Chess

[YosemiteSam]

Any Chess players here?

I'm a huge Chess fan. It is one of if not the greatest game in existence when you play someone that is in your same skill range. (vs getting completely annihilated) I'm not very good at it. (1200-1300 maybe?) It's a cyclical hobby of mine. I play it for a while then stop playing for a while only to come back a few months later. (same with my guitar playing) Which is probably a big reason I never really improve all that much. It takes a lot of effort to get up around 2000.

 

[burmafrd]

Have not played in years. Used to be pretty good (Captain of my high schools first Chess team-which sounds a lot more impressive then it actually was).

 

[fannypack]

I play. I used to play in the HS chess club and take field trips to attend the scholastic chess tournaments around various areas. I've read dozens of books all that stuff.

I play some, not much. I used to be addicted to it though. What I find interesting nowadays is Engine vs Engine chess matches.

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

played sparingly here and there. recently found a cool iPhone app that lets me play with my friend in another state. interested in getting better, but it would appear there are no shortcuts in chess.

Any reading/training suggestions?

 

[YosemiteSam]

I play. I used to play in the HS chess club and take field trips to attend the scholastic chess tournaments around various areas. I've read dozens of books all that stuff.

I play some, not much. I used to be addicted to it though. What I find interesting nowadays is Engine vs Engine chess matches.

I haven't really examined any engine vs engine games, but checking out some of the master games (say Fischer, Capablanca, etc) are crazy. Sometimes they makes moves that completely baffle me, yet about 10 moves later they are completely routing the other guys because of it.

played sparingly here and there. recently found a cool iPhone app that lets me play with my friend in another state. interested in getting better, but it would appear there are no shortcuts in chess.

Any reading/training suggestions?

I play correspondence Chess on websites where you move, then you get an email when the other guy moves. (redhotpawn, chess.com, etc)

Tactics are the best thing to study early on. Check out the Chess Tactics Server. It's free and can help do wonders for your game if you keep practicing on it.

I wouldn't worry about openings until you get around 2000 rating. They just don't help as much as other things can early on and opening and their 16 million variations take a lot of time to study to just learn one!

The other thing I would study is end games. Learn how to win with certain combination of pieces. It makes it a lot easier once you get to the end game and have an idea how to complete it when trying to figure it out while you're playing.

One last thing that I learned that has helped. I only do this during correspondence chess since I have time. Before making moves, I write down my thoughts and how I came to the conclusion to make the move. When once the game is over (especially if I lost) I can learn from my mistake and see what I was missing or what I forgot to think about before moving.

As for a book (a non-tactic workbook), maybe try Silman's, How to Reassess Your Chess if you already know how to play.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I just picked up Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master from Amazon. (my endgame play sucks! :laugh2: )

 

[fannypack]

I just picked up Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master from Amazon. (my endgame play sucks! :laugh2: )

The latest Chessmaster game teaches a lot.

 

[YosemiteSam]

The latest Chessmaster game teaches a lot.

I have Chessmaster 10th Edition. I've been kicking my buddy's ***, but while he knows how to play Chess, (moves, etc) he has never really learned how to play it.

 

[fannypack]

I have Chessmaster 10th Edition. I've been kicking my buddy's ***, but while he knows how to play Chess, (moves, etc) he has never really learned how to play it.

Nah you need to check out the 11th.

http://www.ubisoft.com/chessmaster/chessmaster11/index.asp

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

I haven't really examined any engine vs engine games, but checking out some of the master games (say Fischer, Capablanca, etc) are crazy. Sometimes they makes moves that completely baffle me, yet about 10 moves later they are completely routing the other guys because of it.



I play correspondence Chess on websites where you move, then you get an email when the other guy moves. (redhotpawn, chess.com, etc)

Tactics are the best thing to study early on. Check out the Chess Tactics Server. It's free and can help do wonders for your game if you keep practicing on it.

I wouldn't worry about openings until you get around 2000 rating. They just don't help as much as other things can early on and opening and their 16 million variations take a lot of time to study to just learn one!

The other thing I would study is end games. Learn how to win with certain combination of pieces. It makes it a lot easier once you get to the end game and have an idea how to complete it when trying to figure it out while you're playing.

One last thing that I learned that has helped. I only do this during correspondence chess since I have time. Before making moves, I write down my thoughts and how I came to the conclusion to make the move. When once the game is over (especially if I lost) I can learn from my mistake and see what I was missing or what I forgot to think about before moving.

As for a book (a non-tactic workbook), maybe try Silman's, How to Reassess Your Chess if you already know how to play.

The iPhone app I use does the same thing, you make a move his phone updates him. He makes a move your phone updats you. Pretty slick, but the ads are a bit annoying.

Thanks for the reading/end game info. Some good nuggets to digest. I'll let you know when I feel ready to challenge you!

 

[Hostile]

I love chess but never get to play anymore. I used to play that and Scrabble with my next door neighbor every Saturday, but he finished his Doctorate and is now a college professor in another state. I bet I haven't played in almost 7 years.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I love chess but never get to play anymore. I used to play that and Scrabble with my next door neighbor every Saturday, but he finished his Doctorate and is now a college professor in another state. I bet I haven't played in almost 7 years.

You should try the correspondence Chess on some of these Chess websites. Only takes a couple of minutes a day.

 

[Concord]

I prefer Global Thermonuclear War

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I prefer Global Thermonuclear War

Joshua? :laugh1:

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

There was a Sgt in my unit that was real big into chess. He set up a day at the rec center and put out 20 chess boards and would walk by each one, make a move and move to the next board and so on. He won every game and some of the guys playing were pretty good.

 

[Concord]

Joshua? :laugh1:

Hello Professor Brain.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Hello Professor Brain.

That reminds me of one of my favorite SciFi scenes

[youtube]<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HwBmPiOmEGQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HwBmPiOmEGQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube]

:laugh2:

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Hello Professor Brain.

Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks.

 

[Concord]

Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks.

:laugh2:

I've always liked Corbin.