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JCC Chess Discussion

Discussion in 'Community' started by Darth_wanderguard, Oct 13, 2012.

  1. Darth_wanderguard

    Darth_wanderguard Game Host star 6 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2005
    So I've recently gotten into chess. Although I did play it off and on as a kid, I never got heavy into it. Recently, though, I've actually made more of an attempt to legitimately learn the strategy and tactics of the game. I'm still a very basic player, but I'm slowly improving in small ways. I've really focused on devising solid openings as well as general awareness and tactics.

    Any other chess players around?
     
  2. Condition2SQ

    Condition2SQ Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2012
    Chess is a great game. There's a club near me and I always find it wonderful how I get beat nine times out of ten by the ten and under crowd(I'm 25). It's so empowering for children to be legitimately better at something than adults. Unless you have raw talent, it definitely takes time and dedication to get better. My armchair advice for an advanced beginner like you (aside from making sure you know really basic endgames) is to make note of your rationale for every move you make(sounds like basic advice, but in a general 30-50 move game, things tend to get jumbled together in your mind by the end). Also, always, always, always be on the lookout for a potential discovered check 2-3 moves away, both offensively and defensively. Most players are happy to go over the game with you afterwards and tell you what you did wrong; a 15 minute session with the guy who just beat you will be more applicable and helpful than two hours of rote memorization with your newest book ever will be.
     
  3. Darth_wanderguard

    Darth_wanderguard Game Host star 6 VIP - Game Host

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    Apr 26, 2005
    That sounds like a great idea... I may start taking notes when I play against the computer since its patience is infinite :p Unfortunately I don't have time to play with anyone in person, I play on my phone either against the computer or other people on Chess with Friends.

    I've found that my current tendency is to play aggressively, sacrificing my minor pieces while conserving either both rooks or a queen and rook. I'll even sacrifice a major piece to capture a minor if I know I can promote a pawn to replace it. If I can deplete my opponent and still have two major pieces, it's an easy checkmate.

    I've tried to become more methodical and defensive in my approach, though, by setting up with different openings. I normally go king's pawn to e4, queen's pawn to d3, and then I develop my knights and move king's bishop so I can castle. But if there's something more suited to a defensive approach I'd love to hear it.
     
  4. Condition2SQ

    Condition2SQ Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2012
    Computers and humans play chess very differently, even despite the huge advances made in computers over the last decade. I highly recommend the work of Patrick Wolff in this regard.

    If you can sacrifice a major piece to capture a minor knowing you can promote a pawn to compensate, then of course it's worth it, but "knowing" this is a very tenuous thing when you start playing at higher levels. Ideal pawn structure in endgames is highly complicated and subject to virtually continuous revision.

    You said in your latest post you like to play aggressively but that you're trying to become more defensive, so that leaves me in quite in a bind :p. I get the sense you are more suited to open games, so try to keep central files open. Basic tactical patterns tend to fall into place from there.
     
  5. Darth_wanderguard

    Darth_wanderguard Game Host star 6 VIP - Game Host

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    Apr 26, 2005
    I'll try that.

    Ideally I would like to be good at both. I suppose by saying I'm trying to play defensively, I mean that I'm trying to learn how to play defensively and to understand defensive tactics more thoroughly.
     
  6. Alpha-Red

    Alpha-Red Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 25, 2004
    I used to think I was decent at chess because I played against this girl back in 6th grade and always won. Then I played against some people from our chess club...
     
  7. MrZAP

    MrZAP Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Like Wanderguard I've played chess on and off since I was very young and I've always loved it, but it's never been a game I've played regularly enough to become very skilled at. I know some very basic formal tactics but that's about it.

    I think I've always had a mental block when it comes to improving in chess because I have this competitive tendency to try to get as thorough a win as possible by not sacrificing anything and making the opponent lose everything. I remember when I was a kid I would forego possible checks if they still had other pieces on the board, and obviously that hurt my game. I don't do that anymore, but that's mostly because I force myself not to; I still wish I could get a rout. I've also had tendency to not look ahead of the moves I'm making. My strategy has always been "Analyze the board extensively before you make a move and make sure nothing is currently vulnerable. If it is, move it. If you want to move something, 9/10 times it isn't worth sacrificing, except maybe for Queen trades." This hurts me in two ways. First, it makes me take longer so if I'm forced into a timed game and I have to think more quickly I'm at a severe disadvantage because I rely on that time. Secondly, it over-emphasizes tactics in terms of skirmishes in lieu of game strategy, when the latter should be more important. I know these weaknesses about myself, but it's hard to get around them.

    Because I don't like sacrificing things I tend to play rather defensively in the beginning and, once I've created a decent line of defense for my king, attack with vigor. I think I probably overuse my Queens and rooks in attacking and don't use my bishops enough. Pawns are mostly used for blocking other pawns, guarding the king, and hindering bishop movement. Knights are mostly used to protect other pieces and attack outlying pieces if there are openings.

    So in the end I think it's perfectly possible for me to learn more tactics and so on, but the root of my relative lack of skill in chess is a matter of a faulty mindset that I have to get over, and I won't improve too much until I do.
     
  8. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    jp-30, Debo and JoinTheSchwarz like this.
  9. Mitth_Fisto

    Mitth_Fisto Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    I enjoy playing chess and even 3D chess, but I rarely actually sit down and play so I often forget what the labels are exactly and I am a winner with luck only ;)
     
  10. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    I've never been particularly good at Chess. Guess strategery is not my strong suit.
     
  11. TheGuardianofArlon

    TheGuardianofArlon Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2007
  12. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
    I used to play chess often when I was younger. Now it's a long time since I last played. I was never particularly good. I was something like an advanced beginner. Mainly because I didn't like memorizing strategies, and eventually, my opponents would always be using textbook strategies and I lost. For me personally, the fun of chess is in the improvisation, and using memorized tactics takes much of that out of it.
     
  13. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    MIND BLOWN
     
  14. TheGuardianofArlon

    TheGuardianofArlon Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2007
    I know its cool right?

    My strategy in chess? None
     
  15. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    TOTALLY
     
  16. TheGuardianofArlon

    TheGuardianofArlon Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2007
    My question is whose winning. :p
     
  17. LifeInTechnicolor

    LifeInTechnicolor Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    I was a on a chess team for several years.I was a pretty average player.I like taking risks even though those can get me into a lot of trouble.
     
  18. WIERD_GREEN_MAN

    WIERD_GREEN_MAN Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2010
    I like chess. I am very bad at chess. The last computer game (I played a game on a computer!) I played was chess.
     
  19. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    I'm not very good at it, but I love chess a lot. I used to know the blitzkrieg strategy where you can essentially checkmate in like four moves. I got it to work exactly one time, which was awesome. Then this other time, this girl and I fought to a frigging standstill; it was a bloodbath. At the end it was my king and two pawns chasing her king all over the board. I'm pretty sure that's not how chess is meant to be played, but we stained the field red that day and it was kind of fantastic.
     
    MrZAP likes this.
  20. WIERD_GREEN_MAN

    WIERD_GREEN_MAN Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2010
    Hate when that happens. I think that once a certain number of moves are completed, the game ends as a stalemate.
    At least, that's what my Zune did.
     
  21. TheGuardianofArlon

    TheGuardianofArlon Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2007
    Stained the field red? Was Captain Tampon apart of this battle?
     
  22. Darth_wanderguard

    Darth_wanderguard Game Host star 6 VIP - Game Host

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    Apr 26, 2005
    Arlon, that joke was so unfunny that it qualifies as negatively funny. It's a funny vacuum, sucking the humor out of the rest of the room like some kind of ****** up giggle entropy.
     
  23. jp-30

    jp-30 Manager Emeritus star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2000
    I played my daughter for the first time ever a few weeks ago and got her in 4 moves. May it feels good to be an ***hole dad sometimes.

    Anyway, a King vs a King & Two Pawns should never be a stalemate (if that's what you're implying). If you couldn't win from that position you royally suck.
     
    MrZAP likes this.
  24. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    The 4 move win is pretty sweet, but it's very easy to counteract if you know to look for it. That being said, I'm pretty terribad at chess. I have a hard time setting up my pawns in the proper defense lines, and I have an even harder time getting through my opponent's pawns. Usually it comes down to trading big piece for big piece, but then I make a mistake and lose one or two more of them, and then it's a pretty easy checkmate for him.
     
    MrZAP likes this.
  25. Darth_wanderguard

    Darth_wanderguard Game Host star 6 VIP - Game Host

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    Apr 26, 2005
    You're referencing scholar's mate? If you move the one pawn in front of where the opponent moved/will move the queen, then the whole strategy is shot.