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just lost on time in a blitz game, because my opponent was playing super passive but moving really fast. meanwhile, i took up all my time trying to find good moves. i hate that! how can i crush an obnoxiously passive player without spending any time thinking?
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Sep 14, 2021 22:11
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Helianthus Annuus posted:just lost on time in a blitz game, because my opponent was playing super passive but moving really fast. meanwhile, i took up all my time trying to find good moves. I have ideas but can you share the game? e: Richard Rapport is having a great Norway, and is up to #7 in the world. Given that he likes to play weird openings, it’s probably good overall for chess if he hangs around at the top elite level.
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Sep 14, 2021 22:29
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sure! i played the white pieces.code:
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Sep 14, 2021 22:44
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2..Qe7 sounds really dumb, don't play moves like this. I am assuming you are the other player because you described your opponent's style as boring. Wait... You probably shouldn't close the center, if you don't want to play a long manoeuvre game in the current time settings. From that point d5 was your main mistake, stockfish won't find that. There is also a simple way to avoid 95% or boring or trap-ish openings. Don't play e4e5. VictualSquid fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 22:50
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i really need to move faster, i can't tell you how many times i get into a winning position and lose on time. VictualSquid posted:2..Qe7 sounds really dumb, don't play moves like this. I am assuming you are the other player because you described your opponent's style as boring. thats rihgt -- i would never EVER play 2..Qe7. i personally feel really bad that i let someone get away with playing such a bad move. it's my job to punish these jabronis, and i couldn't stick the landing! VictualSquid posted:Wait... You probably shouldn't close the center, if you don't want to play a long manoeuvre game in the current time settings. From that point d5 was your main mistake, stockfish won't find that. i think you mean d5.. and the computer agrees with you! if i can internalize this lesson, maybe this game won't be a total write off
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Sep 14, 2021 23:09
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Helianthus Annuus posted:sure! i played the white pieces. I mean, you want to play the tactics that present themselves, but obviously you want something more general and applicable too, right? Like, do you feel you played a perfect game but just missed a tactical shot? Probably not. That means there are probably more general points which are relevant. So: 5. d5. So there are a few things to comment on here. The first is that when your opponent plays messy garbage, you generally punish them by playing normal. After all, the reason normal is normal in the first place is that it has an advantage over messy garbage. So instead of moving your pawn a second time, changing the character of the position, just continue developing. Your opponent's wasted moves on nonsense, so you just want to take a lead in development and crush them. The second, and this is a bit more subtle, is that when you have a lead in development you usually want to preserve your ability to break in the centre. Look at where your knights are. Pushing d5 shuts both of them out, and lets your opponent expand on the flank. Relatedly, the way you punish a flank expansion is by breaking in the centre — d5 removes your ability to do that. Lastly, your opponent has played d6-e5-f6. The light squares around their king (especially e6, f7, and even g8) are awful. Your bishop would love to be on c4, dominating that diagonal. And if your opponent plays Be6 to trade bishops? You're fine with that too, since their bishop as a defender is more important than yours as an attacker in that case. Remember that when you push a pawn, you lose the square you moved your pawn to; d5 is a great square for your pieces and you took it away. In general: when your opponent plays super passive, there are three things you want to do. The first is to secure space by playing normally. The second is to find a pawn hook, which lets you open up your opponent's position. The third is to have your pieces lined up (using your space and development advantages) to exploit that opening you made. You spent a lot of moves shuffling your pieces around but not really coordinating them. After you've played e4 and d5, the way white normally plays is to try to play c5. Your idea is to take on d6, have your heavy pieces control the c-file, and attack the weakness on d6. In chess, you want to coordinate your pieces to attack a weakness. When your opponent plays super passive, they generally don't give you a weakness to attack, so you have to make it.
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Sep 14, 2021 23:36
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thank you! i will try to avoid loving up my pawns from now on. at the time, my thought was: "his knight wants to come to c6, and now he can't!" but like you said, that comes with a significant opportunity cost. 5. d5 is the reason i couldn't get my pieces to work together, i took away their squares in the center, while my opponent took away the squares on the kingside! Stockfish said 5. Nd5 would have been good, and i wish i had played that. it's very upsetting to lose to someone making such terrible moves. but i stomped a couple other bad players after that, so i feel better now. thanks again for letting me vent, and for helping me recognize a critical goof!
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Sep 14, 2021 23:56
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Oh hey, turns out Elo ratings change depending on the strength of the player pool. I was a bit baffled that I was consistently getting tough matches against 1100s when I'm pretty sure I used to play at around 1300-1400 when I was at school 25 years ago. Apparently this is a known thing because everyone has access to computer analysis and endless free learning tools nowadays. Feels similar to how small stakes poker has been getting harder, though I'm not sure it's for quite the same reasons.
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Sep 15, 2021 00:13
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Helianthus Annuus posted:thank you! i will try to avoid loving up my pawns from now on. at the time, my thought was: "his knight wants to come to c6, and now he can't!" This is a very general thing, but when a knight is on b8 (or correspondingly on b1) pushing d5 (or correspondingly d4) doesn't do that much to restrain it because the knight can go to d7/a6 then c5 (or d2/a3 then c4). Black usually supports this by first playing a5 (or a4) to prevent the b-pawn from dislodging the knight. A similar idea can apply to the kingside but is less significant because because castling kingside means the h5/h4 idea to defend the knight usually isn't available, and the kingside is just generally a bit looser.
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Sep 15, 2021 00:57
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Maugrim posted:Oh hey, turns out Elo ratings change depending on the strength of the player pool. I was a bit baffled that I was consistently getting tough matches against 1100s when I'm pretty sure I used to play at around 1300-1400 when I was at school 25 years ago. Apparently this is a known thing because everyone has access to computer analysis and endless free learning tools nowadays. There probably aren't bot farms grinding micro-Elo chess for profit, but yeah I think the increased availability in knowledge and corresponding across-the-board skill increases are similar.
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Sep 15, 2021 01:04
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It's simpler than that. Elo mathematically describes players in a single rating pool. There's nothing pushing ratings in one pool towards compatibility with ratings in another. The scale depends on starting ratings, the actual strength of the players, the rates at which players at different strengths enter and leave the pool, all kinds of things. Some pools (lichess, for instance) use a modified version that complicates things more.
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Sep 15, 2021 01:20
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I am slowly watching through daniel naroditsky's videos after someone recommended him. And I just watched a topical video where he explains how to play against strange but cowardly openings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6s0bKN5y4E
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Sep 15, 2021 13:32
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Helianthus Annuus posted:i really need to move faster, i can't tell you how many times i get into a winning position and lose on time. You can also consider slower time controls. I play my best blitz (which is not saying much) at 5+3. Unfortunately chess.com doesn't offer it so I usually play 5+0. I'm really bad at 3+2, and I won't even try 3+0 or faster. It takes some time to find out what speed you feel most comfortable at.
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Sep 15, 2021 22:22
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Doctor Malaver posted:You can also consider slower time controls. I play my best blitz (which is not saying much) at 5+3. Unfortunately chess.com doesn't offer it so I usually play 5+0. I'm really bad at 3+2, and I won't even try 3+0 or faster. It takes some time to find out what speed you feel most comfortable at. 5+5 doesn’t work for you?
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Sep 16, 2021 02:07
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I was very happy that I managed to see the best move in this position, black to play and win (tho the Lichess comp says it's "only" a massive advantage).  Pretty sure the move is not that hard to see for the stronger players of course but I was so delighted that I spotted it! It's not a move that comes intuitively to me, and I think also not to players around my skill level. I played it, the opponent stared, stared, stared, and then regisned.
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Sep 16, 2021 08:03
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Is it __g5? White's h pawn is pinned, h5 allows Qxh5+ and fisting by many fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Sep 16, 2021 |
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Sep 16, 2021 08:21
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Yup, that's it! According the computer, the King must move back to h2 to stand a chance, a chance in this case meaning being approximately 43 points down instead of checkmated. Most of the lines I tested after that move required a queen sacrifice to just stay alive too. Just happy that I saw a pawn push that ended up being a really good move, and the computer agrees. Most of my usual pawn moves end up with the computer going "You tanked all your advantage dude!!"
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Sep 16, 2021 08:34
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ulmont posted:5+5 doesn’t work for you? Where can you play that?
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Sep 16, 2021 10:23
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Doctor Malaver posted:Where can you play that? Chess.com as well, it's 5|5, the last option before 10 minutes.
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Sep 16, 2021 10:45
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Oh! It was hidden beneath a 'More...' button for me. Thanks!
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Sep 16, 2021 19:11
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I'm very bad and working through a lot of instructional material already, but I was hoping I could get some advice on specifically what to do in the endgame when I'm up a knight. I was trying to focus on getting rid of his pawns but was mostly playing re-actively, and obviously with some huge blunders everywhere. I think I'm mostly look for general advice on how to be thinking about the game when it gets to like move 30 in this position. Also I should probably not play 15+10, I've been doing much better at correspondence when I can think through my moves. I'm playing white, blunders everywhere of course but I think I understand the early and mid game ones better than endgame approach: code:
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Sep 16, 2021 19:48
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Booyah- posted:I'm very bad and working through a lot of instructional material already, but I was hoping I could get some advice on specifically what to do in the endgame when I'm up a knight. I was trying to focus on getting rid of his pawns but was mostly playing re-actively, and obviously with some huge blunders everywhere. I think I'm mostly look for general advice on how to be thinking about the game when it gets to like move 30 in this position. Also I should probably not play 15+10, I've been doing much better at correspondence when I can think through my moves. After 1. e4 d5, consider playing 2. exd5 so you can push around black's queen! At move 31, you have positioned your rook to stop the black c pawn from promoting -- thats good! Tarrasch rule says: "The rooks belong behind passed pawns, behind their own in order to support their advance, behind the enemy's in order to impede their advance." but, what were you thinking when you didn't take it? Anyway, you went into the endgame with a significant material advantage. One way to win would be to trade off black's remaining pieces, leaving only white pieces on the board. for example, starting on on move 49, you could have traded off black's rook and win the pawn, with 49. Rxe4 fxe4 50. Kxe4, then its easy to win by promoting your a pawn! Other than that, it might have been good to start pushing your pawn early on. Its easier to win after you promote your pawn -- or at least the threat of promotion gives black too many problems for too few pieces to handle. Letting black take your sole remaining pawn makes it a lot harder to win! you still had a winning endgame until 57. Ng4
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Sep 16, 2021 22:18
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Booyah- posted:I'm very bad and working through a lot of instructional material already, but I was hoping I could get some advice on specifically what to do in the endgame when I'm up a knight. I was trying to focus on getting rid of his pawns but was mostly playing re-actively, and obviously with some huge blunders everywhere. I think I'm mostly look for general advice on how to be thinking about the game when it gets to like move 30 in this position. Also I should probably not play 15+10, I've been doing much better at correspondence when I can think through my moves. 1. While the rooks are still in the game, watch out for back rank checkmates. 2. Take special care with passed pawns. Stop your opponent's, push yours. In this game you were a whole knight ahead so in that situation you can try to simplify and exchange rooks. With them off the table you should easily win, assuming the C pawn is not immediately promoting. With rooks on the table, put them behind passed pawns. 31. Rc6 was good and you had several chances to simply take the C pawn. You should've jumped at the opportunity because it was 2 moves from promoting. It wasn't important to defend your F pawn because you had two more pawns on that flank, plus the king. Black would need ages to get something from the 3 vs 2 situation, while you could swiftly push the A pawn.
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Sep 16, 2021 22:19
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This is all fantastic, thanks. I think I missed taking his passed pawn at 31because I had tunnel vision on their rooks and my king. I definitely wanted to trade rooks to get down to just rook + knight vs rook but I'm bad at figuring out how to force a trade like that. Should I have also tried to get my king out earlier? I've heard that's helpful in the endgame and have seen good examples, but again it's hard to apply to my own games when I feel like I'm on the backfoot (despite being up a piece!)
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Sep 16, 2021 23:13
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The king goes out when there are very few pieces left. The main problem is that you'll otherwise expose him to checks, and some of those checks might be forks or skewers where you'll lose a pawn after moving the king. You exposed your king (by pushing his pawns forward) but then left him idling on the back rank. That's the worst of both worlds, you were neither protecting him, nor using him to improve the position. 
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Sep 16, 2021 23:52
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New favourite checkmate
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Sep 17, 2021 08:09
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Man, Daniel Naroditsky is so drat good at explaining stuff. Levy (GothamChess) is entertaining but I feel like he doesn't explain his thought process as well and often moves too fast for me to follow so watching his videos doesn't do much to improve my game. On the other hand I've watched maybe three or four of Daniel's videos and felt my mind expanding each time. Just me?
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Sep 18, 2021 00:50
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The Naroditsky speedrun videos are good for a few reasons but one I love is that he uses an absolute minimum of calculation. He basically goes up to 1800 before calculating 2 moves deep. Being able to calculate is obviously an important skill, but understanding that good players can beat me without a single calculation made chess into something I suddenly wanted to learn.
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Sep 18, 2021 00:55
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 I played QB6 to defend c6 and potentially attack B2. The engine recommended I play h5 instead. Is that because the engine expected me to long castle? When does it make sense to push a rook's pawn forward, in general? I see it suggested sometimes but I don't always understand why it makes sense at a particular moment.. Looking at it now, I could have also played Ne7 to defend c6, but that would have cut off my dark squared bishop for a little while. e: I also didn't see that my bishop was about to be boxed in. Is this just to keep him from playing g4? dhamster fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Sep 18, 2021 |
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Sep 18, 2021 14:12
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dhamster posted:
I'm not the strongest player but I think it's to avoid exactly the move the computer is now recommending for your opponent, g5. Your light square bishop is by far your strongest piece, very active on a long diagonal, unopposed by any enemy bishop, and you have the bishop pair advantage. Once g5 is played you lose all that, no matter where you move the bishop it will at best be exchanged for a knight and you'll damage your pawn structure into the bargain. The computer might think avoiding that is worth the loss of a backward pawn after which you can chase the knight away while developing a piece with tempo.
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Sep 18, 2021 16:23
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I mean, the evaluation after Qb6 is equal, so it's not exactly the end of the world. Maugrim is right that the point of h5 is to secure the bishop. Nxc6 is usually not something to worry about in these sorts of positions because of the tempo black gets, if they don't outright win the knight. I'd speculate that Nxc6 Qc7 Ne5 Bd6 is worth more than the pawn you just gave up. If you ever get these computer evals that don't make sense to you, try playing through the line with your engine on. Play the moves you're afraid of your opponent playing. See what the computer suggests. It's not foolproof (especially if there's a tactical solution that evaluates better than an easier, more intuitive solution) but it's something.
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Sep 18, 2021 17:04
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Keep in mind that the computer is recommending only its best move. There may be other moves that are almost as good. Here, just letting Stockfish chew on it for a few minutes, it looks like you have more than a dozen potential moves that are within a point of the best move. In rapid play against 1400s, probably most of those would be perfectly fine. So I wouldn't worry so much about one particular suggestion. According to the computer, moves like f6, Bd6, and Qc7, and h5 are all within a few tenths of a pawn of the best move. Play the one that makes the most sense to your plan as a human. I personally like developing that bishop and preparing to castle, but I'm not very good.
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Sep 18, 2021 17:17
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Yes there are so many similarly scoring moves that other engines pick different best moves - given sufficient depth, Hiarcs & Komodo favour Bd6 while Chiron likes f6. Even Qb6 you played isn't bad at all, I don't think it is reasonable for that to be called out as an "inaccuracy" If I were white I would want to play g4 or Nxc6, so as black playing a move that a) develops a piece and b) counters one of those two moves would be good. I like f6 because it forces a move of the knight meaning white can't play g4, and that knight can't take c6 (after ..f6, if Nxc6, ..Qc7 and the knight is trapped.) So, to me f6 cancels out both of white's good options.
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Sep 18, 2021 18:00
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Captain von Trapp posted:Keep in mind that the computer is recommending only its best move. There may be other moves that are almost as good. Yeah, I tend to like to let lichess recommend the top 3 moves when reviewing. Often there’s not much of a difference between them (sometimes, of course, one move wins and everything else loses).
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Sep 18, 2021 18:09
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Thanks for the tips. That inaccuracy was the only move that the engine docked me points for that game so I was wondering what I could have done differently. It makes sense that the Nxc6 was kind of dubious since I can chase/trap the knight after and either win a piece or push ahead for tempo. I think at the time I was fixated on protecting it so that I could trade it away on c5 using my bishop. It ended up not mattering since they blundered bishop to f4 and I just started taking apart their queenside after that.
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Sep 18, 2021 19:32
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Maugrim posted:Man, Daniel Naroditsky is so drat good at explaining stuff. Levy (GothamChess) is entertaining but I feel like he doesn't explain his thought process as well and often moves too fast for me to follow so watching his videos doesn't do much to improve my game. On the other hand I've watched maybe three or four of Daniel's videos and felt my mind expanding each time. Just me? Yeah I'm having the same experience, I've started going through the speedrun videos one by one and taking notes. He's super clear and concise and just has a natural teaching ability that always seems to be on.
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Sep 18, 2021 19:45
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I started watching Naroditsky's speedrun series after it got mentioned in the thread too, and I'm definitely having a similar reaction. Listening to his reasoning (and reading some of Hand Knit's posts) makes me realize there's a whole other layer to the game I'm not seeing. I think I was basically viewing the game as a series of individual, disconnected moves, which wasn't helped by my habit of looking at the computer analysis after every game. I think that can put beginner players (eg me) in the mindset that the way to improve is to just find the best move in every position, as opposed to understanding the overarching strategy. It was really illuminating to watch a game where Naroditsky came up with a strategic plan (targeting a weak pawn) and then all his moves flowed logically from there. I'll also echo that it was liberating to learn that GMs don't calculate every move. It even inspired me to start playing some games again instead of just doing puzzles.
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Sep 19, 2021 00:45
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Definitely getting better, starting to see longer forced sequences under pressure, like from the following position which wins me a queen and a knight.  ...pretty sure I should have been checkmated like 6 times prior to this though. Still taking it! Artelier fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Sep 21, 2021 |
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Sep 21, 2021 11:15
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My best thought is 1. …Rfh8. Since gxf3 immediately loses to Rxh2#. I initially thought it would be 1. …Rxh2+ but after 2. Kxh2 Rh8 3. Nh3, I don’t see a continuation.
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Sep 21, 2021 14:20
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Aggro posted:My best thought is 1. …Rfh8. Since gxf3 immediately loses to Rxh2#. I initially thought it would be 1. …Rxh2+ but after 2. Kxh2 Rh8 3. Nh3, I don’t see a continuation. i too want to sac the rook to give check, the other pieces cover the kings escape squares. Rfh8 doesn't work because white can stay alive with Nf7+ computer says it's checkmate in 13 haha Helianthus Annuus fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Sep 21, 2021 |
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Sep 21, 2021 14:43
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