The Chess Thread

[ex0duz]

Slow news day today around these parts, so i thought i'd create a thread in the interest of fun. Either way, please don't bother responding if you're just gonna hate.. but yeah, i thought that since wc is a 'strategic' game, i'm curious as to how many of you also share an interest in the royal game, the game of kings :Ţ

Please list your chess background.. ie how old were you when you first learnt the game, and from who etc. Now some more specific questions..

How old/long have you been playing for now?

Did you ever play professionally, or seriously(a tourny here and there etc)?

Also list your favourite openings for both colors(just curious)

Please also list your playing strength. Ie, FIDE elo if you have one, or your rating on whichever site you play on, and how long you've been playing for now..

Also list the sites that you play on, or the sites that you think are good(give reasons too please why its good/bad).

If there's enough responses/interest, perhaps we can get a round robin or swiss tournament for WCR members, and/or we can have players of similar strength playing/beginners/noobs play each other if they just want to learn the game or don't think they are good enough for the tournament.. we can also get spectators if you guys are into that kinda thing..

Also, if anyone wants to play now, PM me. I'm down for a few games. Be warned though, i don't play blitz(3-10 min) or bullet(-2 mins)

I'll respond after a few responses, as to not taint the replies :p

Oh yeah.. the world championship is coming up in a month or two(Kramnik vs Anand). The womens world championship also just ended a couple days ago, but yeah.. no one really follows the women leagues/tourneys, because they suck(it's true, only one woman ever can hang with the boys, i'm also open to discussion concerning this as long as you know what you're talking about). Anyone else follow the professional chess scene?

GOGOGO! Thanks guys.

[doob10163]

I used to play. I was never seriously ranked, played in one rated tournament. The only good place to play chess for free online is FICS... ICC is easily the best pay to play. I wouldn't know what my rating was/is now

[Fightclub]

My Chess history

Hi... Nice thread.I started playing chess with my best friend when i was 13-15.I didn't know about game much at that time but when i started high school i joined Chess club and owned everyone here.There weren't many players in my town so i didn't improve myself much.But i become third and fourth in local chess tournaments here and i graduated.
When I started university we won't have a chess club it was in development but we have now and I'm thinking of starting chess again since warcraft diedI didn't have licence but I'll have it this year.
I had a chess book named winning chess or something written by Bobby Fischer.He influenced my playstyle a lot.I tried his opening styles and tactics and find very interesting.He's my her
I do standard Ruy lopez opening and queen gambit opening as white ,
Ruy lopez defense and sicily defense with black mostly.

[D]v[D]

Only ones worth mentioning:

1 Time National Team (Team of 4) 1st Place

3 Time State Age group 1st Place

1 Time State Age group 2nd Place

1 Time State Age group 3rd Place

Won $300 for first player in grade 3 to exceed the rating of 1000.

EDIT: I don't play anymore though...

Fav Black Opening: Sicilian Dragon
Fav White Opening: Four Knights, Kings Gambit and Kings Indian Attack and Formerly, the English.

[esmith-]

Only ones worth mentioning:

1 Time National Team (Team of 4) 1st Place

3 Time State Age group 1st Place

1 Time State Age group 2nd Place

1 Time State Age group 3rd Place

Won $300 for first player in grade 3 to exceed the rating of 1000.

EDIT: I don't play anymore though...

Fav Black Opening: Sicilian Dragon
Fav White Opening: Four Knights, Kings Gambit and Kings Indian Attack and Formerly, the English.

why did you stop?

[D]v[D]

Got bored of it, that pretty much sums it up.

I had training three times a week (about 3 hrs each), and played at least in a tournament a week (club), also played at the school lunch time ladder, cause if you won a game the guy gave you a lolly, lol.

[Snowi]

Play from time to time versus my dad or my girlfriend. Needless to say I blow hard in the game.

[StonedMan]

I was decent. Studied the game for a couple years and played every day, got kinda burned out and haven't really played since.

There was a time when I was able to beat people that played (read, not experts, but actual people that DID play frequently) blindfolded, sometimes. But I seriously killed that part of my brain later in life with a decade of drinking/smoking/etc. Just don't have that kind of focus anymore.

It's depressing every time I try and go back to the game, so I just don't bother. I do read that little chess question thing in the paper every now and then and can almost always figure out the solution, though.

Was a great game, though.

[D]v[D]

Better than WC3 :p

[SurelyIJest]

My dad taught me when I was young, probably 4 or 5.
I played seriously from about 2nd to 5th grade (like age 7-11). I was somewhere between 1100 and 1350 I think for most of that.

I quit because playing was too psychologically intense or something. I would cry when I lost in tournaments and even got very upset just at losing regular games.

I don't particularly enjoy playing even now.

[Ecto]

I started playing around age 4 with my parents. At age 8 I beat my mother twice in a row and she stopped playing against me. That was also around the time I started playing in a club. I managed to come second in the Copenhagen Championship and 15 out of the 36 players that qualified for the Danish Championship that year. Then I had a falling out with some of my club-mates and completely stopped playing chess, which I regretted a lot over the last few years. But now I play Go, and it grips me more than chess ever did, so I think it's okay.

[catfish]

played casually through middle/high school. never was any good, always made dumb mistakes, etc.

Its good fun and mental exercise, but I rarely find the time to play these days (and i get stomped on when I do)

[oj.]

Anyone want to give a (good) link with simple explanations of the most basic chess openings?

I'm pretty good. I beat my friends and family easily, but I've only played online a few times. I really don't know any known strategy in the game, I just use common sense and basic logic. Really only need to look 1 or 2 moves ahead against noobs.

[ex0duz]

Only ones worth mentioning:

1 Time National Team (Team of 4) 1st Place

3 Time State Age group 1st Place

1 Time State Age group 2nd Place

1 Time State Age group 3rd Place

Won $300 for first player in grade 3 to exceed the rating of 1000.

EDIT: I don't play anymore though...

Fav Black Opening: Sicilian Dragon
Fav White Opening: Four Knights, Kings Gambit and Kings Indian Attack and Formerly, the English.

Wow, you were national squad strength? What age group is this for(since you didn't list age group for national), or is it for adult age group? ie 18+? Also, what age for the others?

The sicilian dragon is kind of fashionable these days(with it being the 17 yr old prodigy Magnus Carlsen's opening of choice), and i think i might try play it if i ever get the chance(i'm just an amateurish enthusiast, no tourneys, i just play online from time to time, but i follow the pro scene and watch 'replays' on chessgames.com(very good site for chess), same as wc :p). The positions that arise from it seem to suit my style of play. Very 'open ended' and sharp.

I was decent. Studied the game for a couple years and played every day, got kinda burned out and haven't really played since.

There was a time when I was able to beat people that played (read, not experts, but actual people that DID play frequently) blindfolded, sometimes. But I seriously killed that part of my brain later in life with a decade of drinking/smoking/etc. Just don't have that kind of focus anymore.

It's depressing every time I try and go back to the game, so I just don't bother. I do read that little chess question thing in the paper every now and then and can almost always figure out the solution, though.

Was a great game, though.

You played blindfold too? lol.. thats hardcore. Yeah.. i love to smoke/drink when i play too, but i think drinking kills my brain too much. Having a bowl is ok, i can handle that, but when i mix them, well, i'm sure you know what happens :p

Plus yeah.. i read that playing too much blindfold 'damages' the brain somewhat, it's VERY stressful, especially if you're trying to calculate aswell and not just recall from memory.. props to you if you can play that style.. i'm jealous your able to remember/calculate so much like that. I've never tried it, but i can tell i'll suck hard, as i don't really have any opening theory/memory, and i just play the position OTB.

My dad taught me when I was young, probably 4 or 5.
I played seriously from about 2nd to 5th grade (like age 7-11). I was somewhere between 1100 and 1350 I think for most of that.

I quit because playing was too psychologically intense or something. I would cry when I lost in tournaments and even got very upset just at losing regular games.

I don't particularly enjoy playing even now.

LoL. I think playing chess helps one to handle loss. I don't like losing either, but if i get outplayed and not just blunder, it's all good with me. I can marvel at an opponent playing well and pwning me too, as it's a learning experience imo. But yeah.. i guess you were kind of young still. How old are you now? you still cry if you lose now? hehe.. must be bad childhood memories or something. Shame.. chess is fun if played properly with people of the same strength!

I started playing around age 4 with my parents. At age 8 I beat my mother twice in a row and she stopped playing against me. That was also around the time I started playing in a club. I managed to come second in the Copenhagen Championship and 15 out of the 36 players that qualified for the Danish Championship that year. Then I had a falling out with some of my club-mates and completely stopped playing chess, which I regretted a lot over the last few years. But now I play Go, and it grips me more than chess ever did, so I think it's okay.

LOL. I hate when people lose one game and never want to play again..

But wow, i didn't know there are so many former pro/club players here. You should get back into it man. I've tried go, and it feels completely alien to me. I know it's meant to be alot deeper and shit, but is it really that fun? i mean there's only one piece when compared with chess. Would you say it's much harder to get good(or at least average) at than chess? I remember reading somewhere that even at pro level, there is still so much you improve on.. With chess, at least there are programs now that are like rated 3000+(with best human players at like 2800+ now). But there's no way to use computer assistance to learn or analyze your go games yeah?

Anyone know anything about this topic? Ie current status of programs relating to Go? Can the machines beat the best human players yet? I'm also very interested in this topic, ie man vs machine and AI in general. Anyone with knowledge concerning this i hope you can post aswell

My own background, i learnt chess probably around 4-5 years ago(i knew how to play chinese chess first, but at a really basic level, as in just knowing how pieces move) by playing with a friend who knew how to play, and from there we had motivation to beat each other(i caught up after he taught me most of the basics.. ie opening and development and basic patterns). I don't play that much, because i prefer to play OTB than online(because it's not as fun playing strangers online, and i prefer real pieces/board.. but yeah, no one to play OTB with in my area that's at my skill level in general). My family is too shit to play, but i do still play with my mom from time to time(i've been teaching her how to play. She's yet to beat me after 20~ games, but she's getting better, and was winning for most of a couple games, but then blundered lol). It's good way to spend time with her still when i have the chance

I play on yahoo, my highest rating was 1750(all slow games, no blitz or bullet), but now i'm back at 1500~ after too many stoned/drunk games :p

Favourite openings are Ruy Lopez as white(i NEVER play d4 lol), and Sicilian as black. If i were to play d4, i guess i'd play the queens gambit too. Sometimes i play nf3 and c4 openings too. I might look into sicilian dragon as it looks fun to play.

I just won two games vs 900(get my confidence back lol) and one vs 1540(i'm 1560 right now). Yay!. I havent played for like months before this, so i'm feeling really rusty.

[ex0duz]

Anyone want to give a (good) link with simple explanations of the most basic chess openings?

I'm pretty good. I beat my friends and family easily, but I've only played online a few times. I really don't know any known strategy in the game, I just use common sense and basic logic. Really only need to look 1 or 2 moves ahead against noobs.

Basic openings
http://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/

In depth openings
http://www.eudesign.com/chessops/ch-list.htm

Good site for learning, easy to read, and has basic openings explained too.
http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/learn.htm

And of course, the biggest and best database for chess games online, and has a really good opening explorer if you're a registered(paying) member.
www.chessgames.com
It's basically the replays.net of chess games. Very good site for anyone interested in chess, or wanting to learn. They have games where everyone votes and the members get to play a team game vs grandmasters and/or world champions(correspondence). Alot of GM/IM/NM's post there, and people are usually very helpful. It's a funky site.


Yeah.. i'm the same. I'm too lazy to read chess books and memorize theory(of course i know abit, but mainly from playing and watching pro's games). Also, the most moves you need to look ahead in most positions is like 3-5(max). There have been cases where pro's need to calculate like 12-15 moves, but that's the exception rather than the rule.