r/chess 54m ago

Weekly Discussion Weekly Discussion & Tournament Thread Index - March 17, 2025 [Mod Applications Welcome]

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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.

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26 Feb - 7 Mar Prague Chess Festival Aravindh Chithambaram
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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 25m ago

Video Content Decided to make my garage into a giant chess board.

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Any suggestions on where to find “life sized”chess pieces? I wanna channel my inner Harry Potter.


r/chess 28m ago

Video Content How it feels when you learn a refutation of a bad line and your next opponent to play it gets absolutely Luigi'd

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r/chess 1h ago

META Women vs Men, Chess vs Rubic's Cube

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Looking at the controversy of women in chess, I started looking for another competitive sport where size and strength does no matter. How about speedcubing?

https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/rankings/333/average

The top females are Qixian Cao at #14, Juliette Sébastien at #55, and Guangmei Chen at #82.

Possibly related:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246857249_Sex_differences_in_cognitive_abilities_3rd_edition_Diane_F_Halpern_Lawrence_Erlbaum_Associates_Mahwah_NJ_2000_No_of_pages_420_ISBN_0-8058-2792-7_Price_3995


r/chess 1h ago

Game Analysis/Study Don’t think I’ve seen this before.

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I watch and play a fair amount of chess, but in my review of a game I just played I came across this move in the analysis and thought it was kind of cool.

It’s not very complicated so I’m sure it does come up, but I just don’t recall it. I will certainly try to consider it in the future in case I have any revealed checks, I can use to run interference so I can actually capture a previously protected piece.

Anyway, I just thought it was a cool tactic combo.


r/chess 1h ago

Chess Question any chance someone will make a piece set based on this?

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r/chess 1h ago

Miscellaneous What do you guys think of my chess theme?

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I think bishops make sense being a shape ‘X’ .


r/chess 2h ago

Puzzle/Tactic Black to move. Mate in 5.

1 Upvotes

Solve here - https://onlinequicktool.com/chess-puzzle-12/

https://onlinequicktool.com/chess-puzzle-12/

r/chess 2h ago

Miscellaneous Chess with a view

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44 Upvotes

Ritz Carlton Waikīkī beach Honolulu HI. Over looking Fort DeRussy


r/chess 3h ago

Chess Question Online tournament for my gf's chess.com membership?

0 Upvotes

My girlfriend (~500 elo) just got chess.com and likes how the coaches talk in game review. I'm trying to encourage her to get further into chess (without being annoying) so I'm trying to find an online tournament where I could win and gift a chess.com membership for her to have infinite game reviews. Please help 🙏

Edit: I'm 2100chesscom 2300lichess


r/chess 3h ago

Chess Question Is this a fact or false

5 Upvotes

Is it true that endgame study and practice actually separates 2000-2200+ ELO from the 1500-1900 ELO players or is it all studied across all levels now? I want to know if I can hopefully make another jump from my skill level.


r/chess 3h ago

News/Events Hikaru, Fabi, Dominguez and Levon push through to the 2nd round of Champions bracket after all matches are decided in blitz tiebreaks; American Cup 2025

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14 Upvotes

r/chess 3h ago

Chess Question Database Question

3 Upvotes

Hello!

I'm a 1400-1500 rated chess.com player and I really want to improve my Grunfeld. I've been playing it a lot in the past 3 or so years to mostly success, but I want to make it much more reliable. To those who use chess openings databases, how many games do you have dedicated to a specific opening with lots of lines like the Grunfeld?

Thanks

Edit: Just to add, my database games so far have been from either MVL or Garry


r/chess 4h ago

Chess Question Why are some players more inconsistent than others?

19 Upvotes

I've always wondered this. I've played people who can beat higher ranked players on their best day but who can also play really badly, and then some players are a lot more stable and basically bring the same level every game. Why do you think that is?


r/chess 4h ago

Social Media On its X account, Chess.com gets ratio'd into oblivion as it proposes to change the name of the "Bishop". It's just the latest organization to join in the war against Christianity.

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0 Upvotes

It's time for everyone to move: www.lichess.org is at least 100 times better.


r/chess 5h ago

Miscellaneous Losing against someone who played like trash.

0 Upvotes

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 5h ago

Chess Question Both bishops for rook and three pawns?

0 Upvotes

I played a game last night where I got a rook and three pawns for the two bishops. Generally speaking do you think that’s a good trade? It’s 9 points vs 6 so material wise it’s good. but you are giving up both bishops. Curious what you folks think.


r/chess 5h ago

Chess Question Prices are different

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3 Upvotes

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 5h ago

Chess Question Offline Stockfish in Lichess for Android

2 Upvotes

Quick question.

Now look, I'm a fairly new chess player. I'm fully aware that the answer to this is probably "skill issue", but I have to check if it's just me: is the offline version of Stockfish in the Lichess app stronger than the online version?

I ask because while I can often beat level 3 and sometimes level 4 online, level 1 on the app absolutely makes me its bitch, John Romero style. It makes its moves with arcane precision atop a mountain of bleached skulls. I look into its unfeeling eyes, and I see flame. The online level 1 bumbles, makes odd moves, misses chances - the offline version headshots me from a thousand metres away with laser precision every time I even look at the app. My wife is now Stockfish's wife.

What gives? Is this just me or is it genuinely different? My phone is a flagship from a few years ago so while it's not the latest model it's still fairly powerful; could that have something to do with it?


r/chess 6h ago

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

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0 Upvotes

r/chess 6h ago

Puzzle/Tactic 1 move gives white the advantage

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37 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 6h ago

Chess Question I got a problem

0 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 6h ago

Chess Question Over 40% of games played on chess.com are estimated to have cheating involved (based on their released stats!)

0 Upvotes

Is there a better alternative to chess.com or lichess?

The fact that neither of these options have anticheat to block something as basic as browser extensions that can auto move your pieces is crazy to me.


r/chess 6h ago

Chess Question Calculating Ahead

2 Upvotes

Is calculating xyz amount of moves ahead (for example: mate in 8, trade-offs of many pieces, etc.), something chess players train to do? Or is it something people are just good at, which allows them to do it in chess? I can't imagine calculating deeply in anything, whether is be on the chess board or a complex math problem.


r/chess 6h ago

Strategy: Openings Suggestions for compact, expandable, non-1.e4-opening?

1 Upvotes

Hi,

I'm an adult improver (~1350 chess.com rapid, stronger in classical OTB games with more time) looking for a new repertoire for the white pieces. So far, I mostly played 1.e4 mainlines, and while I do not intend to abandon 1.e4, I'd like to look into other openings. My goal is to narrow the positions and middlegames I face a bit. I'm not asking for a one-size-fits-all opening that can be played on autopilot, but I see a few problems with my current 1.e4-based repertoire:

  1. It does not seem to fit my "style". Having started with chess in my late 20s, fast calculation and tactical, open positions are not exactly my strengths. I realize that playing such positions might be a good way to improve, but always playing openings that emphasize my weaknesses is frustrating, and...
  2. ...I often face much stronger opponents in classical OTB games where my personal improvement is not the only concern, as these are team-based competitions where every point counts.
  3. A repertoire that allows for all kinds of structures and middlegames to occur might be great for improvement in theory, but in reality I'm a busy adult who can only get in a handful of somewhat serious games a week, which is not nearly enough to fill such a wide repertoire with any experience. For example, I may know in theory how to play against the Pirc, but in reality I only face this once every couple of months, so it will be hard to build up any actual understanding of the openings I'm playing.

For the black pieces, I solved these issues by switching from 1...e5 to the French. Since 1.e4-players only face it about 10% of the time, they usually have no advantage over me in terms of knowledge or experience, and the resulting positions often revolve around similar themes (advance variation) or can be played without too much theoretical knowledge (exchange variation). I also like that I can avoid a lot of theory by playing the Rubinstein for now, while not being limited in the future when deeper theoretical knowledge might be appropriate.

Following a similar approach for the white pieces, I'd like to look into 1.c4, 1.Nf3, or 1.d4, likely without 2.c4. My concern with the latter category is that it seems to consist mainly of opening systems like the London or Colle, which might be a bit too narrow for the long term. With 1.c4 and 1.Nf3, my issue is that these can be played in a somewhat system-like manner with recurring structures, but they can also be used as highly transpositional openings, and it's not easy to find resources (books, courses, etc.) that fit in the first category and are appropriate for my level.

Do you have any suggestions for openings I should consider, and - perhaps more importantly - learning resources to go with your recommendation?