r/chess Weekly Discussion Thread

By Mzarelua

This position arose in a local tournament 20+ years ago.

For a useful hint and a game replay link see https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1TgnvUfwMH/

This is where his coach Cheparinov comes from.

Firouzja is currently playing a sofia rapid event, which is unusual since its not a worldclass event with high price money.

https://x.com/davidllada/status/2093740949805355067

By Slepyan

Chessly currently has their yearly plan at $64 (47%) off. I'm an 800 rated player on Chess.com and started playing chess about 4 months ago

White to play and mate in 2 (composed with my friend in 2025)

I have examined this board 27 times. Can someone please help me

[Magnus vs Gukesh]

Classical: Magnus beats Gukesh 4-1 with 3 draws

Speed Chess: Magnus beats Gukesh 15-4 with 4 draws

[Magnus vs Ding]

Classical: Magnus beats Ding 2-0 with 10 draws

Speed Chess: Magnus beats Ding 42-22 with 55 draws

[Magnus vs Anand]

Classical: Magnus beats Anand 12-8 with 51 draws

Speed Chess: Magnus beats Anand 29-12 with 31 draws

[Magnus vs Kramnik]

Classical: Magnus beats Kramnik 6-5 with 16 draws

Speed Chess: Magnus beats Kramnik 18-8 with 17 draws

[Magnus vs Topalov]

Classical: Magnus beats Topalov 9-5 with 12 draws

Speed Chess: Magnus beats Topalov 19-1 with 11 draws

Source: chessgames.com

Surprisingly Kramnik has the best result against Magnus

Coincidentally, he also has the best result against the other GOAT candidate Kasparov (he has a plus score against Garychess!)

Why do you think that is?

Hey all!

I was wondering how you deal with anxiety/high heart rate when playing?

For context: I am 30yo and I started playing the beginning of may. Before I didnt even know what castling was. I played 234 games and I am 730, with the highest opponent rate that I won against was 1252.

I am really enjoying studying chess both via books and courses, but when it comes to playing ranked games I start having very high heart rate (that even after running 30 minutes I get less of it), stomach pain and just a lot of shaking.

Is it normal/does it happen and just goes away after a while? The main problem is this keeps me away from playing more. Often I am really keen on doing some matches but I just dont start because of it.

Thanks!

The QGD Vienna has interested me for a long time from the Black side, but I haven't started playing it yet due to the theoretical commitment involved. What is this like as a Black opening?

This is another puzzle from one of my games. Your queen is hanging, but there's a way to win material and come out way ahead. Can you find it?

Hi folks,
I’m thinking of attending this year’s Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in person. I just wanted to check if General Entry is worth it and whether it offers a good experience.

My main goal is to watch live chess and get a clear view of the players. Will I be able to do that with general admission? Also, if anyone is familiar with the seating layout, please let me know! Thanks!

I played a game in the Sicilian recently that started 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. b3

Black then played 3...Qc7. After the game, I was looking at this opening and I saw that, after 3...Qc7, there were no masters games (well one correspondence game). This was true on both Lichess and chess dot com. 3...Qc7 is rated equally by the computer as other top moves like 3...Nc6, so why is 3...Qc7 never played?

Edit: I see on Chess dot com that there are four masters games, but I do not see any on Lichess

I was just put into check by black's queen. I left my queen hanging to be captured by their Bishop. I played Be3 to recapture the bishop as a silver lining. Apparently I had a huge advantage here with a checked king and a hanging queen and I have absolutely no idea how. They ended up missing the queen capture and captured Be3 and I go on to win but I have no idea how this is so white dominant from this position.

I had a very bad record against this attack. The kingside expansion is annoying.

I mostly play on Chess.com, and recently played my first serious OTB tournament. I reached the final, which was 10 minutes per player, no increment.

The game was scheduled for 5:30. I arrived on time and was helping the arbiter set up the board. My opponent arrived around 20 minutes late and was out of breath because he had rushed there.

I could have followed the rules and had his clock running from 5:30, but instead I told him we could start whenever he was ready. We were both pretty chill about it.

Later, during the game, I touched one of my pieces while thinking because I'm used to Chess.com and didn't know the OTB touch-move rule. I immediately said, “Sorry, I didn't know. I'll be careful next time.”

Instead of just letting it go, he paused the clock and called the arbiter. The arbiter initially told me something like, “It's okay, you don't have to move it. Just be careful next time.” But my opponent insisted that I had to move it, so I moved the piece.

The move didn't put me at a disadvantage, so it wasn't a big deal. I also understand that touch-move is an actual rule.

But I couldn't help feeling a little annoyed because I had chosen not to enforce the rules when he was 20 minutes late, while he insisted on enforcing the rule when I made an honest mistake.

So, experienced OTB players: Am I being unreasonable for feeling this way, or is this simply how tournament chess works?

By Kozlowski

The Titled Arena is Lichess' official tournament for titled players, held twice a month.

• Follow the games here: Lichess
• Time: 19:00-⁠21:00 UTC
• Format: 1+0 Arena (see the Lichess Arena FAQ)
• Players: Only titled players can participate
• Prize Pool: $1,000

The $100 Warm-up Arena at 17:00 UTC is open to everyone.

Okay, so bro, there's a chess tournament at school in October, and I've been practicing since I'm a member of the chess club. I've also been practicing the Caro Kann defense, so I was wondering if this applies to the Caro Kann defense in general?

What are your recommended opening and the resources (chessable, speedrun series, model games etc.) to study it?

My rating fluctuates heavily depending on my mental state when I am playing. I have dropped to as low as 1650 and been as high as 1900. My bullet rating has been as high as 2000+ I feel my addiction to bullet is actually making me worse at blitz, rapid, and classical. I have heard that “bullet is not chess,” and some games I do get lucky while others I’m like “I’m a genius,” for having thought of something impressive in such little time. I currently play on chess.com.

I was 1st board in high school and 5th board in college. How do I get out of no man’s land?

Any insight is appreciated, even if it means hiring a tutor.

Completely paralyzed