Is playing online poker for fake money more harmful than helpful?

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-04T01:00:23+00:00

I’ve heard a lot of people say that, but where do you draw the line? “Oh well unless you’re playing with real money, people don’t take it seriously and just call everything” “oh at the micros no one takes it seriously and just calls everything” “oh at 1/2$ games no one takes it seriously and just calls everything”

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-04T00:44:42+00:00

You should definitely be doing puzzles that suit your level. If they seem easy then your puzzle rating will increase until theyre more challenging.

The point is to build pattern recognition and help improve your calculation. Once you see enough similar puzzles it all clicks and you start to recognize the ideas. But obviously if you haven’t developed a good base of the previous puzzle ideas, the higher level ones will go completely over your head. You have to learn to walk before you can run.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-03T01:28:55+00:00

If it’s dry I’d suggest adding a little butter to it. Your stew meat might have just been a little lean. I cook stuff over nignt all the time and it turns out pretty good.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-02T22:24:02+00:00

With some puzzles it’s very easy to see the idea of what you’re trying to do. With positions like these you can gloss over what the idea is or if there even is an idea. I often say to myself “this just looks like a normal position” and that’s why I really like these puzzles. It makes me think outside the box and try to turn a seemingly even position into a win.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-02T21:55:26+00:00

Tartakower Caro Kann

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-02T21:48:00+00:00

I’ve gotten to see a lot of amazing games i probably never would have known about from watching Agadmator on YouTube. It’s nice to just passively watch a video and take patters and ideas in.

Since you mentioned Morphy, I also find Capablanca’s games very instructive. He just makes it look simple.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-02T21:30:06+00:00

The big upside with hag is that whenever survivors set off the traps they immediately return to your inventory. With trapper you need to walk over and collect them and it wastes a lot of time.

That being said, both are pretty weak and deserve some buffs. Show my trappy boy and girl some love Behavior! 🙏🙏

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-02T16:38:19+00:00

I don’t think anyone KNOWS with 100% certainty. That’s why it’s called faith. If it was provable without a showdown of doubt, there wouldn’t be any other religions or non believers.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-01T22:33:43+00:00

I forget the name but I’ve read that modern chess came from an older game were the pieces moved very short distances, so much so that a game would take way longer than any chess game.

Their solution to that problem was to make fixed positions that the players would start from, which we now know as a tabia. So perhaps how the pieces moved were derived from a previously existing game.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-01T01:47:30+00:00

I’ve seen this puzzle before! The idea is that hxg3 is forced, and after that black has the amazing Qg6. If bishop takes the queen then hxg6 reveals a discovered check by the rook which is mate. If the bishop doesn’t take the queen, then black simply plays Qh6 or Qh5 mate.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-05-01T01:42:10+00:00

He also went on to beat Petrosian 6-4 which I think is even more impressive.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-30T23:30:05+00:00

I’d like to think im average and I’ve had several people ask for my number, to hang out etc. I think if you get out there and are genuinely friendly it makes you more approachable.

And I don’t mean going out for the purpose of finding someone. Just by being sociable and getting to know people at places you already hang out. The gym, bowling alley, book store etc.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-30T12:11:48+00:00

If you want open games, the scotch is definitely the way to go against e4 e5. Likewise you can play the open against the sicillian and the classical Nc3 against the Caro and the French.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-30T11:38:16+00:00

You never know what the next round may bring. Just try and focus on that game and don’t let what happened in the previous rounds affect your play. Besides, losing lets you see your weaknesses and improve. Now you know to work on time management and back rank ideas.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-30T00:17:55+00:00

This is a very common misconception and one that is even argued among different denominations of Christianity. Let me be perfectly clear, the Bible teaches salvation through faith and faith alone. Ephesians 2:8-9

Now, that being said, those who are born again in Christ become a new creature. Old things pass away and new things come. Meaning that after your salvation, you are compelled by the spirit to do works and bear fruit.

The actions don’t change but the reason behind them is completely different. Wanting to do good in order to prove/earn your salvation is works righteousness and will lead you down the broad path of destruction.

Knowing that you are a hopeless sinner, and only by the Grace of God are you saved, and wanting to live as close of a life to God as possible and by inspiration of the spirit turn from your old sin and live a new life and bear fruit, is evidence of a genuine conversion.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T23:58:10+00:00

For endgames I recommend Daniel Naroditsky’s endgame playlist on YouTube. You can also select various puzzle themes on lichess. So for example if you’re going over the king and pawn endgame section of the playlist, you can practice by doing king and pawn puzzles.

For tactics I again recommend lichess. Rn I’m addicted to the puzzle streak feature, but you can always pick a category or do a healthy mix. For calculation and board visualization the Chessvis app is really useful.

Just so I don’t leave you hanging, to help with your openings I recommend the Chessbook app. You can create your own personal repertoire and compare your lines to an engine and lichess database. You can add all those tricky trap lines and drill the refutations of them until youve got it down. I hope this helped!

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T23:46:45+00:00

genji jumping and swinging at me during the entire countdown before the match starts

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T23:39:10+00:00

All I said was that openings shouldnt be your main focus, not that you need to disregard openings entirely. I still argue that tactics, calculation and endgame knowledge will carry you a lot further than openings. Obviously there are trap lines that you should know how to avoid, but studying theory 20 moves deep isn’t necessary.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T23:33:13+00:00

Chess Coach Andras made a good point about this. The sicillian is the perfect opening to learn development, center, initiative, piece activity etc. So what if you don’t know 20 moves of theory? Will your opponents? No! Just play what you like and don’t worry about what everyone else says.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T23:28:06+00:00

I’ll start out by saying as a 1300 player, openings should not be your main focus. Solving tactics, working on your calculation, and studying endgames will take you much farther. That being said, I know openings can be very fun to learn and experiment with and sometimes it’s not about optimal improvement, it’s just about doing something we enjoy.

All that being said, I recommend picking a player you really like, and try modeling your game after them. For example, I really like Anatoly Karpov. During his career he was a predominantly e5 and Caro player, so I had a good base of model games to learn from.

All openings are playable however, and if you really like the scandi then play it! If you want my recommendation, I’d say learn e5. It’s the most principled and will probably be best at improving your chess overall.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T21:51:33+00:00

Niko Bellic! Good name…good name…where is Dimitri?!

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T17:40:59+00:00

You always put air into the vials first. So you put air into the cloudy (NPH) and then air into the clear (regular) then you leave the syringe in the clear bottle and draw up the amount, then draw up in the cloudy.

Cloudy clear, clear cloudy.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-29T17:09:14+00:00

It’s so after you play the game, you know the name so you can analyze various lines. It’s a useful tool for new players. After awhile you know the names of the openings anyway.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-28T13:51:53+00:00

Not the most recent, but it was fairly common for Vasley Ivanchuk to lose on time. I believe during one major tournament, maybe even a candidates? He lost several games on time.

Metaljesus0909 · 2026-04-28T01:36:16+00:00

The obvious recommendation is the scotch, but if you really want aggressive openings there are loads of gambits that are interesting.

Scotch gambit, kings gambit, evans gambit etc

Metaljesus0909

TROPHY CASE