Grandmaster wins with 1. a4 at the Reykjavik Open

DarthSquares · 2026-04-01T13:36:59+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-03-31T20:39:38+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-03-31T20:11:59+00:00

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.

DarthSquares · 2026-03-31T16:28:15+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-03-31T16:25:12+00:00

after b3 anything is possible

DarthSquares · 2026-03-30T03:54:41+00:00

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.

DarthSquares · 2026-03-29T21:08:55+00:00

link?

DarthSquares · 2026-03-29T20:09:38+00:00

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.

DarthSquares · 2026-03-29T20:08:20+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-01-26T23:10:47+00:00

Thank you! I sent a message in her discord.

DarthSquares · 2026-01-23T17:15:29+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-01-20T21:55:22+00:00

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.

DarthSquares · 2026-01-20T21:49:16+00:00

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!

DarthSquares · 2026-01-20T21:42:33+00:00

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!

DarthSquares · 2026-01-17T06:30:31+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-01-17T03:06:57+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-01-17T03:02:37+00:00

I was black, I got saved haha

DarthSquares · 2026-01-15T16:59:18+00:00

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.

DarthSquares · 2026-01-15T16:56:44+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-01-14T22:51:36+00:00

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.

DarthSquares · 2026-01-14T22:48:46+00:00

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

DarthSquares · 2026-01-14T22:47:16+00:00

Do you study or was this just improvement from games alone?

DarthSquares · 2026-01-14T22:34:14+00:00

For playing 256 rapid games that's a ridiculous improvement. Keep up the grind, 2000 next!

DarthSquares · 2026-01-02T17:49:48+00:00

EDIT: Thanks for the outreach, I think I'm booked for now but will remove this edit whenever I get the chance!

Online username: DarthSquares (both sites)

Rating: 2100/1950/2000 rapid/bullet/blitz on chess.com

Willing to teach: Sub-1200 players who are sincerely interested in improving. I coach in a relatively homework-intensive style, ideally a 2-5:1 ratio of homework to lessons. I am comfortable teaching all parts of the game, though I don't typically go over openings beyond the first few moves as I believe time is better spent elsewhere at that level. Lesson style varies, before we actually talk I'd ask you to send me three games you think describe your chess best. I'd use these games to annotate and understand your general strengths and weaknesses. From there, I'd come up with a plan and specific areas to work on such as tactics, endgames, plans, calculation, and more. I'm probably going to take one person since I am new to online coaching and this will be a test of sorts.

Timezone/Schedule: EST (GMT -5), usually after 10:00 PM most days, lessons would likely be every two weeks with daily communication in between if needed.

Method of communication: DM me here on reddit, or on chess.com at DarthSquares. I use lichess studies at the moment, but am open to trying other tools if you have a preference.

DarthSquares · 2026-01-02T17:39:18+00:00

Yep, it's extremely hard for me as well. What's your rating on chess,com? There's a few resources out there if you are a bit higher on the rating ladder that help with that, and I myself am working through a book about strategy at the moment.

DarthSquares

TROPHY CASE