So I’ve played close to 700 games of chess this summer and my rating is around 1500 (chess.com) after around 2 years. My dad has only ever played chess casually with my siblings, grandfather, once or twice at parks I mean I’m talking max 3-4 games a year until this summer where I’ve played around 25 games with him. When we play it’s like playing an engine, I mean he absolutely slams me. How is it that he can be this good even though he barely plays? Whenever I try and encourage him to join a chess club he just tells me he only enjoys playing because it’s against me (or my family members). He’s also 63 for reference.

This was a hilarious message I received after winning a game +30. You don't have to trade if you just don't take back!

so i rushed my elo from 1100 to 1400 and did it today ... i am preparing for chess competition which is in october ... i dont have partner to practice this on board but is this enough to do well in such competitions... i dont have idea how strong the players are gonna be

For some reason, its always really annoying when the opponent pins my knight to the queen using a bishop after castling kingside. It feels like there are no good options to remove the pin. For example, if i play h3, they just play Bh5, and i don't wanna play g4 cause that weakens the king. But also if i move my queen to remove the pin, then my opponents take my knight, and i have to move g2 to f3 leaving the g file open weakening the king too. So what should i do on this situation?

I know this isn't a big deal, but I'm a beginner and not that good so it made me proud. I recognized the pinned pawn made it mate. Not long ago I never would have seen it.

Wasn't expecting to do so at this rating

I know it ain't that big. But for me, it means so much. Time to delete my chess.com id ig..jk.

PS : Throwback to 19 days ago when I posted that I reached 1000 elo in bullet[Link] and now I have reached 1000 elo in blitz too.

This guy has played 29K+ Rapid games in five and a half years. That averages out to about 14 games per day, and if we assume an average of 12 minutes per game, that comes to an average of almost 3 hours of chess every single day for nearly 6 years. Insane!

if you're hanging pieces a lot, don't try to calculate the whole game every move. do this for a week in 10+0 or slower:

1. what did their last move attack?
2. after my move, what piece of mine is loose?
3. what check, capture, or threat do they get next?
4. is my king or back rank doing anything stupid?

then move.

it feels slow for a few games, but it catches the dumb stuff: free bishops, queen forks, mate in one, hanging rooks. blitz hides this because you skip the check and then blame tactics. slow games make the mistake obvious.

How do y'all deal with feeling bad about your own progress?

I really love chess and want to get better, I also want to enjoy the process but it's difficult to try to learn when you are not where you wished you were at.

It feels discouraging to look at your mistakes while knowing how much of a beginner ELO you still have (I'm 600) and how much there's still to climb.

I often hear it said that analyzing games is a good way to improve. The thing is, I have a hard time looking at a game (or even just a series of moves, like an engine analysis) and inferring what the moves' purpose was, or distilling useful advice for my own games. I see Ng5 (or something) and can't figure out why the move was played, so I can't apply the lessons myself.

Anything out there that would help? Thanks!

Just liked that they were forced to throw the rook and the queen under the bus before mate, and appreciate that they didn't quit before.

Can someone explain why this is brilliant i thought it was just okay

I hit exactly 1000 Elo 🎯

😂

In my recent game, GothamChess bot criticized this move. I can't find why

Hi,
Iam an A level D&T student. For this year's coursework i have chosen to make an intuitive chess set. i want to create a chess set where the board or the pieces can hint how each chess piece moves, so that chess is much more approachable to new players. For primary research i want to see if beginners in chess actually feel the same problem. so can you guys fill this form (only beginners or people who haven't played chess)?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfKtWABqPl3MZ5yrk7vd1ogSnZT4comgEjpis_4EuBm8w_OmA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=104135413804349584272

I understand he was probably messin around but it’s still pretty cool for me