Chess

[hibsbollah]

Is anyone on here good at chess? And how do you get better?

I used to play with my grandad when I was a kid, I used to think he was a sort of Bonnyrigg grand master at it. When I beat him I celebrated like David Gray in 2016. Unfortunately as i got older, and proper chess players were handing my erse to me in 9 moves, i realised neither of us were up to much:greengrin Ive been watching stuff online about various openings and so on,i like getting my knights into play and playing the 4 knights game or variations on that, but I think im just being let down by not paying attention. Or sheer stupidity.

[Scouse Hibee]

I used to play regularly, when younger was in the school chess team (I know, I know 😁) and then into my early twenties I had a weekly chess night with one of my older friends who was a better player than I was and we had some cracking nights. I now haven’t really played properly for twenty odd years, no one I know plays chess. I tried on a PC and online games but just couldn’t get into that at all. I need the board and pieces in front of me to really enjoy it.

[Peevemor]

I used to play chess fairly often with both my mates and my family. None of us were particularly good or even all that interested - it was just something to do on rainy days.

Seeing this thread has made me realise that we don't even have a chess set in the house. I don't think my 15 year old daughter would know where to start.

Cable/satellite TV, consoles, the internet and android have a lot to answer for.

[hibsbollah]

I much prefer playing on a proper board too. Im guessing most chess happens online and like everything else you just have to practice again and again to get good.

[RyeSloan]

I much prefer playing on a proper board too. Im guessing most chess happens online and like everything else you just have to practice again and again to get good.

Always a game I have fancied being g good at but my few attempts at picking up the game never ever came to anything.

One thing online is good for though is tactics puzzles and the like...I’ve seen a few people say that these are the best way to improve your game.

[Pretty Boy]

I won a competition in primary school. I wasn't that good, just the least bad.

Haven't played in years but this has inspired me to download a chess app. I'm sure there's an old board somewhere in the house as well.

[BroxburnHibee]

I was good when I was young. Was able to memorize quite a few openings which helped me win a lot :greengrin

Forgot them all now though.

Plenty free apps out there now.

[hibsbollah]

Ive just signed up to chess.com (who knew the user name Bollah would be already taken?!) and just got told off by my opponent for being too slow and was disqualified for it:bitchy:

[hibsbollah]

Tutorial on the Sicilian Defense now:nerd:

[Wilson]

Ive just signed up to chess.com (who knew the user name Bollah would be already taken?!) and just got told off by my opponent for being too slow and was disqualified for it:bitchy:

Not really chess related but I once tried playing a word game online - similar to scrabble - and found that a lot of people couldn't take getting beat. At the first sign you were better than them they'd accuse you of cheating and quit the game. Their win loss record was obviously more important than just enjoying the game.

I thought about this experience even before you posted in the back of someone indicating you couldn't beat playing with the board and pieces.

[weecounty hibby]

I played at school but was decidedly average. Couple of the guys I was at school with were excellent and the common factor was that they were maths wizards. The only people that ever beat them were themselves.

[Pretty Boy]

I played at school but was decidedly average. Couple of the guys I was at school with were excellent and the common factor was that they were maths wizards. The only people that ever beat them were themselves.

I think being good at maths is an advantage in any game that involves a calculative strategy.

A friend of a friend of mine has cashed over $5M playing poker. It started out as a hobby but he was pretty much unbeatable in a casual game. He won an EPT event, when he was a total unknown, and has won or cashed a fair few big events in the years since. Early on he used to sell 'shares' in himself to fund his buy ins. A few of us made a few quid but those days are long gone.

[Peevemor]

Not really chess related but I once tried playing a word game online - similar to scrabble - and found that a lot of people couldn't take getting beat. At the first sign you were better than them they'd accuse you of cheating and quit the game. Their win loss record was obviously more important than just enjoying the game.

I thought about this experience even before you posted in the back of someone indicating you couldn't beat playing with the board and pieces.

I've had that too with a couple of different games - some people would just disappear as soon as you started beating them.

[weecounty hibby]

I think being good at maths is an advantage in any game that involves a calculative strategy.

A friend of a friend of mine has cashed over $5M playing poker. It started out as a hobby but he was pretty much unbeatable in a casual game. He won an EPT event, when he was a total unknown, and has won or cashed a fair few big events in the years since. Early on he used to sell 'shares' in himself to fund his buy ins. A few of us made a few quid but those days are long gone.

Yeah, a guy I used to play rugby with is a financial advisor, so very much involved in figures, calculating risks etc and has made a fair few quid on poker. Won a competition here that then took him to Vegas where he didn't win but won a fair chunk of cash. Not in £m like your mate but definitely a good few thousands

[Peevemor]

Yeah, a guy I used to play rugby with is a financial advisor, so very much involved in figures, calculating risks etc and has made a fair few quid on poker. Won a competition here that then took him to Vegas where he didn't win but won a fair chunk of cash. Not in £m like your mate but definitely a good few thousandsA pal of mine (sadly no longer with us) was Scottish junior chess champion. He was a financial adviser and also a huge gambler - he had a brain like a computer for calculating odds, spreads, etc.

[HappyAsHellas]

I was never really good at chess but enjoyed playing with other people. Whilst playing a computer is different it can also be beneficial if you have the games which allow you to go back a couple of moves and see where you went wrong, which for me was most of the time.

[pollution]

One of the disadvantages of playing against a computer is the you cannot get inside the mind of your opponent.

To me, chess is partly a mind game to see where you can fool or trick your opponent into a mistake, or soft comfort.

It is a battle and all is fair in love and war.

[Alfiembra]

Played once for the school team, thought I was ok, beaten in 3 moves don’t think I’ve played since.

[Tomsk]

I played a bit when I was younger. Played for a club and even had a pretty modest rating for a while. The trouble is to get better you can't just play a bit, you have to play a lot.

[StevieT]

I used to play at Pentland Hills Chess Club in Roslin. Club night every week with regular competitions and lots of club members to learn from. I played for the third team in the league and you learn a lot from playing games. There are plenty of clubs around Edinburgh that would welcome new members

[Mibbes Aye]

Always a game I have fancied being g good at but my few attempts at picking up the game never ever came to anything.

One thing online is good for though is tactics puzzles and the like...I’ve seen a few people say that these are the best way to improve your game.

Yeah, I would agree with this. I know how to play and my teenage son learned a few years ago. He plays me in person and others online all the time. He also plays the scenarios you get on chess.com etc, where you are landed in the middle of a situation, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Fair to say he has learned loads and we have gone over the years from me winning the majority to now being lucky to scrape a win from time to time. Saying that, I don’t practice. But I do whip him at Boggle :greengrin

[O'Rourke3]

Played in school and ended up running the school team We all thought we were decent at school level until Mark Condie came up in first year and handed 12 of us our ***** in simultaneous games. Portobello HS might have won the Scottish Schools Championship with him on board but his dad made sure he played Rugby on Saturday mornings and arrived late in Glasgow, meaning we played wth one short and everyone playing up a level. Mark was at least an International Master probably Grand Master. Havent played a human at chess since the 1980s.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[G15 Hibs]

I'm currently going through one of my sporadic attempts to become slightly less than absolutely hopeless at chess. I have a go every so often. I find everything about the game pretty fascinating and the idea of strategy and all that appeals to me, but unfortunately my concentration and patience are dreadful which I can see are fairly fatal problems.

I've been using the chess.com app on my phone to play 3 days games (to give me time to think, I tell myself) and while I feel fairly confident in openings and the first few moves, any further than that I struggle. I don't seem to be able to plan ahead or know exactly why I play the moves I do, other than reacting to what the other player is doing, then I completely fail to notice something really simple and my opponent has me stitched up.

I do still find it quite a fun way to pass the time, but I figure I really need to stick in at it a bit longer than I usually do to get anywhere. Losing's the best way to learn, right? Right?

[StevieT]

I'm currently going through one of my sporadic attempts to become slightly less than absolutely hopeless at chess. I have a go every so often. I find everything about the game pretty fascinating and the idea of strategy and all that appeals to me, but unfortunately my concentration and patience are dreadful which I can see are fairly fatal problems.

I've been using the chess.com app on my phone to play 3 days games (to give me time to think, I tell myself) and while I feel fairly confident in openings and the first few moves, any further than that I struggle. I don't seem to be able to plan ahead or know exactly why I play the moves I do, other than reacting to what the other player is doing, then I completely fail to notice something really simple and my opponent has me stitched up.

I do still find it quite a fun way to pass the time, but I figure I really need to stick in at it a bit longer than I usually do to get anywhere. Losing's the best way to learn, right? Right?

The bit I have put in bold is something I struggled with, particularly when playing as white. As white, you are meant to have the advantage of playing first and therefore set the pace. Once you pass that advantage to your opponent, and so react to what they do, you are then 'playing as black'. I always found black easier to play but harder to win.

The idea is to control the centre of the board. This makes attacking and defending easier (a bit like controlling the midfield). try not to isolate players by making sure that they are backed up (supported) or back up others.

All of this is easier said than done though.

Get yourself along to a club and you will find that you learn so much quicker. It's where I learned to record my moves so that I could go back and review a game, changing moves where I had a choice and got it wrong.

[nonshinyfinish]

Ive just signed up to chess.com (who knew the user name Bollah would be already taken?!) and just got told off by my opponent for being too slow and was disqualified for it:bitchy:


Not really chess related but I once tried playing a word game online - similar to scrabble - and found that a lot of people couldn't take getting beat. At the first sign you were better than them they'd accuse you of cheating and quit the game. Their win loss record was obviously more important than just enjoying the game.

I thought about this experience even before you posted in the back of someone indicating you couldn't beat playing with the board and pieces.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTjfF9TJtUg

[G15 Hibs]

The idea is to control the centre of the board. This makes attacking and defending easier (a bit like controlling the midfield). try not to isolate players by making sure that they are backed up (supported) or back up others.

All of this is easier said than done though.



Isn't it just? I get the idea of controlling the middle and can make steps towards it in the opening moves but suddenly I realise I'm about to lose a bishop and/or a knight and can't figure out how not to make it worse! I think I probably want things to move too quickly and get caught out. Again, something that comes with playing and experience and learning from mistakes etc I guess.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTjfF9TJtUg

There's a Half Man Half Biscuit song for every occasion, that's for sure.

[Dmas]

I love chess,used to play at lunchtime at high school in the maths class however I’m absolutely rubbish I want to be good and I enjoy playing but I just don’t get anything about it other than the ways the pieces move, guy I used to work with from Dalkeith was a right good player he’d read books everyday go home play online watch videos was his life

[sleeping giant]

I play chess on chess.com and lichess.

I can be brilliant sometimes but still blunder away all the time.

Regarding planning , i just started with basic traps. Knight and bishop checking and grabbing their rook very early on. If they see it and react, my plans goes out the window 😂

I have my own opening too which is just designed to absolutey confuse my opponent and then wreck his strategy by forcing trade offs.

It doesnt matter if im black or white. I always start with a varient of getting G and H pawns up to 5. Bishop onto G2 then pawn D4 to open my other bishop as cover for those 2 mental pawns.

Ive been checkmated in 4 moves before 😀
Ive also won a game with checkmate with 0.3 seconds left. What a rush that was.

I only play bulllet or rapid as i would tie myself in knots trying a 3 day game.

[sleeping giant]

Not really chess related but I once tried playing a word game online - similar to scrabble - and found that a lot of people couldn't take getting beat. At the first sign you were better than them they'd accuse you of cheating and quit the game. Their win loss record was obviously more important than just enjoying the game.

I thought about this experience even before you posted in the back of someone indicating you couldn't beat playing with the board and pieces.

Yip.
Drives me nuts when people just resign when you have grabbed. one of their major pieces.
Dont know why they do it because there's chance that 5hey get that piece back down the line.

Its even worse if you are in a decent position and put a lot of thought into getting there.

Then get the wallopers who , instead of resigning , just leave the time tonrun out hoping you get impatient and abort the match.

Some fannies out there on the internet😂

[hibsbollah]

almost 8 hours.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2021/dec/03/magnus-carlsen-v-ian-nepomniachtchi-world-chess-championship-game-6-live

[Keith_M]

When I was at primary school, my Grandad decided to teach me chess and we used to play every Saturday.

Or at least we did until I actually won a game, and he refused to play me ever again.

I think he never got over the humiliation of losing a game of chess to a twelve year old

[hibsbollah]

Yip.
Drives me nuts when people just resign when you have grabbed. one of their major pieces.
Dont know why they do it because there's chance that 5hey get that piece back down the line.

Its even worse if you are in a decent position and put a lot of thought into getting there.

Then get the wallopers who , instead of resigning , just leave the time tonrun out hoping you get impatient and abort the match.

Some fannies out there on the internet😂

This 100%. I just went one knight up against this fud I’d been 5 minutes playing and he resigned. Pathetic. By the way I’m called gandalfseyebrows if anyone wants some practice :greengrin

[sleeping giant]

Chess is Everywhere! || Andrew Tate vs Piers Morg…: https://youtu.be/YFnglROOQp4


Piers Morgan getting his arse handed to him.

[sleeping giant]

Addicted to bullet. Wouldn't recommend it1😅

[sleeping giant]

Had the Stafford gambit playing out to checkmate. Best game of my life.
If I can find it , I will post it.

[LaMotta]

Addicted to bullet. Wouldn't recommend it1😅

I know the feeling - I've played 795 games of bullet on Chess.com in the last month alone :greengrin

[Edina Street]

Is anyone on here good at chess? And how do you get better?

I used to play with my grandad when I was a kid, I used to think he was a sort of Bonnyrigg grand master at it. When I beat him I celebrated like David Gray in 2016. Unfortunately as i got older, and proper chess players were handing my erse to me in 9 moves, i realised neither of us were up to much:greengrin Ive been watching stuff online about various openings and so on,i like getting my knights into play and playing the 4 knights game or variations on that, but I think im just being let down by not paying attention. Or sheer stupidity.

Study the "London system". It is quick to learn, you can learn the basics in an hour, and already you will be very hard to defend against, at the sametime as being very hard to attack. Your friends and family will be "shocked". And like I said, the basics only take an hour to learn.

I am no master when it comes to chess. But I did beat a master once simply by using the London system.

[hibsbollah]

Study the "London system". It is quick to learn, you can learn the basics in an hour, and already you will be very hard to defend against, at the sametime as being very hard to attack. Your friends and family will be "shocked". And like I said, the basics only take an hour to learn.

I am no master when it comes to chess. But I did beat a master once simply by using the London system.

Thanks. I do two things at the moment, the French opening when I’m white and the Sicilian defence when I’m black. I thought I’d keep it simple.

[Edina Street]

Thanks. I do two things at the moment, the French opening when I’m white and the Sicilian defence when I’m black. I thought I’d keep it simple.

Yeah. The "London System" works best for white too. Thanks for allerting me to a good opening for black. I will study the Sicilian defence.

[hibsbollah]

Yeah. The "London System" works best for white too. Thanks for allerting me to a good opening for black. I will study the Sicilian defence.

It’s good for getting your knight into the game early, and if white likes to use their queen aggressive early, you can get behind them and get him in check with a nice pinch threatening his rook.

[BS44]

This came up on fb and has me stumped, I didn't look at the comments so don't know the answer.

Anyone on here solve the two mive checkmate? If you can do it could you not say how until we all have a try at working it out :thumbsup:

26443

[Scouse Hibee]

This came up on fb and has me stumped, I didn't look at the comments so don't know the answer.

Anyone on here solve the two mive checkmate? If you can do it could you not say how until we all have a try at working it out :thumbsup:

26443

Yeah done it. But only if the black makes a certain move after my first.

[sleeping giant]

This came up on fb and has me stumped, I didn't look at the comments so don't know the answer.

Anyone on here solve the two mive checkmate? If you can do it could you not say how until we all have a try at working it out :thumbsup:

26443

Thought I had that there but noticed rook could block. So its mate in 3.

Not as easy as it first looks.
Im assuming it's whites move ?

Edit. Done it in 2.
Brilliant 😁

[sleeping giant]

Yeah done it. But only if the black makes a certain move after my first.

You sure ? :greengrin:

[BS44]

Yeah done it. But only if the black makes a certain move after my first.

That's not how it works!


Thought I had that there but noticed rook could block. So its mate in 3.

Not as easy as it first looks.
Im assuming it's whites move ?

Edit. Done it in 2.
Brilliant ��

Smashing, well done. I just got it too!

Damn, scrub that. Three moves rather than two

[sleeping giant]

That's not how it works!



Smashing, well done. I just got it too!

Damn, scrub that. Three moves rather than two
Its easier than you think.

[LaMotta]

Its easier than you think.

Think I have it in 2, took a while though:greengrin

[O'Rourke3]

Got it. Helped when I realised it wasn't two rooks...

Sent from my SM-G990B using Tapatalk

[BS44]

Thought I had that there but noticed rook could block. So its mate in 3.

Not as easy as it first looks.
Im assuming it's whites move ?

Edit. Done it in 2.
Brilliant 😁


Think I have it in 2, took a while though:greengrin


Got it. Helped when I realised it wasn't two rooks...

Sent from my SM-G990B using Tapatalk

Are you putting the King in check with the first of your two moves?

I am struggling......

[sleeping giant]

Are you putting the King in check with the first of your two moves?

I am struggling......

Think smother.

[BS44]

Think smother.

Got it, but wouldn't have without your tip! Another one if you fancy giving it a go.

26444

[BS44]

https://youtu.be/IopNP6lUBgc

[sleeping giant]

Got it, but wouldn't have without your tip! Another one if you fancy giving it a go.

26444

Got it

[sleeping giant]

Knight to bottom left white square.....

[Edina Street]

Check mate in two shots is called fool's mate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fool%27s_mate#:~:text=The%20fool's%20mate%20can%20 be,White%20commits%20an%20extraordinary%20blunder.

The fool's mate can be achieved in two moves only by Black, giving checkmate on the second move with the queen. The fool's mate received its name because it can occur only if White commits an extraordinary blunder.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVwiQk__wbI

[sleeping giant]

Absolutely delighted again with the Stafford gambit to checkmate.
This was a 1 minute game and only my 3rd or 4th at that time hence my low rating.

Hope the link works.
You may have to use the back arrow at the bottom to go back the start of the game.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/70664765243

I'm playing as black.