Chess thread

[EvilPie]

How quickly should you look to castle? Is there an advantage to being the first to castle and is it something you should usually look to do?

Is it considered more of a protective move to get your king in to a corner or attacking as it gets a rook in to the middle?

I'm just off to play Mr shredder again. I'm up to 1200 now whatever that means. I think I'm still crap

[Tal]

My head hurts

LOL yeah careful of that!

First few simple bits for any opening:

• Get a pawn into the centre
• Get your knights and bishops out
• Castle
• Watch what the other guy's up to incase there's any threats or traps

Everything else - for now - is secondary and you don't need to worry about it. Just read as much as you want and study as much as you want as long as you are still enjoying it.

[Tal]

Have a look at what Mr Shredder does. He'll castle most of the time. It will form part of the 'development' stage of the opening.

Get your bits out and castle. Can't say fairer than that in the opening.

Castling first isn't an issue, but developing more quickly than your opponent can be decisive.

Get your bits out and castle!

[EvilPie]

Have a look at what Mr Shredder does. He'll castle most of the time. It will form part of the 'development' stage of the opening.

Get your bits out and castle. Can't say fairer than that in the opening.

Castling first isn't an issue, but developing more quickly than your opponent can be decisive.

Get your bits out and castle!

I like this. It means I'm doing it basically right

[Tal]

Something for everyone, I hope.

Magnus Carlsen was on the US show 60 minutes a few months ago.



He's quite something.

He's filmed at, amongst other places, the London Chess Classic, which I have been to watch for the last two years. It will be on in December, I believe in Kensington Olympia. Will post details nearer the date.

[EvilPie]

Unbelievable.

The bit where he plays against 10 other players without seeing the boards is quite something.

[GreekStein]

wow loved that!

[millidonk]

Utterly astounding, the playing 10 boards blind was just out of this world, last time I remember watching something feeling like this was after I watched:

[tikay]

Love this thread more & more, & now it's gaining momentum. Please keep it going Tal!

This I enjoyed, too....

The learning isn’t as daunting as it sounds, I promise. Think of it more like in poker, where the basics of call/raise/check/fold are easy, then you learn about position/pot odds/stack sizes/bet sizes and finally you start wearing hoodies, buying beats headphones and triple-rangemerging the face off dem pigeons.

PS - I can confirm that Evil Pie is crap.

[Tal]

Carlsen's ten is impressive, but what if I told you that the world record is 46?

The Godfather of blindfold chess - arguably of modern chess itself - is Alexander Alekhine about whom I could happily fill the entire bandwidth of this forum.

As for blindfold chess itself, here's a starter for 10: http://www.blindfoldchess.net/

[Tal]

On the subject of blindfold chess, here is one of the most famous: a game by Alexander Alekhine in which he made a clever tactical move that the audience missed, as did his opponent!

Remember that neither player can see the board in this game. They would be sitting back to back and shouting out moves.

Can you find the killer combination?

[Tal]

Don't know the commentator, btw. The game was played in 1931.

[EvilPie]

Love it. I'm getting in to this now.

I really enjoy playing against shredder. I like that you can play out a game and then back track to where you went wrong and play the game out again. Excellent recommendation. Thanks for that.

I'm getting better by the way but still making really silly mistakes. Every now and then I'll move a piece and leave something totally exposed. Doh!!!! Thankfully shredder let's you take it back when you do something really stupid.

[Tal]

Love it. I'm getting in to this now.

I really enjoy playing against shredder. I like that you can play out a game and then back track to where you went wrong and play the game out again. Excellent recommendation. Thanks for that.

I'm getting better by the way but still making really silly mistakes. Every now and then I'll move a piece and leave something totally exposed. Doh!!!! Thankfully shredder let's you take it back when you do something really stupid.

The best advice I can give you on that is, just before you play a move, have a last look round to see whether there is anything immediate your opponent can do. Imagine you have made your move. Look at the position then and just make sure all is well.

Simple, straightforward advice that is the solution to a staggeringly high percentage of the blunders made from rank beginners, club players and World Champions alike. We all do it!

[Tal]

Another of the great players was the American Paul Morphy. He was the best player in the world in the middle of the 19th Century, although there was no World Championship per se then.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morphy#section_1

Morphy had a bright flame and, like so many, burned for a short period of time. He was a prodigious, gifted individual but born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was an odd character, who was fortunate enough to travel the world playing chess - challenge matches against the other top players in the world.

He gave up chess to take up the law but he lost interest and - for want of a better phrase - dossed about on his father's money until he died aged 47.

Why tell you about him? He played a game one night so interesting he stopped an opera.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_game_(chess)

The story would struggle to be more opulent. Enjoy (in your most decadent and fanciful attire)