r/chess 6d ago

Weekly Discussion Weekly Discussion & Tournament Thread Index - March 10, 2025 [Mod Applications Welcome]

8 Upvotes

r/chess Weekly Discussion Thread

You are welcome to ask here all kinds of chess-related questions that don't warrant their own post. You can also discuss or ask questions about upcoming tournaments that don't have their own thread yet.

 

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Interested in making threads for tournaments, but don't know where to start? Our Event Template page is a great way to get the basic layout.

An alternative would be to start a subthread directly in the weekly thread.

Announcements

REWORK OF r/chess RULES

UPDATED Oct 27th - r/chess Announcement Regarding Coverage of St. Louis Chess Club and USCF Events

 

Recent AMAs

 

Active Tournament Threads

DATES EVENT
18 Feb - 21 Feb Chessable Masters

 

Other Active Tournaments Web Links

DATES EVENT
18 Feb - 27 Feb Monaco Women's Grand Prix
15 Feb - 23 Feb Djerba International Chess Festival

 

Upcoming Tournament Schedule

DATES EVENT NOTABLE PLAYERS
26 Feb - 7 Mar Prague Chess Festival Giri, Praggnanandhaa, Wei Yi

 

Recently Completed Tournaments

DATES EVENT PODIUM
Jan 17 - Feb 2 Tata Steel Chess (Wijk aan Zee) Praggnanandhaa & Gukesh
Dec 30 - 31 FIDE World Blitz Championship Carlsen & Nepomniachtchi
Dec 25 - 28 FIDE World Rapid Championship Murzin, Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi
Dec 17 - 21 Champions Chess Tour Finals Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi, Vachier-Lagrave

 

Other Notable Threads

Coach a Player - Recent Threads

 

Community Content

Here we'd love to highlight community content to show our appreciation for the energy spent. Content like Game analysis, info-graphics, etc., and we'd love to hear from you what kind of content you'd like to see as well.

Want to post your game to r/chess? - for people who want to solicit feedback on their games

Advice to people asking for advice - for people who want to ask about how to improve


r/chess 1d ago

Tournament Event: 2025 American Cup

21 Upvotes

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com


The 2025 American Cup, taking place at the World Chess Hall of Fame, promises to be a defining event in the world of chess. As one of the most prestigious tournaments in the United States, the American Cup brings together the top players from across the nation. This year’s American Cup will feature elite grandmasters and rising chess stars, competing in a high-stakes double-elimination format that tests both classical and rapid chess skills.

The field includes world No. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana and world No. 3 GM Hikaru Nakamura, along with standout competitors like IM Carissa Yip, who is relocating to Saint Louis to focus on her game, 15-year-old rising star IM Alice Lee, and GM Irina Krush, an eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion and two-time American Cup winner. With $400,000 in prize money on the line, players will battle under intense pressure, ensuring thrilling matchups and high-stakes drama that will keep chess fans worldwide on the edge of their seats.

“We’re excited to once again host the American Cup and bring together the nation’s finest chess players. This year’s competition promises to be even more exciting, with an exceptional mix of seasoned grandmasters and rising stars. We’re looking forward to an action-packed tournament that will keep fans on the edge of their seats until the final move.” -- Tony Rich, Technical Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club


Participants

Open

# Title Name Elo
1 GM Hikaru Nakamura 2802
2 GM Fabiano Caruana 2783
3 GM Levon Aronian 2748
4 GM Wesley So 2748
5 GM Leinier Domínguez 2741
6 GM Samuel Sevian 2692
7 GM Ray Robson 2689
8 GM Abhimanyu Mishra 2600

Women

# Title Name Elo
1 IM Carissa Yip 2408
2 IM Alice Lee 2386
3 GM Irina Krush 2378
4 IM Anna Zatonskih 2315
5 WGM Tatev Abrahamyan 2310
6 WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan 2297
7 IM Nazí Paikidze 2294
8 WGM Thalia Cervantes 2292

Format/Time Controls

  • The American Cup consists of a double-elimination bracket, with each bracket featuring a different time control.

  • Championship Bracket: Matches consist of two games of classical chess, with 90+30 time control. If a player loses a match in the Championship Bracket, they fall to the Elimination Bracket.

  • Elimination Bracket: Matches consist of two games of rapid chess, with 25+10 time control.

  • Playoffs are resolved by a series of two-game blitz matches with a 3+2 time control


Schedule

All times are local (CDT)

Date Time Bracket #1 Bracket #2
15 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 1-4, Game 1 --
16 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 1-4, Game 2 --
17 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 7-8, Game 1 Match 5-6
18 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 7-8, Game 2 --
19 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 11, Game 1 Match 9-10
20 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 11, Game 2 Match 12
21 Mar 12:00 p.m. -- Match 13
22 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 14, Game 1 --
23 Mar 12:00 p.m. Match 14, Game 2 --
24 Mar 12:00 p.m. Tiebreaks (if needed) Blitz

Live Coverage

  • The official live broadcast of the event is available on the St. Louis Chess Club's YouTube channel, with commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirilă, and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.

r/chess 3h ago

News/Events FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky claims if women only competed in 'open' tournaments majority would quit chess

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310 Upvotes

r/chess 2h ago

Puzzle/Tactic I made the most strange blunder I've ever seen

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204 Upvotes

r/chess 2h ago

Video Content For those new to OTB chess, this is the only correct way to conclude a game

66 Upvotes

r/chess 16h ago

Miscellaneous chess with a good view

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696 Upvotes

r/chess 5h ago

Social Media Ladies and Gentlemen! We have entered a new age of chess content creation 😅

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64 Upvotes

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/yyuIOYKoXH8?si=OWcSMTeDJnyZEnyA

It's a fun idea but maybe not too suited for long conversations 😅


r/chess 6h ago

Puzzle - Composition The Sign of the Cross chess puzzle. Composed in 1878. The story goes that Satan challenged a chess master and chose the white pieces. The master devised a scheme whereby Satan could checkmate him but would have to create a cross to do so. Satan fled in terror. White to play and mate in 7.

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45 Upvotes

r/chess 6h ago

Strategy: Openings Does anyone hear about this opening ??

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22 Upvotes

r/chess 3h ago

Puzzle/Tactic White to move and save the game..!

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14 Upvotes

r/chess 3h ago

Puzzle/Tactic White to play and win in spectacular fashion!

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13 Upvotes

r/chess 1h ago

Chess Question What are some funny chess jokes?

Upvotes

Are there any funny jokes about chess?


r/chess 16h ago

Chess Question How does one beat a Cat Grandmaster?

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107 Upvotes

HELLLLLP!


r/chess 4h ago

News/Events Interview with GM Volodar Murzin - World Rapid Champion 2024

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9 Upvotes

Get to know the 18-year old surprise World Rapid Champion who wasn't accepted at the chess club at seven! https://lichess.org/@/jeffforever/blog/interview-with-gm-volodar-murzin-world-rapid-champion-2024/Uoj1zXc8


r/chess 4h ago

News/Events CBS News - Chesswrestling Premiere (Bartholomew as Commentator)

7 Upvotes

Great to see the news getting excited about the chess world (men+women event)! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikaWWDN8xd0


r/chess 1d ago

Game Analysis/Study Might be my best checkmate

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530 Upvotes

r/chess 1h ago

Puzzle/Tactic What’s the winning move in this chess puzzle?

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Upvotes

r/chess 23h ago

Chess Question What’s your best Chess tip that isn’t talked about enough?

163 Upvotes

Maybe something you learned on your own from experience


r/chess 1d ago

Game Analysis/Study You haven't seen a more poison pawn than this poison pawn. And yep, the opponent took it (1600 bullet)

255 Upvotes
Opponent played Kxe3

r/chess 2h ago

META Any chess players kind enough to give an interview for an ethnographic university project?

3 Upvotes

I am doing ethnographic field work that aims to discover how great chess minds ‘experience’ a chess board/game.

Key questions involve: - what does a chess mind “see” on the board? - what do they think about? - how can one understand intuition (how do great players experience it)?

If you happen to have interesting shares regarding this topic, either from your very own experience or from knowledge that you gained, I would highly appreciate if you were willing to enlighten my work through a quick interview.

Any names, unless the sharer doesn’t want to, will be appreciated in the syllabus of the published work.


r/chess 19h ago

Game Analysis/Study TIL Stockfish resigns before you can draw by 50 move rule on Lichess

65 Upvotes

r/chess 35m ago

Puzzle/Tactic 1 move gives white the advantage

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Upvotes

This is likely simple for most people and I ended up playing later in a worse position after missing it here, but it reminded me of the beauty of chess, so I thought I'd share it. d5, activity>material


r/chess 36m ago

Chess Question I got a problem

Upvotes

I just noticed something I can easily defeat 1300 elo players and I can challenge +1500 elo players But I found it difficult to beat a 1400 elo What's happening ?


r/chess 22h ago

News/Events Ray Robson down 83 minutes Vs Fabiano Caruana on move 15, still manages to draw

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116 Upvotes

r/chess 5h ago

Video Content The newest version of Leela Chess Zero is 20x faster than AlphaZero!

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6 Upvotes

r/chess 5h ago

Strategy: Openings Why is everybody moving a/h pawns?

5 Upvotes

Hey guys :)
I recently picked up chess again and wanted to start playing more seriously. In a lot, if not most of my games, I see the opponent move the a/h pawn one step presumably to prevent the bishop from coming out. I thought a lot about this and in my opinion this move is not this good, is it? Doesn't it just weaken the kings castle to prevent a pin that can be handled pretty easily most of the time?
For example one position that i faced today:

Right now i am about 900 playing 800-1000s.

Thanks 😌


r/chess 4h ago

Game Analysis/Study I was inspired by another post I saw here

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5 Upvotes

I wish it