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The lounge is now open! The lounge is for off-topic discussion, or anything you want! Much like the notes but now accessible to formatting, pictures, videos, puzzles, and other thread tools, you can post and talk about anything you want here; questions, games, challenging friends, ideas, off-topic, world news, local news, current affairs, your life, politics, science, math, literature, music, gaming, sports, or literally whatever you want. Much like you were in a lounge talking with friends! also, the last one to post in this thread wins!

We all like showcasing our good games, and many of us like viewing them and analyzing them. Yet, in order to keep the forums more focused on questions and lessons, from now on game showcases shall be posted here. Please read over the rules to clarify any questions about whether or not you should post your games here or create a thread. Basically, in short, to simply show a good game, post it here. If you intend to use the game as a quality teaching lesson, OR to ask a quality question about an opening, moves, end game theory, or anything like that, you can create a separate thread for it. Example of a game showcase that deserved its own thread: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/ng5-how-bad-is-it Example of a game showcase that should have been posted here: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/i-just-played-my-best-game-against-someone-500-points-higher-than-me We can still post our games, but let’s do it here from now on. After all, this isn’t a “game showcase” club.

Questions on opening theory can be asked here, and answered! This thread will not only serve as a “one-stop-shop” for any and all questions you have on any openings, but also as a catalog of past explanations, lessons and tips on opening theories!

Scary Puzzle score This Puzzle score made my hair stand up

Right now, whenever I get around 1250, I lose, I win, I lose, I win. Then I get frustrated and start tilting back down to low 1200s till I quit for the day, come back the next day and grind back to 1250. Then I start the process over again. Can someone take a look at my games and tell me the most obvious thing I’m doing wrong that’s hindering my growth past the mid-1200’s? Honestly, a lot of the games I’m actually *winning*, sometimes even with substantial amounts, and I blunder one time and lose the entire game. Is it really just blunders? What am I doing wrong?

After tilting in blitz for the past week(s), I finally got my life together and started grinding. Closing in on 1200, this is the game I got at 1195. It is somehow one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played. And also the most D I S G U S T I N G finishes I’ve ever been apart of. First, just take a look at this: Now, with that in mind, feast your eyes for this absolute cluster**** of a game to hit 1200: So after all that beautiful tactics, I have to flag him to get to 1200. Sigh. I really thought I was Magnus Carlsen at the end there with that checkmate pattern. Until I hung the knight. I was considering bishop to attack the pawn, but went with the knight because I thought it was a sure thing. lol. Sleep deprived I guess. Anyway, now I can sleep. I really stayed up until 6am to do this. Time to just rating sit and play rapid for a bit.

It's real. LOL

It feels like I’m platueing at 1250. Feeling a little tired, should I take a day off?  Do great players take days off? Or is chess their life and they simply push through?

After a bit of a hiatus from this club, I hope you all will help me revive it and make it great again! My blitz and rapid rating have tanked a lot. I haven't really done any studying, puzzles, or practice in the past year. Honestly, I took a bit of hiatus from chess for the past year. Excited to get back in to it, and hopefully start chatting on B&M again, too. I wanted to share this game I just played. I think it's my most tactical game I've ever played: Despite blundering my bishop on move 18, I hung in there. I think at the sub-1500 level, the resign button is kind of optional, no matter your position. I really enjoyed the queen-rook checkmate pattern at the end. Actually felt like I was playing chess for a change.

Do you have a favorite memory about chess? It could be online, or in-person.  For me, I have two favorite memories. My first one is the very first time I learned how to play chess. I think I must have been 13/14, freshman in high school. I was bored at lunch and went to the chess club, which met in our history teacher's room during lunch time. One of my friends-friend was there, so I watched him play. It was like watching a wizard do sorcery -- I literally understood nothing. After his game, I asked to play with him. We played a game, and he beat me immediately with a Scholar's Mate. LOL. From there, he showed me (briefly) how the pieces moved and the overall concepts. He was a nice guy, but also took every chance to beat the literal crap out of me on the board. Game after game, day after day, he beat me up with no mercy. But after a few weeks, I started putting up a little bit of a fight. I still lost mercilessly to him, but I remember actually getting to the end-game about 1-2 weeks in, and he was impressed. My favorite memory is that first game where I fondly remember not knowing what the heck is going on at all. The pieces moved like UFO saucers, his hands moved the pieces like lightning. It felt and still feels like a fever dream! My other favorite memory is playing chess at Pebble Beach resort on Christmas morning with my brother. To this day I don't know how my family got a Christmas booking for Pebble Beach (it's in California, very expensive, and we were not very wealthy growing up, but my dad must have saved up for months for the trip). I think my mom bought us a simple glass chessboard for Christmas. That morning, we opened it, and promptly played multiple games on it. At this point, I had been playing for like a year, so I beat my brother up pretty good. But we had fun, all morning, with the crackling fire of Christmas morning. Great memory. What about you? What is your favorite chess memory?

Agh.  Chess can be so frustrating. I've taken some time off, and came back ... as trash. Rightfully so.  But now I'm getting more and more frustrated. I keep beating myself up for mistakes. I feel like I'm playing tactically sound, for the most part. Definitely above a 1200 level. Yet, I'm making these absolute bonehead mistakes, causing me to lose. My ELO is absolutely tanking because of it. I know it's mostly rust and should shake off in a few days or weeks. But still, man it's tough. Does anybody have any advice on how not beat yourself up too bad for making mistakes that cost you the game?

On the sidebar from now on, you'll notice the date and a new chess quote every day. The goal of these quotes is to motivate you, make you think about the game differently, or just remind you that here at Beginners & Masters, we appreciate you being here! :) See you all around! 

Funny enough, this video is about playing at a ~300 ELO level of a larger series. Played by a NM. But the way he talked about the concepts, things to look for, the ideas you want to achieve in a very basic manner ... it has really changed my game for the better. I went from full tilting, to winning games at the ~1200 level now with (relative) ease, at least compared to how I was playing before. I'd highly recommend giving the video below a full watch if you're struggling in your games. I think it will help anybody in the sub-1500 category. The biggest thing for me was noting his demeanor. He remained calm, even when his opponent was on the offensive. Of course, for an NM against a 300 ELO that's easy to do. But for me, I was always quick to react and worried I was missing something or in some sort of trouble. Watching this video helped me understand the best thing I can do is take my time and relax, and realize it is probably my opponent who is the one making a mistake, I just need to be patient and find it!

So here I found myself, plopped on the toilet, playing a 3-min blitz game as I so often do. I got so preoccupied with my tactics that I blundered my Queen ... to a pawn. I could practically hear my opponent laughing on the other side of his screen. My finger hovered over the "Resign" button. But I had just eaten Indian food, I'm going to be here for awhile. What do I have to lose? Maybe I'll win his Queen ... maybe ... just maybe... And this magic unfolded: Anyway, anybody going to Italy for the Summer Jubilee? What even is the Jubilee? Also, what do you all think of the new background? Pretty slick imo. Also, he rematched me and lost agian, so that was a nice ego boost.

So about 7:30 this morning I went out to check on my pond. I had a bachelor beaver living in it for about 2 months now. He showed up around the time my uncle first went into the hospital. I am part Cherokee and my ancestors considered the beaver to be a sign of home protection. Today I discovered that he picked up a chick last night. They were swimming around playing and working together to herd fish into this fallen willow tree. I bundled up and snuck down by the bank of the pond and got some really cool shots of them playing around, checking me out and eating about a 2lb Large Mouth bass from head to tail.Here is a google album with 25 pics I took. Anyway one of you can link this so it shows the album and the link? I can't figure out how to get the post to work right. Here is one pic of both of them swimming togetherhttps://photos.app.goo.gl/tNtFz9i4S1KpUTYo8

Didn't see an introduction thread, but wanted to say hello to everyone. I'm Adam. I'm in my 40s, and just learning chess, so I'm coming in well behind the curve. But I love the game, and am looking forward to understanding it better. I hope I can be a useful member of this group.

Ahem, *clears throat* 🤓👆 R E V I V E E V I V E

Added some Christmas spirit to the club. I hope y’all enjoy it! Merry Christmas - B&M 2023!