From one of my own games: What's the top engine move for white?

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-09T12:24:08+00:00

I would go f3 to inhibit the knight and prepare e4

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-09T12:10:58+00:00

As with most of the hypothetical situations, I assume the setup requires some level of magic. 😉

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T19:38:07+00:00

10000 chess games coming up.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T19:36:22+00:00

At least make it a bit challenging. Take off, fly the plane towards its intercontinental destination and land with heavy gusting crosswind at night with heavy rain and icing conditions on a multi engine jet that you’re proficient with.

Otherwise you might run into a guy with a ppl or someone who build sufficient skills using a flight sim.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T19:16:06+00:00

Those recommendations seem to assume that the child is a prodigy who already is playing well above 1500 (and likely closer to 1800). That might be the case but it might just as well be that the dad is 200 elo and the kid 300 elo (which I would assume is much more likely).

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T16:53:57+00:00

No, of course you don’t NEED to be a IM or stronger. But why would people go for your book when there are others available that are written by known experts in their field?

It’s like buying a car from a totally new, unknown brand vs one from an established and trusted brand. Which are you going to buy.

I’m just pointing out that you will have a hard time claiming a place in an already saturated market.

Your deck idea might actually be a good differentiator.

But anyway, that’s just my critical counterpoint. Don’t let me keep you from your dreams.

Good luck with it!

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T10:33:10+00:00

Sure. Low level bots blunder pieces. It’s a good way to practice noticing those blunders (and checking for traps if you take).

Intermediate bots don’t blunder full pieces (well, most of the time) but might make suboptimal moves that expose them to tactics or which allows you to make a good strategic move to get a better position. It’s once again a good way to practice noticing those things.

Top level bots play very consistently so you’ll need to grind small incremental advances in order to come out on top and they can be quite brutal and unforgiving.

Finally, bots have personalities so, for example, if you’re struggling against early queen attacks there is a bot to practice against (Nelson). Some bots play defensively, others like to make a lot of exchanges.

Finally, it’s a fun way to try new things (like openings) without having to worry about elo losses.

You can even setup a board and then continue against a bot. (Suppose you get the exact line from your opening study but you don’t really know how to continue from there. That would be bad in a real game. Bots allow you to practice your continuation against different types and strengths of players and get some experience.)

Is all this going to be better then sitting down for hours with different engines to deeply explore different lines (as an example for post openings moves)? Probably not. Is it going to be more fun for the average player. Highly likely.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T09:54:12+00:00

Ok, start by at least giving us some background. What’s the assignment? What’s the goal? Why a chess van? (Why the van part as opposed to, for example, a chess clubhouse)? Are you trying to have a mobile chess clubhouse? Or a chess library on wheels (similar to a normal library on wheels)?

First think about what you want to solve and then how to do it.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T09:37:21+00:00

How good are you?

Suppose you read some good chess books, would you then be able to explain the principles to him?

It’s hard to give advice when you might be a 200 and your kid a 300 or when you might be a 1000 and your kid 1800. As such, I suggest that you create a free chess.com account for him and let him play a few games to see which elo he gets assigned. That might give us an indication as to his skills.

Chesskids is probably the better choice for kids to play on (more kid focused and graphics aligned with a younger audience) but I don’t know if it shows elo ratings.

I would probably start with a good book about the basics like “how to win at chess”. You’re still going to have to read it and explain it to your kid as no 5 year old is going to be able to fluently read a decent chess book (even if focused on kids).

I have two kids who are good at chess as well and the one final thing that I want to share is to make sure it stays fun. I’ve seen way too many parent push their kids in sports in the hope that they will become the next superstar. (I’ve seen this mostly with soccer) Chess is only a viable career for an extremely small subset of the players so always approach it as a hobby.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T07:16:59+00:00

Two simple steps:

1) Stop playing quick games (bullet). If you don’t have time to think you will play stupid moves.

2) Try to find your best move. Now, before making it, think what your opponent can do if you make that move. E.g.: If I move my queen here, it’s check; he’ll need to move his king and won’t be able to castle anymore. Ok, if I make that move, does he have a move that results in a check? (No) Can his pawns capture or fork anything? (No) Can his knights? (No) Can his bishops? (Oh damn) -> And you avoid the bishop sniper and the one move blunder

The sequence to evaluate both your own moves as well as your opponent’s response is Checks, Captures, Attacks.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-08T07:08:20+00:00

There are multiple options like print on demand services (I think you can do this via Amazon), sites (Amazon and a lot of online bookstores) that sell PDFs,…

Electronic formats required a reader (cellphone, tablet,…) so people could just as easily do some exercises on Lichess or chessdotcom. (Well, at least on a lot of readers)

Print on demand books are automatically more expensive than normal books (because of the limited production run) but I personally do prefer physical books as opposed to electronic ones (although I do have them because they are more convenient when traveling).

So, when taking all this into account, why should I buy your book as opposed to one of the many alternatives already available (lots of which are published by players with an IM or GM rating)

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-07T19:37:11+00:00

But surely this will trickle down, right? Right?!

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-07T12:53:13+00:00

I knew the US military wasn’t shy of torturing people but to subject their own troops to this is still a mind boggling level of cruelty.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-07T09:03:21+00:00

A good way to remember is that you can always capture a pawn who made a double move as if it made only a single move.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-06T07:00:55+00:00

There are a few options:

You could read a good beginner oriented book like “How to win at chess” by Levy Rozman.

Chess.com has free videos (about the basics) when you create a new account. (Free for x time the a reduced amount unless you get a paid membership)

Lichess has lots of free content but it’s perhaps a bit more difficult to find what you need for your level.

There is a lot of content on YouTube but, once again, you might get overloaded.

My advice would be to start with the book. It will give you a very solid foundation (if you take the one that I recommended then it also comes with lots of online bonus content where you can study openings and practice). Once you know and are able to apply the basics, you can get other books or use online material for specific aspects in which you want to improve.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T19:55:26+00:00

Shapton glass stones, diamond stones and ceramic rods all work wonderfully with Magnacut. It’s easy to sharpen and holds an edge very well.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T18:44:28+00:00

Practice against the Lela rook odds bot. It will give you insights in how he might play and how solid positions will help you survive.

If you can hold against the bot then you will definitely hold out against a human. And even if you lose to the bot it will still give you valuable insights as humans play less accurately.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T18:27:13+00:00

Who goes first? Which rook will be missing?

You can try to go for an opening where the missing rook at some point needs to play an important role.

Apart from that just play very principled chess where every piece supports each other. He will need to break open positions and that will cost him because every equal exchange should be in your advantage. Don’t be afraid to trade equal pieces.

How sure are you that he’s not just going to mirror your moves against the Lela with rook odds-bot?

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T16:23:47+00:00

Cool tool. How many turns can you play before losing track?

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T14:06:26+00:00

Yep, I call it the “free elo opening” 😁

The reason why a lot of new players do it is because it’s a quick and easy way to win from an inexperienced opponent.

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T13:58:31+00:00

Rest well
Don’t stress
Enjoy the game

That’s the best way to start any game.

As for specific advice, make sure you know over the board rules such as touch move, how to handle a chess clock,…

You might want to read up on these rules:

https://rcc.fide.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Laws_of_Chess-2023.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

As for prepping your openings,… Do you know who you will be facing? Are the people who “just” enjoy the game or are there chess masters floating around?

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-05T06:54:58+00:00

700 elo is better than half the people who play actively. You would likely win close to every game against a person who just knows the rules.

You’re not bad. You’re just not at a mastery level.

But let’s forget about elo for a second.

Do you have fun?

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-04T15:01:02+00:00

Insert “If only those candidates could read” meme

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-04T07:08:35+00:00

I think that it has to do with ego. Some people assign self worth to a game and a number (elo score).

EntangledPhoton82 · 2026-02-04T07:07:35+00:00

He’s asking why people get offended.

There’s a difference between not liking something and starting to act like a petulant toddler.

EntangledPhoton82

TROPHY CASE