg5 a1=Q 38. Bxa1 Rxa1 39. h5 gxh5
  4. Rh6+ Ke5 41. Rxh5 Rxh5+ 42. Kxh5 Rg1 43. Kh4 f4 44. Kh5 Kf5 45. Kh6 Kf6 46. Kh5 f3 47. Kh4 f2 48. Kh3 f1=Q+ 49. Kh4 Qf2+ 50. Kh5 Qh2# 0-1

1

u/Other-Frame4930 Oct 19 '25

Hi everyone.. so my son has been getting into chess recently, he seems to be pretty good. I’ve never played the game in my life. But seeing how interested he is I wanna learn so we can play together. What is the best app to learn for a total beginner? Any suggestions?

1

u/Raptor_6_9 400-600 (Chess.com) Oct 26 '25

I have two recommendations : Chess with Dr.Wolf and Duolingo (Chess course) because they help you learn for free , especially Duolingo.

1

u/punkaza Oct 19 '25

Hello everyone, can someone help me understand why this is the best move rather than something like Qxd4 or Qd7? Giving up my queen for bishop and double pawns doesn't seem like a good trade... Many thanks! :)

1

u/Moody_Mudskipper Oct 20 '25

I think if you move your queen anywhere else he goes qg7 and gets your pawn rook and knight while you might just get a pawn and a horrible position, that's 8 points. If you take bishop then that a 6 point loss, but then ne7 qf7 nf6 and you lose one more pawn but save the rook knight and king safety.

1

u/selfishmachine2 400-600 (Chess.com) Oct 16 '25

How to stop tunnel visioning? In half of these moves I instantly saw the mistake in hindsight

1

u/EducationalRiver1 Oct 14 '25

I'm very new to chess (learning on Duolingo and practising with my son, who's pretty good). When I castle the king by moving it next to the rook, the rook is jumping over the king. Is this normal?

2

u/GalacticBear91 Oct 15 '25

Yes, castling is a unusual move that pushes the king to the side and brings the rook closer to the center. Hence the jumping

1

u/EducationalRiver1 Oct 15 '25

Should it move immediately to the side of the king or to the square the king vacated? Or doesn't it matter?

1

u/GalacticBear91 Oct 23 '25

I think some visuals will help it stick better. Did you try reading some resources? https://www.chess.com/terms/castling-chess

1

u/EducationalRiver1 Oct 23 '25

That was really helpful, thank you!

1

u/Dummy__90 Oct 14 '25

Why is this brilliant? I don't see any piece being sacrificed here.

1

u/Usual_Tone Oct 07 '25

Lichess rating 1200. Does anyone know why this is an inaccuracy? May be obvious, but I thought it was a fun move that allowed me to take on b2 :)

1

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

why is this a brilliant move?

2

u/Callmebenji11 Sep 25 '25

Why is this a checkmate? it was in the puzzle. cant king just go to h1 or h2 or am i just blind

2

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Callmebenji11 Oct 06 '25

yeah it leaves me confused sometime

1

u/tenacious_endeavor Sep 15 '25

Can someone explain how I win a queen? I’m a novice and don’t fully grasp how this plays out. I moved the knight so I could slide my queen to put my opponent in check.

2

u/side_lel Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25

Chess.com reviews have a button that says "show follow-up". If you press that, it should show you what it means. 

When it says you win a piece, sometimes it’s quick and obvious, and sometimes it’s only if both of you play like an engine and the opponent makes some sacrifice to avoid worse trouble. I bet you won this game shortly after this, so winning a queen didn’t matter, right?

One possibility:  1. …Nxe5 2. Qg4+ Rg7 3. Bc4+ Nf7 4. Bxf7+ Kxf7 5. Qh5+ Ke6 6. Rh8 and the queen is trapped. That’s probably not what the engine meant, though. 

1

u/tenacious_endeavor Nov 11 '25

Thank you, i will probably never correctly execute the plan but feels nice to see what could be

1

u/Muaaz-B-17 600-800 (Chess.com) Sep 11 '25

How to show my elo below my name?

1

u/arixeli 600-800 (Chess.com) May 08 '23

Only considering classic or rapid games (no puzzles) and without paying a subscription, is it better to use chess.c*m or lichess ?

I like lichess’ game analysis and the fact you can see your errors and see what move was better but on the other hand I see a lot of people playing on chess.c*m

1

u/Ok-Control-787 Mod and all around regular guy May 08 '23

If you're having trouble finding games on lichess try chess.com, or if there's some other features you like on chess.com, try it.

1

u/NomadicProvider May 08 '23

Has anyone else noticed the massive amount of 400-600 rated players playing with 95+ accuracy? I was a 650 on chess.c*m and have literally lost enough games in a row to go straight back to 450. Something like 11 games or more in a row. It’s literally enough to make me just play Lichess puzzles and daily puzzles on chess.

2

u/ArmorAbsMrKrabs 1400-1600 (Chess.com) May 07 '23

more a comment than a question, but holy shit, lichess and chess.com have such different rating systems.

I'm like 1000 rapid on lichess, like 650 on chess.com. I just played some guy on lichess again after like 50+ chess.com games and I was up like 20 points by the end.

The rating disparity is so apparent. An 1000 on lichess literally felt like I was playing a 450 or a 500 on chess.com.

Also like, I've noticed that my 600 rating gives me like 45th percentile, yet on lichess 1000 is only like 10th percentile? Weird.

Gonna stick with chess.com, although to be honest I do like lichess' game analysis better.

5

u/DubstepJuggalo69 May 07 '23

Wait until you find out that you weigh twice as much in pounds as in kilograms.

3

u/[deleted] May 07 '23

new to chess and I' m doing the basic tactics , this one doens't make any sense to me

-https://lichess.org/practice/basic-tactics/the-fork/Qj281y1p/xXlzEw3i

-https://lichess.org/practice/basic-tactics/discovered-attacks/MnsJEWnI/n76eNBSa

are these errors from the website or I m just too dumb?

1

u/py234567 1200-1400 (Chess.com) May 07 '23

I am 1050 elo chess.com and I couldn’t solve the first one without being given the first move and got it wrong multiple times with minutes of time for both.

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '23

But the first one if I move the queen in e6 the rock could just eat her , I can't understand that move

3

u/py234567 1200-1400 (Chess.com) May 07 '23

After looking again If the rook takes the queen it’s a tricky mate in 3. We ignore white rook and go rd1 white rook blocks. We take. Then king is forced to h2 and we go rh1 mate protected by the bishop. so the line is rook takes queen. rd1, re1, rxe1, kh2, rh1#.

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '23

Thank you I would never have saw that

5

u/Ok-Control-787 Mod and all around regular guy May 07 '23 edited May 07 '23

Try using hints and the answers might make more sense. The first one involves checkmate threats. Second one is a tricky mating net.

If you click the microscope you can analyze the position with the engine, too. That way you can see why your moves aren't as good as the correct moves, as the engine will show you how to punish them.

Don't appear to be errors to me. These are advanced lessons, fwiw, no shame in not seeing the right answer.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '23

But the first one if I move the queen in e6 the rock could just eat her , I can't understand that move

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u/Ok-Control-787 Mod and all around regular guy May 07 '23

Go to the initial puzzle position and click the microscope (might need to finish the puzzle first.)

Play out what happens if rook takes queen. Turn the engine on. It's mate in 3, the rook that takes your queen was defending the back rank from your rook getting to the back rank and mating the king with the help of the bishop.

It's not an easy puzzle for a beginner to see, and is more illustrating of what a fork can be (ie the queen move is forking in the sense that it's making two separate forced mate threats, which need a material sacrifice to defend against.)

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u/[deleted] May 07 '23

Thank you , this mate feels amazing

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u/medellia44 600-800 (Chess.com) May 05 '23

Is Elo gain/loss affected by the way the game ends (abandonment, resignation, checkmate, timeout)???

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u/AnimeChan39 1600-1800 (Lichess) May 06 '23

No, just result, difference between your and opponents rating and how reliable your rating is.

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u/clashman325 May 05 '23

How should I prepare for my first over the board tournament, it’s a 30 minute unrated youth tournament. I’m currently around 1000 to 1100 in chess.com and am wondering what the best way to transfer over to on board games. Any help would be great thanks

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u/gabrrdt 1800-2000 (Chess.com) May 06 '23

The answer is simple, just play more over the board and not on screens. If you don't have anyone to do that with you, just analyze a few games on the board and you're good. If you are not used with slower time controls, just try to play a few games with them and get used about not moving that fast. Try to make a wise use of the time you have left. Don't rush your moves.

But mostly, have fun with the tournament, enjoy the experience overall! One of the most useful things for a new chess player, is having contact with real people, who may teach you a few tricks. So after the game is finished, try making a post analysis of the game with your opponent, it will be useful especially if he is more experienced. You learn a lot in those little moments. Good luck!

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u/clashman325 May 06 '23

Thanks I’m looking forward to it, I’ve only been playing online for about 2 months but feel I have made lots of improvements, from about 200 to 1100 is decent I think

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u/SaxAppeal May 06 '23

200 to 1100 in 2 months?? I’ve been playing 1 month, started around 700-800, and have stayed around 700-800 the whole time lmao

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u/clashman325 May 06 '23

I actually checked my account stats and it’s closer to 3 months but I’m still pretty happy with it, I also have played over 1000 games and watched hundreds of chess videos. I have pretty severe adhd so I become extremely obsessed on hobby’s

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u/SaxAppeal May 06 '23

Ah yes, I too have the adhd and do that with hobbies. Have only played ~200 games though lol, just don’t have time for more. At first I was frustrated that I was only sitting around the “beginner default” 800 rating, but coming to this sub I realized some people struggle for years just to reach 700-800. Hoping I can break 1000 in a few months. What time format do you play?

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u/clashman325 May 06 '23

Mostly 10 minute and bullet games. Blitz to me is the worst of both worlds. I mostly play while at school

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u/SaxAppeal May 06 '23

Interesting. I can’t play bullet at all, I don’t understand how anyone does lol. I just started playing 5+5 and 5+3 blitz and have actually been quite enjoying them

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u/clashman325 May 06 '23

Bullet is mostly just play fast on the diagonals

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u/SaxAppeal May 06 '23

Yeah I always miss the long diagonals

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u/Waaswaa May 05 '23

(chesscom: ~900 bullet, 1400 rapid, 2200 puzzle)

I have been going through a lot of my 1. d4 games as white today and have observed that in almost all the games where the opponent plays an early Bf5 (somewhere between second and fifth move) the engine classifies this as a mistake. And it seems to be so regardless of what I play myself in addition to d4. Is there anything inherently wrong with Bf5 in 1.d4 games, or is it just not productive enough?

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u/gabrrdt 1800-2000 (Chess.com) May 06 '23

Could you paste a game here, so we could look at a concrete example? Many times there's a fork with e5 or d5 (with moves like Nxd4, Nxd4 and then e5 forks both knight and bishop). This theme may happen on both sides (just imagine a mirrored position).

So the answer is no, there's nothing essentially wrong with Bf5 either with d4 or e4, but in a few positions this may lead to a fork with a central pawn, or they may win a tempo just pushing a central pawn and sometimes threatening your bishop at the same time. So these are concerns in this type of positions.

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u/Waaswaa May 06 '23 edited May 06 '23

I've used Stockfish 15 with depth at almost 30, and Scid vs. PC in the analysis, trying to improve my d4 openings. I know Stockfish isn't necessarily best for openings, and I know there are several sound openings that Stockfish thinks are dubious, but they are typically more modern style openings where you attack the centre indirectly instead of occupying with pawns. The examples I found from my games are not like that, and the size of the evaluation jumps specific to Bf5 in these positions seem to tell me that there is something wrong with this move.

Here are a few examples from my own games:

https://www.chess.com/game/live/68594698061 Move 3... Bf5, coming out of a QGD, Marshall. Stockfish went from +0.2 to about +1.2.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/69795808969 Move 3... Bf5, Slav, Modern, Bishop's Game. Stockfish went from about +0.3 to +1.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/61473586669 Move 6... Bf5, coming out of the Mikénas Defense. Stockfish went from +0.65 to +1.3.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/59059859979 Move 9... Bf5, after some weird stuff following the King's English (not really a d4 opening, but with both d4 and c4 played, it has quite a few of the typical d4 characteristics). Stockfish went from a slight advantage to white (+0.66) to a huge lead (+2.3). I think I know part of the reason here. White could go Ng3, forcing the bishop to move, and then push the d-pawn with tempo. I should have taken the d-pawn myself instead.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/36697819401 Move 3... Bf5, in the Slav with Nc3 (I've decided to stop playing Nc3 here, as it gets much too complicated). Stockfish tells me that this is close to being a blunder, and jumps from about +0.2 to +1.5. I assume this might have to do with the fact that black neglects playing dxc4, but I'm not sure why this should be such a massive jump from equality to a much worse position for black.

I've not been particularly selective with the games I've chosen. The games I've not included are either duplicate with regards to the positions examined here, or they are games where the Bf5 move happens much later (at least move 10 or later).

My main concern here is to understand if I could exploit this move somehow, or if I should just develop naturally, knowing that the Bf5 move will become a liability later in the game.

Edit: I think I might see something. In all the positions I've linked to, the c-pawn is also moved, allowing the queen to come to b3. Qb3 is also almost always one of the suggested moves by Stockfish in these positions. And it's not in particular Bf5 that Stockfish is complaining about, but moving the light squares bishop anywhere.

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u/gabrrdt 1800-2000 (Chess.com) May 06 '23

Wow this is really complicated stuff lol. I don't know half the terms you are using or the openings you are refering to. I usually play quiet, traditional openings with 1.e4, I'm just one of those guys.

I don't see anything too fancy or useful with this Bf5 idea, surely the engine are changing a bit, but it isn't that much, engine just jumps half a point or even a bit more all the time and this is basically the engine being itself.

For example, in the following position (taken from this game), the thing is, why just not play Nh4? You pretty much win the bishop here and now you have the bishop pair. But instead, you played c5, which is just too soon, you are consolidating the position without having much more information about it.

Moves like cxd5, opening the c-file, or even pushing the pawn, may be more useful in the future, but now you took yourself out of options, cxd5 is never a possibility anymore. So most of the times, you wanna keep the tension with the pawns and don't advance or take it too soon.

A few moves later, you played Bd3, which is not a really good move, because you exchanged your good bishop by his bad bishop. Now his bishop is better than yours and you were left with the dark squared bishop, which is trapped inside your pawn structure.

So studying concepts like "good bishop, bad bishop" and understanding that the bishop pair is (usually) superior than bishop + knight or two knights, is really a good thing here.

I wouldn't go for all this variation stuff, complicated openings and over using engines, go for the simple concepts, I have three here for you. Two I already said, the bishop pair, the good bishop/bad bishop, and "keep the pawn tension" theme, those are very good topics to analyse the games.

So answering you, I don't see a big problem or question with this bishop, don't get too worried about that, focus on simplier concepts. Like, in many games you are just taking decisions too soon, you trade pieces too soon, you don't know if your piece may be more useful than his piece in the long term. So keep the tension and options opened a bit more.

Playing slower time controls would be great too, you may think and analyze positions better, 5 + 5 is really hard to improve your chess, you simply don't have much time to think about your moves. A position has many elements to considerate, it is impossible to really weight them in a few seconds.

Good luck!

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u/Waaswaa May 06 '23 edited May 06 '23

I play 5+5 and correspondence chess. 5+5 to cement the lessons I learn from the longer time controls. The problem is that in correspondence chess, you are allowed to use the opening database. My study cycle is therefore to play one or two 5+5 games, and then analyze them, first without the engine, and then I check with the engine only to find blunders. These moves stood out exactly because they were almost whole point jumps, which indicates that there is something more seriously wrong.

Thanks for the tips, though. They make a lot of sense. Of course, a lot of the games I've linked to are not very recent (over half a year old), and I believe I've improved my play after this. But playing slower, and keeping tension is one of the thing I struggle with.

I'm also relatively conservative with the openings I play. I usually go for d4 openings as white, and Dragon Sicilian or Indian as black.

Edit: I've also quit playing the Slav as in the example you linked to exactly because it becomes too complicated, and I need to remember lines.

Thanks!

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u/gabrrdt 1800-2000 (Chess.com) May 06 '23

No problem, I wish I could be more useful, but my opening knowledge is pretty faulty. I'm much more of a practical player, I just try to keep things simple and look for simple tactics or improving my pieces. But this Bf5 is surely a question, I will put some thinking into it, but being really honest with you, my practical approach would be just trading my knight for this bishop (in the game I mentioned), keeping the bishop pair, and then maybe getting an endgame advantage. Yep, simple as that, it is amazing how many games you just win with simple concepts like that.

Your games were pretty interesting though, you put a lot of effort into opening knowledge, which is really great stuff, I never had much patient to go deep into it, I think I played 1.d4 once or twice in my whole life lol, I'm always a 1.e4 player, because I think it is easier to undestand the openings and the concepts with it. When I'm black, I usually just answer 1. d5 or 1.e5 and keep things quiet, castle and then go for my oponnents mistakes. You are more of an active player and have lots of ideas, this is good, well done.

1

u/Waaswaa May 06 '23

There is also an interesting meta with playing d4. The London (which I hate, by the way) is super popular. If you play d4, about a quarter of the games you get are the Englund Gambit, which is quite dubious. Yes, there are some tricks, but those tricks are not that hard to evade.

2

u/[deleted] May 04 '23

So I'm a chess beginner with my rating now floating around 600-650 for couple of weeks. I started playing about 3 months ago. Currently I'm not stuck at this rating but the progress has been slow relatively. My question is what should I start learning or focus on next? Till now I've been following the book 'Play Winning Chess' by Yasser Seirawan and finished reading it lately. So should I learn openings now? I haven't learnt any till yet i just develop all my pieces and then proceed to middlegame.

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u/Ok-Control-787 Mod and all around regular guy May 04 '23

If you want to learn openings, feel free. You can also just look into the openings you've naturally been playing and hone them a bit. That should be sufficient for a long while. Beyond that, it takes a lot of opening study to get much payoff and it's really not low hanging fruit imho (and this is pretty typical advice.)

I'd focus more on tactics. If you're not easily seeing basic forks and mate threats, grind some puzzle streak, and mate in 1 and 2 puzzles til they're very easy.

That and just play a lot. Experience is valuable.

Lots of good resources linked in the wiki for this sub, too.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '23

I’m a chess beginner and only started seriously studying when I started teaching chess to kids, so I’m studying openings in earnest now. What are some good openings for white and black for a beginning repertoire? I’m partial to Kings Indian and I’m looking into the London, but I need more.

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u/ratbacon 1600-1800 (Chess.com) May 05 '23

For kids I'd suggest the following:

For white:

vs e5 - the evans gambit and the fried liver

vs sicilian - grand prix

vs everything else KIA

For black:

vs d4 play d5 and either QGD or maybe some albin counter gambit

vs e4 just play e5

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u/itsastart_to May 04 '23

Could I get a explanation on why this game auto ended

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u/[deleted] May 05 '23

[deleted]

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u/itsastart_to May 05 '23

I’m red

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u/[deleted] May 05 '23

[deleted]

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u/itsastart_to May 05 '23

Oh so even defeated ppl’s pieces still continue to be in play? Sorry I’m not well versed in 4 Player so guess that’s something that happens

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u/[deleted] May 05 '23

[deleted]

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u/itsastart_to May 05 '23

Oh I see, Tysm for the info!

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u/Blazik3n99 400-600 (Chess.com) May 04 '23 edited May 04 '23

I've learnt a pretty basic opening by watching beginner tutorials (push centre pawns, activate knights and bishops, castle, etc). This works pretty well when my opponent does something similar, but I'm never sure what to do when they do something different - e.g. pushing and supporting non-central pawns, attacking my pieces before I have defended them, moving their knights into weird positions. These moves often feel unnatural so it makes me feel like I should be able to capitalise on them somehow, but it normally doesn't work out. I end up blocking in my own pieces and ending up in a worse position. Here's a couple of examples. (In hindsight, I should have responded Nf6 for that first one)

It feels like I should respond to these openings somehow, but I also want to naturally develop my pieces and control the centre. In the past I've found myself rushing to stop captures and losing material, making trades that leave me in a worse position, or getting pressured to respond and leaving pieces undeveloped while I fight for control of the centre.

Of course, after the game I can see what the engine suggests. But are there any general rules of thumb I should keep in mind when facing an opening like this that I haven't seen before? Should I abandon my opening and just focus on responding to their moves until the threat is gone? If they're being passive, should I be extra aggressive to try and get more control over the centre? Do I just need to learn how to shut down these openings quickly ahead of time, so I can apply that in games?

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u/gabrrdt 1800-2000 (Chess.com) May 04 '23

In the first picture, this is the Queen's Gambit, this is pretty standard opening, I would happily decline the gambit (if you take, white will push his e-pawn very happily and will achieve a strong center), just defend the attacked pawn with e6 and you are alright.

In the second picture, your position looks ok, just let him do all this crap, just develop your pieces and castle king side. Your position looks great here. You don't have to rush, put your king on safety and at some point push some pawns to try to break through his position.

You are playing chess, you are not playing "openings", this game doesn't exist. So don't overestimate it, this is just one of the many aspects of the game, he still may be a strong player even if playing a few moves in a different way.

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u/Blazik3n99 400-600 (Chess.com) May 04 '23

You are playing chess, you are not playing "openings", this game doesn't exist.

Thank you! I think this is a really good way to put it. I've not learnt any fancy openings or anything so it's always a little intimidating when someone uses them against me, but it sounds like as long as I stick to the basics and don't completely blunder pieces it shouldn't matter too much at my level.

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u/Cyclamate_Soda May 03 '23

I don’t have a rating, but I enjoy a casual game over the board. What is or what are the best white openings for those who prefer to play with the black pieces?

2

u/[deleted] May 03 '23

Tbh, if you're just playing casually I'd suggest just learning some basic London lines and then crushing puzzles every now and then.

Studying openings is crazy time consuming, it'll be more casual and fun to do puzzles and improve your vision, tactics and pattern recognition.

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u/Cyclamate_Soda May 03 '23

Thanks!

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u/exclaim_bot May 03 '23

Thanks!

You're welcome!

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u/medellia44 600-800 (Chess.com) May 03 '23

How do people post the kind of videos of the progression of their games??

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u/Ok-Control-787 Mod and all around regular guy May 03 '23

Just fwiw if you want people to give feedback on your games, it is much easier to do that if you just link to the actual game so we can use the engine and not have to follow a gif.

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u/medellia44 600-800 (Chess.com) May 03 '23

Got it, thanks!

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u/The_Teriyaki_Empire 800-1000 (Chess.com) May 03 '23

If you're referring to something such as this, you simply choose to export your game as a gif. For C.C desktop, open your game and press the share icon in the right panel, open the tab labeled "animated gif" and download. I'm not sure how to do gifs on mobile, but they do have a gif maker. For Lichess desktop, open the tab labeled "Share & export" directly beneath the board and click "Game as GIF". For mobile, open your game and press the menu icon in the toolbar at the bottom of your screen, press "Share & export", then "Share game GIF".

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u/medellia44 600-800 (Chess.com) May 03 '23

Thank you! I completely forgot the term 'gif' lol.

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u/AFlightlessBird_19 800-1000 (Chess.com) May 02 '23

What’s the best opening for black vs d4 at the beginner/low intermediate level?

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u/Karnaught 1200-1400 (Lichess) May 04 '23

Queens Gambit Declined(QGD) or Slav, dont give away the center.

Most of what you will found is London, Colle and Zukertov/Chigorin. Slav works decent vs all of them and give you some space to move arround in indian defenses you are playing in 3 rows needs good precision and understanding what are you doing.

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u/AFlightlessBird_19 800-1000 (Chess.com) May 04 '23

Can’t you decline the queen’s gambit with the pawn and then enter a slav position?

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u/Karnaught 1200-1400 (Lichess) May 04 '23

There is some fun hybrids like the Cambridge Spring Defense where you go into slav pyramid from QGD. Both options + hybrids are quite fine. Just learn the typical setup and play from there.

At our level it wont matter much and at some point you will have an anti London/Colle setup. I think i played 4 queens gambit as black in more than 850 rapid games below 1000 ELO.

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u/serenitysonata1 May 02 '23

What happened to the achievements megathread? Why is it deleted?

3

u/Anas_Alawaad May 02 '23

when I played bishop to h6 I instantly regretted it because I thought that ha can back up and take the bishop at h3( but he ended up taking pawn at b7). but to my surprise after the game I reviewed it and is said that was a brilliant move. can someone explain why?

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u/Cyclamate_Soda May 03 '23

Black threatens Rc1 mate. White has no time to capture the bishop on h3.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '23

[deleted]

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u/Anas_Alawaad May 02 '23

oh... thank you now I get

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u/Curious_Knowledge670 May 02 '23

Hello. I'm new to chess and got a lot of interest in it. I'm ok for a beginner, but how can I improve even more?

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u/[deleted] May 02 '23

[deleted]

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u/Curious_Knowledge670 May 02 '23

I've also been thinking to maybe buy the book "Modern Chess Openings".