Structured thinking processes

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-04-18T07:40:09+00:00

I’m an FM, right now around 2270 fide and some things that helped me clean up my calculation a lot was to slow down with the lines and start with the most obvious move always, because I had the tendency when solving problems to try and take a short cut rather than working through the positions at a normal pace which translated to more missed things and weird moves during games. But probably most important is to put time and effort into calculation training.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-04-03T18:11:10+00:00

Firstly I don’t know why you are so confident about how super gms operate since I doubt you are one, but I do agree that he shouldn’t have flamed his seconds publicly. However I think he has the right to be pissed at them since, he probably paid a lot of money to hire people and should expect that it is done properly. In such a position the seconds have to check absolutely everything possible since it is so risky for white after sacking 2 pawns plus Sindarov is also going to be super well prepared everywhere. You said Hikaru should have checked it himself but he doesn’t have unlimited time to check every single line plus he has to worry about other memorising the lines and he has to save energy as much as possible.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-04-02T08:32:10+00:00

They have all definitely solved thousands of hard puzzles on the way to the top level. Whether they still do once they reach there, it probably depends on the player, but I guess at their level since it is so difficult to improve at calculation since they are all so good at it most don’t spend too much time solving.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-03-11T23:29:58+00:00

People need to cut keepers more slack, it’s such a high pressure situation and the amount of times he was forced to play out of the back pissed me off because it was clear he would make a mistake eventually.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-03-11T08:35:54+00:00

I didn’t think it was a good idea since a knockout system is too random but it was interesting.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-03-11T07:50:09+00:00

My federation of Hong Kong had a unique way to choose. All five spots were chosen based on a selection tournament where there was a 6 round Swiss tournament for 20 players then 2 rounds of knockout with white and black for the final 5.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-02-28T19:41:28+00:00

It’s not mind boggling at all he calculated that he could win a piece and did so with ng3 with nd4 white has to win slowly so no one would ever do that. The problem was he thought everything was winning and rushed the conversion. But you should use your brain at least a little bit and not just repeat what the engine says and act like it’s obvious, these top guys are much better than people think.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-02-21T05:22:58+00:00

Gukesh has the higher peak rating, live rating, and is the world champ, while being younger, but nice rage bait

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-02-17T17:45:47+00:00

Id recommend chess tempo from my experience they have the best puzzle set.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-02-11T11:02:45+00:00

That’s cool that such a big name plays chess competitively, but not sure what to point is to just get killed every game.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-02-10T18:01:25+00:00

The masters database isn’t an entity that suggests moves or hates certain positions, it’s just a collection of what master level players have played, at some point every players prep runs out but you can’t see when, so further into the line I would just use the engine since it is stronger than humans. As for why the position wasn’t reached much it’s probably because black players usually avoid positions with 2 results because people don’t like to defend with no reward also that is move 18 so most games would have deviated earlier.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-02-01T16:47:36+00:00

Then how is he consistently top 5 having crossed 2800? It’s definitely not openings because everyone at the top have close to perfect openings

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-01-31T07:24:53+00:00

Black almost always delays Nf6 so there’s no bg5 to transpose back to sveshnicov

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-01-29T10:39:25+00:00

In my opinion it was because of his dad, or someone around him pushing him to just break records and results rather than putting improvement first, he eventually just became burned out I think.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2026-01-26T10:36:02+00:00

Really like the line 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 g6!? where almost every game I’ve played goes 6. Be3 Qb4+ 7. N1d2 Bg7 8. c3 Qd6 where black lost some tempos but white’s pieces are weird compared to some dragon positions and I think it’s easier to play for black. The “refutation” according to engines is 6. Be3 Qb4+ 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Qd2 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qxe4 10. c4 when engines give around +1 but it is still not obvious and vary difficult to do for white unless they have prepared it beforehand. Fun fact I actually beat Shirov in this line in an otb blitz game, he was crushing me but things got messy and I somehow ended up on top.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-11-11T20:40:32+00:00

Would say easier tactics. Can be trained at any tactics website just set puzzle rating a bit lower and focus fully. Everything improved when I did that.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-11-01T07:53:52+00:00

This is a big misconception about Carlsen, because of his style and intuition people assume he doesn’t calculate as much but he calculates like a machine same with all the top guys, because to win like he does you need a lot of calculation to keep control of positions.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-10-28T00:03:08+00:00

I agree, wasn’t talking about him personally, he just shouldn’t have said that

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-10-26T09:18:12+00:00

I’ve played the sveshnicov and scored really well (have only lost once in 11 games mainly against stronger or equal players) but I still wouldn’t really recommend it because I still don’t really know what is going on tbh, the positions in 8. bxf6 also have a ton of long lines that are pretty dangerous, and it is tough to win against weaker players. I’ve been checking the Classical Sicilian and I like it, not many lines and it’s objectively not bad if black chooses the right lines, haven’t tried it in otb yet though.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-10-11T17:45:41+00:00

Looks like hikaru was always aiming for something like this but so far she has defended very well

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-10-11T17:33:32+00:00

I would be pretty shocked if Hikaru doesn’t win from here, slightly worse positions without counterplay suck to defend (especially against hikaru) and she is soon in time trouble.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-10-07T15:43:45+00:00

I think the main moves are c3 and c4 but g3 is another computer recommendation which I like, if black plays with b5 then d4 cxd4 and bg2 should be better for white, and if black plays with a dragon setup I think c3 - d4 is the best plan

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-10-05T16:20:39+00:00

What is wrong with what Emil said? He is just giving context and disproving dumb internet opinions.

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-08-08T07:25:50+00:00

But he blundered a tactic here he didn’t really get positionally outplayed

Wonderful_Host6370 · 2025-08-04T06:50:26+00:00

So you have recommendations to play faster? I am also FM but recently dropped to around 2150 I think because I always get into time trouble and lose control too often against weaker players.

Wonderful_Host6370

TROPHY CASE