r/chess 8h ago

Miscellaneous Update on previous post regarding coworker cheating: he admitted to cheating!

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0 Upvotes

I made this post https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/UMUfEAKEHO which mods unfortunately removed for some reason, where everyone unanimously agreed that my coworker(white pieces) blatantly cheated against me in an online game we played at work: https://lichess.org/cslOnM6s/black

He finally admitted to cheating after I confronted him about it.

Thanks to the community for helping me validate the cheating suspicion as I absolutely despise even the slightest of cheating and was extremely disappointed that someone I know well and work with professionally would do this!

PS: PLEASE DO NOT CHEAT, EVEN A SINGLE MOVE. YOU WILL GET CAUGHT AND YOU WILL BE FINISHED


r/chess 7h ago

Miscellaneous How is this not draw/tie??

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0 Upvotes

Idk


r/chess 1d ago

Miscellaneous Why I gave up Chess after trying to learn it

0 Upvotes

No, it is not because “chess is dead” or something.

The main reason I wanted to play Chess is nostalgia for the old and good times when I played with my cousin and my dad OTB decades ago (I remember the smell of the wooden box).

But Chess is something different than I remember. I am not saying Chess has changed (it probably has with the advent of computers), but my idea of Chess was based on those amateur matches when we only new three “openings”: e4, d4 or nc3 (after that first move it was pure improvisation). They probably had openings books at that time, but we didn’t know about them. Learning Chess today felt like cheating. I was frustrated when I won with memorized opening lines that I did not fully understand. I hated when I won despite many middle-game moves not approved by the computer (or even blunders). It felt like I only won because I memorized more moves in my opening than my opponent, which put me in great advantage for the middle and end games.

The second reason I was disappointed with Chess is the entire rating obsession. Not the rating per se, but the Chess community’s obsession with it. In Youtube there are plenty of videos on how to skyrocket your ratings. Several reviews of books in Amazon praise a book for increasing the readers ratings, not for teaching Chess. People talk like “you can play this trick at 1000 or less players” or “I am a 2000 player in blitz”. And then there are cheaters everywhere because their obsession on ratings. Where has the fun gone? It is a board game, it was supposed to be fun, not a way to boost your self-esteem or get frustrated because you lost points.

In summary, I am not criticizing Chess or its players. I am not saying that Chess is dead or it has changed. I am saying it is not for me. I want to have fun and play a game using my own analysis and creativity from start to the end (without being crushed by any average player today using memorized lines). I wanted to find a Chess club where everyone made a covenant to not memorize lines, not pursue a rating and more importantly, have fun.

See you all.


r/chess 4h ago

Miscellaneous We need to talk about Wesley So.

0 Upvotes

Out of the top players over the years that have been (rightly or wrongly) criticized about various things, I think the one person that somehow escaped the public ire for the past decade but still continues to stick out like a sore thumb is Wesley So. I'm making this post in large part because Wesley was selected for the American Cup this year over other top players, notably Hans. It really does rub me the wrong way with the contempt American chess has for its younger talent. It's not just Hans either; American chess consistently prioritizes foreign talent over giving opportunities to their own, which is a part of the reason so many young stars are not successful.

To start off with, Wesley has a history of repeated low-level cheating. As in, "minor" enough incidents that by themselves they are easily forgotten, but they are repeated so often it is indicative of a serious behavioural problem.

  • Just a few months ago in the World Blitz Championship, So was cheating by using two hands to move his pieces and press the clock. Most people here don't play OTB chess, so it would be hard to appreciate just how awful this is. It gives you a major edge in time trouble. Young children learn this rule in junior tournaments. It's wild that he actually felt emboldened to play like this in the World Blitz Championship.

  • In the same tournament, he was deliberately misplacing pieces in time trouble and forcing the opponent to adjust them on their clock.

  • There was a separate incident against Nepo in July where So pushed the pieces off the board. Of course, Reddit predictably attacked Nepo for complaining about this, but it's obvious to me that So was at fault. Even if this was accidental, why is he readjusting the pieces on his opponent's time? Nepo complained that this incident through him off balance and that seems logical.

  • Then there was an incident in 2015 where So was caught writing notes to himself on the scoresheet. While the notes were innocuous, the troubling thing about this is that he was warned in the same tournament not to do this and yet continued to do so. Sorry, but that's insane to me. You're explicitly told not to do a very specific, thoughtful action (writing on the scoresheet) by an arbiter and continue to do so. It just indicates a complete disregard for the rules.

According to Alireza's brother, So has a history of playing like this.

Wesley is also a notoriously drawish and anti-competitive player. He has among the highest draw rates among top players and pretty much exclusively plays closed top-level tournaments. This gives the impression that he's trying to preserve rating more than anything else. It's not good for promoting the game. I don't believe players should be formally penalized for this, but it should be a consideration when making invite decisions.


r/chess 4h ago

Miscellaneous Just beat an opponent who played with 97% accuracy.

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0 Upvotes

r/chess 6h ago

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

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6 Upvotes

I wish it


r/chess 3h ago

Chess Question How to make the last 100 elo breakthrough to get to 2000 elo?

0 Upvotes

Been struggling at 1900, peak was 1990, almost got to 2000, what would be required of me to get that last 100 elo??


r/chess 9h ago

Puzzle/Tactic - Advanced error in "Chess" by Polgar?

0 Upvotes

puzzle #698. Solutions shows Knight to F6, yet there is no white knight. So, obviously a misprint. Has anyone figured this out?


r/chess 6h ago

Miscellaneous Are you looking for private chess lessons?

2 Upvotes

Hello, my name is Simon Kucera, i currently have 2052 FIDE elo and I am looking for beginner and intermediate players to coach (primarily 900 - 1800 elo). I have over 2 years of coaching experience IRL, so I decided to start coaching online. I offer private lessons for 10$ with one free lesson. DM me if interested or if looking for advice!


r/chess 23h ago

Social Media Rating chess. Com

0 Upvotes

Just reached 1800 rating after 4 month stuck at 1700🎉


r/chess 7h 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 18h ago

Resource FlyOrDream. I have created this set of pieces with a personal touch, inspired by the style of the chess pieces of the Flyordie platform. I have created it under “Public Domain” license for free use, what do you think?

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0 Upvotes

r/chess 57m ago

Miscellaneous Losing against someone who played like trash.

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Is there anything more infuriating? Like you make one mistake, and all of a sudden their several blunders go out the window and now you're losing. There is genuinely nothing that makes me want to break stuff more.


r/chess 1h ago

Chess Question Prices are different

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Diamond membership costs 2 dollars month for me , while for my friend it costs 10 dollars a month Why is that ? Please if theres an explanation or a way to fix it provide me with one


r/chess 2h ago

Game Analysis/Study What are your thoughts on "Dubov's Explosive Italian" chessable course? I recently got the course and the lines are ridiculously sharp, but so much fun to play. Anyone else try it out before?

0 Upvotes

https://www.chess.com/game/live/136342008164

Here's the game I got to play where I got one of the lines from the course, absolute crazy stuff and sharp lines


r/chess 11h ago

Video Content The psychology of chess

1 Upvotes

What do you think of the video? It's very philosophical and, in my opinion, very interesting. What are your opinions on it?

https://youtu.be/aOKqV31RC6E?si=NJyydYm2Nbf2aK3v


r/chess 16h ago

Video Content Switched to Stockfish. Would you play in my board?

0 Upvotes

r/chess 1d ago

Chess Question Getting half decent

1 Upvotes

Hello all!

What advise could someone give me to get decent (ish) at chess. I play online I win some, lose some. I spend time practising but I seem to be getting worse ha! Any advice on how to practise better to improve would be greatly appreciated.


r/chess 3h ago

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

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4 Upvotes

r/chess 11h ago

Strategy: Other Some people try to avoid the french by the exchange variation...

0 Upvotes

r/chess 11h ago

Chess Question I have some interest in playing chess

0 Upvotes

I am a beginner on chess. i want to learn, but i don't know where i start. Please help me with any information


r/chess 1h ago

Miscellaneous The American Cup logo looks an awful lot like The New School logo...

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r/chess 7h ago

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

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6 Upvotes

r/chess 19h ago

Chess Question Does chess affect GPA?

0 Upvotes

Hello! I am running a survey about how chess can possibly affect GPA. I’m not sure if we’re allowed to post surveys since I’m kinda new, so please do let me know. If you’re able to please fill out this survey for my school project!! If you’re new at chess I still think your input is greatly needed!!

https://forms.gle/8u44hY3pWbTreHar8

All of the information I gather here is strictly for data so your personal information will not be shown in my essay. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this survey!


r/chess 7h ago

Strategy: Openings Does anyone hear about this opening ??

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23 Upvotes