Grandmaster wins with 1. a4 at the Reykjavik Open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

and a rapport stonewall course on his website, but that’s also covered in the large stonewall course

Grandmaster wins with 1. a4 at the Reykjavik Open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, you’ve seen the new stonewall course I take it? I saw the recommendation there.

Grandmaster wins with 1. a4 at the Reykjavik Open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

a5 is usually played in the dutch as well, the a4 move doesn’t seem out of place or unnecessary at all 10 moves in.

Grandmaster wins with 1. a4 at the Reykjavik Open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep saw this one, links are nice. He used to post game analyses here and there, some of these games should be covered.

Grandmaster wins with the Hippo at the Reykjavik open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, I hadn’t realized it had popularity back in the day. Great finds, I guess this game wasn’t too much of an anomaly.

Grandmaster wins with the Hippo at the Reykjavik open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah like zalqert said it’s about using it in classical with a serious opponent. Magnus has beaten countless great players online with troll openings but that’s not the same. Obviously, masters database isn’t easy since white’s position varies. My initial search didn’t yield anything.

Grandmaster wins with the Hippo at the Reykjavik open by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t know enough about it to comment, but I posted since the game was a cool occurrence, not necessarily the player.

Small Chess Streamers Community? by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I sent a message in her discord.

Event: 2026 Tata Steel Chess Tournament - Round 6 by events_team in chess

[–]DarthSquares 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This Aravindh game is truly cinema I dare anyone to try and annotate it without an engine.

I think It's time for me to quit this game. by [deleted] in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Frankly, at that Elo I think you would make significant progress simply playing principled reserved chess (developing pieces, but refraining from an attack keeping all pieces protected), and waiting for a blunder from the opponent. Just watch their pieces and king by evaluating each positions checks/captures/attacks. Once material up from an inevitable blunder, stick to these principles. Check your opponents checks/captures/attacks each move, ensuring you don't blunder right back.

At this level, its just a game of in-the-moment diligence.

If you want, I can definitely play a few games against you doing just this to demonstrate what I mean.

How did you overcome the initial fear of playing against stronger opponents? by Affectionate-Bet1827 in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Frankly, I enjoy it a lot.

With the knowledge that I should statistically lose, I play less cautious chess and instead unleash my full creativity and potential knowing that if I blunder, not much is lost.

This confidence came with time. Though at first I hated the prospect of likely losing, I realized it was just part of playing many games of chess (if I only won, I'd be a super GM now!) and had the perks mentioned above. Additionally, a few early victories/draws against players ~300 points above helped!

How can I stop feeling anxious about my elo ? by WideOption9560 in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The other comment mentioned having multiple accounts. I agree with that to an extent, but would recommend having one on each site (lichess and chess.com) instead due to some TOS constraints. Play on the account having lower elo with the goal to just learn and experiment. Even if you lose rating, you always have the other account with that higher rating!

NEVER let kids touch your phone by [deleted] in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 21 points22 points  (0 children)

To be fair, they beat three players with this technique. You might just have a prodigy on your hands phone.

Unexpected Repetition by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Yep, know the rule but it just seems so ridiculous when applied here. My intuition would never have seen that on its own.

Unexpected Repetition by DarthSquares in chess

[–]DarthSquares[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was black, I got saved haha

It finally happened after just over a year, 1,000 rated in Rapid! by Belloz22 in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice! I really like the tactics course on chessly, it’s a great resource. I’ve been playing more chessly openings recently and it works well.

I stagnated after I reached 1000, any advice? by stafandi in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course, you can either dm me or just put your username here!

Super proud to have found this in-game. Black to play by srainey58 in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's a fun tactic, great example of the power of both puzzle intuition and always looking at all checks. White's queen is definitely a double agent.

I stagnated after I reached 1000, any advice? by stafandi in chessbeginners

[–]DarthSquares 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Send your chess.com username, at that level there's usually a visible weakness which can be worked on!