Narz
keeping it real
Down to only five games at once now, feels good. Soon I'll be starting a dozen or so more.
General chess.com talk
- Thread starter Panzar75
- Start date
WhiteEagle22
Avatar of Justice
I've got 2 games left to finish, one I think I have a small chance at winning. After I finish them, I'm going to start doing games one at a time via challenges.
Sashie VII
Balance of Power
I'm thinking of expanding my repertoire. I'm starting to lose faith in the Scandinavian, and it'd be good to play d4 once in a while. Anyone has good reference suggestions? I have the 3rd volume of Comprehensive Chess Openings by Y. Estrin and V.Panov, but nothing for Sicilian (I'm thinking maybe Scheveningen).
WhiteEagle22
Avatar of Justice
I'm still waiting for my opponent to move.
In RL news: Someone stole my bike last night while I was working.
Ticks me off when I think of how much time and energy that bike saved me when I used it to get around town.
In RL news: Someone stole my bike last night while I was working.
Ticks me off when I think of how much time and energy that bike saved me when I used it to get around town.
Narz
keeping it real
Sry to hear it Eagle, what type of bike lock do you have?
I had my bike stolen from right in front of my apartment back when I lived in NY. I even had a huge badass lock but was using a wimpy light one cause I was just lazy not wanting to cart around the heavy one.
This is what I always use now :
Kryptonite NY Lock
Sashie, don't know what to recommend, re : openings, just a matter of taste really. I've heard the Colle system is good for d4 players, as for black I just like the Sicilian, I would love to be a strong 1. ... e5 player but am overwhelmed by all the theory.
I had my bike stolen from right in front of my apartment back when I lived in NY. I even had a huge badass lock but was using a wimpy light one cause I was just lazy not wanting to cart around the heavy one.
This is what I always use now :
Kryptonite NY Lock
Sashie, don't know what to recommend, re : openings, just a matter of taste really. I've heard the Colle system is good for d4 players, as for black I just like the Sicilian, I would love to be a strong 1. ... e5 player but am overwhelmed by all the theory.
Sashie VII
Balance of Power
Sry to hear it Eagle, what type of bike lock do you have?
I had my bike stolen from right in front of my apartment back when I lived in NY. I even had a huge badass lock but was using a wimpy light one cause I was just lazy not wanting to cart around the heavy one.
This is what I always use now :
Kryptonite NY Lock
Sashie, don't know what to recommend, re : openings, just a matter of taste really. I've heard the Colle system is good for d4 players, as for black I just like the Sicilian, I would love to be a strong 1. ... e5 player but am overwhelmed by all the theory.
Those are big chains
The amount of theory was, and still is, the problem for me. I'm lazy.
Narz
keeping it real
They cost around $90-$100 but beats losing your bike!
I'm a bit lazy myself (as a chessplayer and in life), I'm still trying to figure out how to correct that because I'm not the type of individual who is able to just lay back & accept that in himself.
I'm a bit lazy myself (as a chessplayer and in life), I'm still trying to figure out how to correct that because I'm not the type of individual who is able to just lay back & accept that in himself.
WhiteEagle22
Avatar of Justice
Personally, I just go with whatever move looks best to advance my pieces and can counter my opponent's last move and/or plan if I can figure it out.
I used a metal wire for my bike, but I didn't lock it up, because the bike was in a area where a camera watches, so I thought it would be safe there. Plus I did not want to hassle of unlocking it from a fence or gas meter.
I used a metal wire for my bike, but I didn't lock it up, because the bike was in a area where a camera watches, so I thought it would be safe there. Plus I did not want to hassle of unlocking it from a fence or gas meter.
Sashie VII
Balance of Power
I dreamed of becoming a strong chess player about a decade ago. I'll never become a GM, or an IM. But I want to be able to give a good account of myself should I ever play against one. And recently I've hit a wall in my development.
Maybe I'm looking at the wrong things. I think more endgame study and tactical exercises are what I need.
Maybe I'm looking at the wrong things. I think more endgame study and tactical exercises are what I need.
Narz
keeping it real
Yeah, I think endgames & tactics are more important than openings.
WhiteEagle22
Avatar of Justice
Tactics for certain! If you have poor tactics, you can give away the game faster than you can cold turkey.
This is interesting to me:
For a beginner, the openings seem much more important - probably because that's there we start to feel the initiative start to slip away, culminating in a loss. For me, who has only logged <50 games on chess.com and a handful OTB, the endgame is something I absolutely DREAD.
When do I bring out the King? When do I sacrifice a pawn in order to gain a tempo in cornering the opponent's piece? How can I defend my pawns while still preventing His from advancing??
There are so many things to think about, that I do everything I can to avoid an endgame. I'd rather lose a game early than win a game late. I know that's not rational, but emotions and phobias fail, by definition, to be logical.
For a beginner, the openings seem much more important - probably because that's there we start to feel the initiative start to slip away, culminating in a loss. For me, who has only logged <50 games on chess.com and a handful OTB, the endgame is something I absolutely DREAD.
When do I bring out the King? When do I sacrifice a pawn in order to gain a tempo in cornering the opponent's piece? How can I defend my pawns while still preventing His from advancing??
There are so many things to think about, that I do everything I can to avoid an endgame. I'd rather lose a game early than win a game late. I know that's not rational, but emotions and phobias fail, by definition, to be logical.
Sashie VII
Balance of Power
The importance of the endgame is that in the simplified position (ie less pieces), you learn to utilize and appreciate the power of individual pieces more than you can during the opening and the middlegame. And that mastery is applicable throughout the whole game from move one. Openings are about memorizing the best moves, but the endgame is where we learn about chess itself.
Think of it this way; as the game progresses, we're moving from the opening to the middlegame on to the endgame. If you have good endgame skills, you're moving towards your comfort zone and you will become stronger as the game progresses.
In the opening, the key is expanding your options while avoiding traps. The middlegame is about creating and exploiting positive imbalances before your opponent can do the same. In the endgame, it's getting to the critical position with control of the right squares and with the correct player to move.
Really poor openings can lose it before the middlegame, and really good tactics can win it before the endgame.
Really poor openings can lose it before the middlegame, and really good tactics can win it before the endgame.
WhiteEagle22
Avatar of Justice
I've learned that the hard way!
Edit: Episode 8 - I Have A Dream is now available to listen to from WhiteEagle's Aerie.
Narz
keeping it real
I've gone on vacation officially just because I can't focus on my games ATM but I didn't click onto the site briefly to check the vote & team matches & I must say, the ads are just ridiculous, quiet annoying (usually I am logged in so I don't see them). Definitely weren't this bad when I first joined the site.
It must be a membership drive.
WhiteEagle22
Avatar of Justice
If you can't afford it, you don't subscribe (like me). 
Narz
keeping it real
I'm back & caught up on all my games & checking out all the vote games. 
Well, I obviously play chess better when I am hallucinating.
Stumbled upon Tenna in Live Chess and had to settle for a loss, loss, draw and win in five-minute blitz.
However, after I got my *ss nicely handed to me in the first game, the applet started playing tricks on me, meaning it did not display moves properly any more. Switching between other windows helped, but only if I actually realized something is wrong - for instance when I noticed my opponent had two rooks (albeit I had taken one before) and three knights.
On the last game the rook anomaly happened again, only this time window-switching did not help.
Turned out I had proudly forked and taken a "phantom rook" earlier - i.e simply sacrificed my knight onto empty h1. I won very narrowly on time.
I've never had such glitch happen before. Anyone else?
The game:
Stumbled upon Tenna in Live Chess and had to settle for a loss, loss, draw and win in five-minute blitz.
However, after I got my *ss nicely handed to me in the first game, the applet started playing tricks on me, meaning it did not display moves properly any more. Switching between other windows helped, but only if I actually realized something is wrong - for instance when I noticed my opponent had two rooks (albeit I had taken one before) and three knights.
On the last game the rook anomaly happened again, only this time window-switching did not help.
Turned out I had proudly forked and taken a "phantom rook" earlier - i.e simply sacrificed my knight onto empty h1. I won very narrowly on time.
I've never had such glitch happen before. Anyone else?
The game:
Spoiler :
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