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Hello a quick guide about how to prepare and choose openings. Let's say you want to prepare with White and you can choose 1d4 or 1e4. Well, 1e4 tends to be a bit sharper, and 1.d4 more positional in general. But if you have played 1.e4 for a long time, getting to play 1.d4 occassionally can help you broaden your chess understanding. ____________________________________ let say you want to build a repertoire with 1.d4 quickly well you can develop ideas around these lines to avoid the queen's Gambit Declined in the first diagram, you may develop your Bishop to g5. In the second diagram, your bishop to b2. Variety is the spice of life ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bg5 system ideas most of the time ,you will develop Nbd2 to accompany Nf3. Bishop will go to h4 and the other bishop will go to Bd3. Do not memorize lines, just get a feel for pieces would go Now you are familiar with how white pieces "go" but what is Black's most dangerous plan ? well g7-g5 would attack white's kingside. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Once you have decided to go for this system, you need to see a few more games and lines in this system. in this second game, White introduced a2-a4 to weaken the queenside and develop a nice initiative _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Now you are ready to "learn" the moves order GAME 2 [Event "Chessable Masters Play In"][Site "Chess.com INT"][Date "2023.03.13"][Round "4"][White "Fressinet, Laurent"][Black "Neiksans, Arturs"][Result "1-0"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bh4 b6 5. Nbd2 Bb7 6. e3 d6 7. a4 a6 8. a5 b5 1-0 What about Game 1 ? 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bg5 Bb7 4. Nbd2 e6 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. Bd3 Be7 9. O-O g5 10. Bg3 g4 11. Ne5 h5 12. Bh4 1-0 Note that the move order is different Black played ..e6 in Game 2 but ..b6 in Game1. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ But you may face players you like the King's Indian Defense so you want to be ready for that. I find a nice game from GM Alireza Firouzja and so on.   Now you may want to look at good youtube videos with "torre attack" and practice in a few rapid or blitz games. Then you can analyze your games and look at other plans/games.   soon enough you will be familiar with main themes and can decide to study further or go for a different line.  

hellofellow members While I cannot claim I can compete with these guys, let me show you how I prepare the opening Lets take Black and the Nimzo Defense 1d4 Nf6 2c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ You need to focus on the key line White will play, memorize the idea, and select a model game First White can play the main line so here you need to select a way to play. There are many moves possible 4..c5, 4..0-0. But I like to play 4..b6 with the idea of Bb7 followed by Ne4. I am not the only one !  https://www.chess.com/game/live/134867349189?username=magnuscarlsen Magnus played Titled Tuesday on March 4th and used 4..b6 to win against GM Bluebaum ________________________________________________________________________________________________ in this first example, Black play f7-f5 and Rf6 But we need to be ready for other lines. One aggressive plan for White is to play a2-a3 accepting double plans, but following up with f2-f3 Here the plan Nf6-e4 will not work as White will control the center with e3-e4. you need a model game with Black. The key idea from the model game is to be ready to retreat with Nf6-e8 since you are not allowed to play Ne4. and then f7-f5 is available to you. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Finally, you have to be aware that 4Qc2 is a very popular line for White. This is yet another plan for White. Bxc3 will be met by Qxc3. no double pawns. You need to have a system for Black. I like to play 4..Nc6 but you could prepare 4..b6 or 4..c6 or 4..d6 or 4..0-0. It doesnt matter but you need to look at a few games, select a model game and analyze it. Here you can see that the main plan is ..Re8 and d7-d6 and e6-e5. Sometimes Black plays ..Qe7 to prepare e6-e5. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ in summary 1) be aware of the main plans for your opponent 2) focus on the key ideas and memorize key set-up 3) pick a model game and analyze it 4) practice your openings and if you have problems, look up other games or turn to stockfish to see where you went the wrong way Rinse and Repeat !

Hello members opening a thread to get a pulse. Would you like me to post about openings traps or systems ? create live tournaments ? analyze my games against GMs or famous players ? any other topic/activity u would care. feel free to opine

Tactics,Tactics,Tactics !! There is a famous saying " Chess is 99% Tactics" At beginner and intermediate levels, forks and pins are common motifs to learn. Black to play White just played Rc1. While this move seems logical, bringing the rook to an open file and attacking the knight on c3, it is tactically erroneous. Black can play Ne2+! which forks the king and the rook on c1, ending the game. Lets illustrate the pin with a more difficult position,  Black to play and win ! This elegant queen sacrifice ( Qg2+!!) sets up a pin on the h1-a8 diagonal. Ok but you may say as a Candidate Master, I have mastered the tactical motifs. Well yes and no. I have seen a lot of tactic puzzles but Grandmasters have a much better pattern recognition https://www.chess.com/news/view/2023-puzzles-world-championship-robson-wins Ray Robson is a GM and well known for winning puzzle world championships (until this year where he came in second) so why do I mention Ray ? Well I got paired in a Puzzle Battle with this GM https://www.chess.com/puzzles/battle/2GVnd7iZc You can check for yourself how many puzzles you would solve in 3 minutes.  I solved 34 but Ray solved 60 !! This is quite humbling, but a reminder I need to practice and improve in tactics as well. Oh well....

Hi guys Today we will see Magnus's Shortest game ever https://www.chess.com/blog/Chessmastergm2020/the-shortest-game-of-magnus-carlsen Regards @KasiDChess

Tactics win games ! Firouzja wears Emporio Armani when playing chess but also shows style on the board! White to play and win ! . . Solution is here https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/rFJ7YSMBC?tab=analysis nice to see Alireza win against a GM in less than 15 moves ! Did you find it as well ? https://www.chess.com/game/live/131324942855?username=firouzja2003

https://www.chess.com/play/arena/3961841 Link Above Sunday Jan 19 2025 5:00pm Eastern Time Blitz, come play and learn. unrated, lots of fun. I will play everyone !  We need 5 players to register for tournament to take place. You dont have to play the entire thing, the tournament will be Arena format for 1 hour. the most points wins

Hi there I get a lot of questions about openings. Which openings to study ? How ? is the sicilian good for Black ? should I play the London System with White? _________________________________________________ Good questions but in my experience, tactics in blitz and bullet games are essential. if you dont get to trick your opponent in the opening, you will have to play in a middle game. in fast-paced chess, mistakes are bound to happen, and if you can find a winning tactic, you will score more wins and gain rating points, whichever is your level. __________________________________________________________________ here's an example of what I practiced in puzzle battle 43 puzzles is pretty much my maximum in 3 minutes.  if today I play 2 battles and average 33 puzzles I will lose rating points. if I average 39-40, at least I will be competitive. Regardless of the opening, whether it will be Sicilian Dragon, Nimzo Defense or English Defense. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ At basic level, we need to learn and practice "easy,fast" tactics and then more "difficult" ones. Why ? because we dont know what will get in our games, maybe 1 move blunder or maybe a 4-moves combination. we shall be ready for both. ______________________________________________________________________________________ what are easy puzzles ? I will list examples here and you can guess move on board or replay solution by clicking ? or Hint for help. all diagrams given as puzzles did you solve this fast ? I would think so.  These were easy because they are short, the candidate move or solution seems familiar. in the first one, we checkmate in 1 move. in the second one, we use a classic pattern to win the queen in a discovery pattern. you would need to know all classic motifs, which I call building blocks before tackling next level. for instance you need to know back rank mates, forks and double attacks, interference, smothered mates, deflection, perpetual checks patterns. all that good stuff. now what are example of medium level tactics ? here are 3 example for you to solve . . . . . congrats if you found the 3 medium level positions. These were harder for a host of reasons. less familiar patterns, longer variations, more candidate moves. in certain positions after move 2, there were several ways to continue but 1 was stronger than the others. in the first batch of positions once you found the right move, there wasn't much debate about sequence of moves

How to play with the King's Indian with White. an idea which is idea to play is Nge2!? folllowed by Ng3 Typically against Nge2 strikes back with c7-c5 and we close the center with White. What is the drawback on Ng3 ? well Black has h7-h5 This is modern chess ! White hasn't finished his/her development. The King is on e1. But we have secured the center ! The chess engines like Stockfish are stating White is safe because of the grip on the center. and on h7-h5, White has Bg5! which is annoying. Would you like to see variations and a recent game with it ?  @Riley is an expert from Brazil. Anonymous account at 2800 rating.

Is it possible to trick your opponents with Black ? sure.. even if they are 2500 rated ? of course, I have lost many times because of openings traps. but I can also present a few good ones. Lets play the sicilian defense but we need to trick our opponent in a line they dont know as well. no sicilian dragon, no sicilian najdorf. LETS PLAY THE SICILIAN KAN and in here we go h7-h5 with the brutal idea to play for checkmate. ..Ng4 and Qh2 _________________________________________________________ and ladies and gentlemen, this is how we checkmate our 2500+ opponent in 12 moves !!

just played Shreyas Royal https://ratings.fide.com/profile/448869 in puzzle battle. The difference between a CM and GM is clear 38 vs 47 in puzzle battle 3 mins.  to our members, how many puzzle do you average in 3 minutes ? try puzzle rush or puzzle battle and let me know. Do you do better than 38 ? or 47 ? https://www.chess.com/puzzles/battle/2wxZ2mVUz

Carlsen is known for his skills in endgame and he prefers positional chess. But he is able to spot tactics quickly. Here's a recent position from Tata Steel India Blitz where he was facing young indian GM Praag Carlsen had White. How did he finish his game against Praggnanandhaa ?

This is a study from 1990 by Zinar.Theme: DOUBLE ZIGZAG

got a chance to play this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Short unfortunately didnt have my coffee and lost. just kidding, thats the difference between a player like me who enjoys chess and a GM former world chess challenger for world title. He's almost 60y old but played well this 3-minute game https://www.chess.com/game/live/123075007025

a short post for fellow members. Sometimes with White we want a fresh game What did @firouzja2003 do ? 1 Nc3!? in Classical Chess, he won against Nepo But in rapid this week, he won against Vishy Anand What is Firouzja idea ? playing 0-0-0 with attack with opposite side castle. Risky but sharp ! Perfect for his style ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Ok but what if Black would play 1..e5 This is what I think Firouzja would play you may say its the italian ? But White hasn't played Nf3 so white can play Ne2 and Ng3 Here's a game for you to look at and here Nakamura's game

let me start New York 

HEllo today I like to share a game against a GM, rated 3 min blitz the grandmaster username is here  https://www.chess.com/member/volodja49 it was a real "street fight" but I ended up winning ! Here's the game link https://www.chess.com/game/live/119024994667?username=volodja49 but I want to send a friendship request to " volodja" but he doesnt accept friends request. ok so I tried to message him ok I am blocked. but as you can tell from game analysis, I made many blunders so clearly I played clean. here's a middle game position  Really much figthing chess, which is what you want when you play a very strong and here GM title opponent. You want chaos on the board and hopefully you can out calculate your opponent. sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. but you want to create chances for yourself and uncompromising chess is the best practical try. have you played a titled player ? have you come close to a win or did you win ? Share your games and stories

I think its useful to follow top level chess to see what the pros are up to. of course too many games out there, so I tend to select players I enjoy watching Alireza Firouzja comes to mind. Who else is a fan ? I know chesscom covers the main events, but I like to analyze and share games I found instructive.  Here's my take on Alireza Firouzja who has been on fire lately https://www.chess.com/blog/newchesscorner64/alireza-wins-in-st-louis

so let me show a neat trick. lets say you look at an opening like this The Black Lion - an aggressive version of the Philidor Defense Typically Black plays h7-h6 , Nf8 and g7-g5 after the initial moves The Lion gets ready to roar after 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0–0 c6 – and now Black wants to attack with an early ...g5 ( GM Simon Williams). https://www.chess.com/openings/Lion-Defense lets say you like to play that opening as Black. But here's the trick, you can play it as White with an extra tempo ( move) as you start the game lets see what it would look like as White ( White Lion ) so you use your knowledge from the black opening to win with White as welll and you have an extra move so it should be easier. Try it ! do you want to know who else has tried that ? Alireza Firouzja want to see the game ?

sharing a suggestion for our club members. One way to study openings is to watch youtube videos, use the openings explorer, buy a book ( online or offline), memorize the lines, watch lectures on this website or elsewhere, participate in group or individual lessons with a chess coach. But if you get stuck, here's an alternative way. The idea is to get inspiration from professional players, primarily GMs and IMs and see if you could memorize the idea rather than the moves like 1e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 or 1d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 etc Here's an example do you face opponents who like to play g6,Bg7 which is called "fianchetto" ? do you have a pawn on d4 ( and maybe e4 as well) ? Well, one idea is to throw h2-h4 on the right side of the board, and planning to push the pawn further. especially in blitz or bullet. THERE ARE 2 MAIN WAYS BLACK MAY GO ABOUT THIS ? 1 is to play h7-h5 to block our pawn on h4 2 is to continue developing pieces. HERE's EXAMPLE 1 GM Bortnyk decided to put a knight on g5, because that is the drawback of Black playing h7-h5 key moment of this fast-pace game here Bortnyk uncorked Qxg6!!. from move 3, he had in mind a fast attack ________________________________________________________________________________________ But what if Black lets White push h4-h5 so once again, you get the idea, putting pressure on Black from move 1 pretty much. but lets say you want 1d4 and 2 Nc3 but Black doesn't go for g7-g6 and Bg7 ? well you can be sure that Bortnyk played hundreds of games, so pick one of the games you like as White _____________________________________________________________________________________________ I wouldn't say that you are done with studying plans against g7-g6 ( I WISH OPENINGS WERE THIS SIMPLE) but you have already ideas about how you want to develop your opening repertoire. Would this work using Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, or Alireza Firouzja games ? Of course it would because they play lots of games online and also games over the board. you could use Gukesh or Vaishali games. and it can be several players. So you would study a bit more, practice in games, study again, until you get a feel for the positions and get more knowledge. and you will not try to memorize opening until move 25 with chessable or 10 opening books How does this sound ?