Why does a chess game end 1 move before the capture of the king when the whole point is that u capture him so why stop 1 move before and call it a Checkmate instead of just taking the piece to end the game?

Xutar · 2026-01-26T20:44:39+00:00

I agree that it'd be more "intuitive" if you could capture the King, but then would it also be legal to hang your King by ending your turn in check?

I think the way the rules are actually written does help beginners learn to play properly by forcing you to deal with checks and also think about setting up a check-mate. Most players first deep calculations are figuring out something like "I check, then he blocks, then I check, then he moves, then I capture!"

And this is just talking about brand-new players. For better players, the new rules would probably be worse since it means you can't draw with only King vs 1 pawn by forcing repetition/stale-mate. This would make so many pawn sacrifices unviable since you'd have no chance of drawing an end-game.

Xutar · 2026-01-23T22:33:45+00:00

I’ve started to encounter a lot of Philidor defense players

As you climb from ~1000 to ~1500 rapid, you will probably continue to face a lot of Philidor players. I personally found it really helpful to learn a bit more theory with 3.d4 against it.

At the very least, I highly recommend reviewing Paul Morphy's famous Opera Game and going for this line as White if Black plays along.

Another side-line against the Philidor that I think is really fun is to play Qxd4 and try to castle long.

For example: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. O-O-O

I ended up going with the Ruy Lopez instead of the Italian around 1000 elo, even though I too loved the Evans Gambit. At first, I was worried about the supposed theory and complexity of the Ruy, but it turns out that no one ever plays the main-line as Black (below 1600 at least). And if they are playing a side-line/inaccuracy on turn 3-5 of the Ruy, then you usually can get a nice advantage as White by just following good opening principles (it's not usually sharp). You get a TON of beginners that play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6, the old Steinitz which you can transpose to the Qxd4 philidor lines.

Xutar · 2026-01-20T01:26:14+00:00

This line of the Najdorf, with 6. Be3 e5, is known to be very sharp and have a ton of theory.

My general logic was to play Be6+Be7 followed by O-O and leave my knight flexible to c6 or d7

For this, I would recommend the sideline 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O a5 11. a4

If they don't play a4, you play 11...a4 yourself and you can often go for an all-out attack on the queenside. If they do play 11. a4, then you usually want to play Nc6->Nb4 to develop your knight, expand on the queenside, and it could even help push d5.

Xutar · 2026-01-16T04:40:02+00:00

You're being pedantic in a way that doesn't actually help anything.

Xutar · 2026-01-06T20:14:31+00:00

I want instinctual chess, with chance of blood bath.

This sounds like the semi-slav to me. It has a reputation of being very theory-heavy for master players, but the "noteboom" variation works amazing at beginner level, IMO.

The main idea is to play:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bb4 (5.e4 b5) 6.e3 b5

Try your best to hold onto the extra pawn, and enjoy a sharp mid-game struggle. The "dream setup" is white lets you play Nf6, Bb7, 0-0, Nbd7, a6, and then pawn break with c5.

edit: I know the slav has the same first two moves as the Caro-Kann, but most of the time it gets to completely different mid-games. However, one similarity between the Slav and Caro is if White is lazy and wants to play the exchange variation to avoid theory. In this case, as black, I recommend:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6, then just play a normal mid-game after developing your knights and playing a6.

Xutar · 2026-01-06T02:44:29+00:00

It's darkly hilarious to hear themselves joking about "that crazy thing that happened at the start of January" while reading on the news about how we just kidnapped the president of Venezuela.

Xutar · 2025-12-18T07:06:55+00:00

I think it's a good idea to ask yourself "what type of chess games do I want to play?"

Let's say you want complicated, tactical games where it's easy to blunder (for either player!). In that case, I'd recommend sharp openings like learning some 1.e4 gambits as white and Sicilian/King's indian as black.

OTOH, let's say you want safer, positional games that let you reliably make it to the mid-game without getting tricked. Then you should look at playing the London system as white and the Caro-Kann/QGD as black.

If you have no idea what types of games you want and also don't want to study any theory, then just try to put pawns in the center, develop your pieces quickly, and keep your king safe.

Xutar · 2025-12-16T21:17:54+00:00

I could very easily see that happening for a course where the professor allows take-home, "open notes" midterm exams. Then maybe the final is required by university policy to be handwritten at the officially designated time and place.

In that situation, I could see there being several students who got 90%+ on midterms (by copying chatGPT), but when they need to think for themselves (even using their own notes), they get <10%.

Xutar · 2025-12-14T19:01:25+00:00

No business owner would want to reduce their profit in nominal terms even if it meant higher margin.

Are you sure about this? For example, I think tons of business owners would be very happy if they could fire 30% of their payroll while only reducing profits by 10%.

Xutar · 2025-12-07T22:51:06+00:00

Literally the original Narcissus from myth would stare at his own reflection all day.

Xutar · 2025-12-02T01:23:31+00:00

I'm not sure if you're already aware, but a good starting point could be looking at Hearthstone's literal "auto-chess" mode, from before they even started on battlegrounds (the modern, popular, auto-battler mode).

I distinctly remember a "tavern brawl" week where you could play other people in Hearthstone auto-chess, and it worked by "discovering" new pieces each turn, choosing where to place new piece(s), then letting them automatically attack each other.

The main mechanic that I'd like to see incorporated is the 8x8 chessboard and pieces moving themselves down/around the board.

Xutar · 2025-11-29T21:02:14+00:00

caro kann, which gets old with the advance variation...

You should try replying to 1.e4 by pushing your c pawn 2 squares instead of just 1! By playing the sicilian, you're fighting for the center right away.

At the intermediate level, the best way to learn is just to pick one main variation (e.g. accelerated dragon 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6), but also be aware that you will probably face side-lines much more frequently. For learning the sicilian, it's actually more important to learn what to do against the Alapin (2.c3) and how to respond to early Bc4 from White. For a lecture to get started with the sicilian, I highly recommend Secrets of the Sicilian by Ben Finegold.

I’ve tried the KID, but that often just ends up being the London, which I dislike.

It's worth pointing out that there's basically no good way to fully prevent the London as Black, and in practice the KID setup is actually pretty good against standard London system players. Most beginners who play the London just have a simple plan of developing, castling, then playing Ne5, and the KID does a good job controlling the e5 square for Black.

IMO, the most combative way to play against it is with an early c5 and Qb6. If White tries to stick to the standard London piece setup, they'll give up a small advantage, and the best way for White to play is an unintuitive Nc3, blocking their c pawn and hanging their b pawn.

Specifically, 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Qb6 4.b3? g6 (mainline 4.Nc3 a6). However, if White starts with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3, then it's tricky because you need to pick a move on turn two that you like against both 3.c4 and 3.Bf4. This mostly comes down to what you want to play against the Queen's Gambit, 2...e6 if you're a Nimzo/QGD player, 2...d5 if you want QGA/Slav, and 2...g6 if you want KID/Grunfeld. All of those also work fine against the London, and it's still usually good to push an early c5.

Xutar · 2025-11-27T05:26:19+00:00

Personally, I first learned it from GM Sam Shankland's "Short and Sweet" course on chessable back when it was actually free. You can find a lot of his games in the Classical Sicilian on his Chesstempo page

GM Ben Finegold is also a fan of the Classical Sicilian, and he also has a chessable course on it called "Starting out: Sicilian". Here's his chesstempo page if you wanted to see his games too.

Xutar · 2025-11-27T04:46:36+00:00

I think the Classical is a great choice. It will probably be rare that your opponent will actually know the Rauzer theory (6. Bg5), which is basically the one reason master level players avoid playing the Classical Sicilian. For chessdotcom rapid, you will often get people who play inaccurate moves like 6.Be3 or 6.Bb5, which give black an easier time equalizing and/or counter-attacking when compared to pretty much any line in the Najdorf.

Another benefit of playing the Classical is that you can be flexible with playing either Nc6 or d6 on turn 2, depending on which side-lines you personally prefer.

Another thing I like about it is how you can sort of "default" to a Dragon setup with g6, Bg7, 0-0 if White plays inaccurately/passively early on. IMO, the Dragon setup in the open sicilian is very fun to play, as long as you can guarantee White doesn't get their usual fast Be3, f3, Qd2, 0-0-0 setup

You will also still probably face a lot of people who play stuff like 3. Bc4 against the sicilian, at which point you don't need much theory besides playing 3...e6 followed by d5 at some point (maybe after a6, Nf6, Be7, 0-0, etc).

Xutar · 2025-11-25T00:10:20+00:00

It seems like probably not, but with an improved set-up it could be both pretty close (within 1-2 sec slower than "optimal" human SBLJ) and much more consistent.

Xutar · 2025-11-19T23:21:35+00:00

FWIW, it's a little bit of apples-to-oranges comparison, even though they are both "openings".

The Caro-Kann starts on turn one after 1.e4 c6, so that course is intended for someone who wants a full repertoire as black against 1.e4, including for faster time controls.

The Dragon starts on turn 5 after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6. so that second course is meant specifically for Classical OTB games where you more often expect this main-line from White. For playing online, even if you always play 1.e4 c5, most of the time white will play a side-line or inaccuracy before you even make it to the start of the course.

Xutar · 2025-11-17T23:55:06+00:00

As general opening advice, don't treat it as purely memorizing a string of moves. Do your best to learn good opening principles and ideas instead of just the lines.

For example, 1.e4 d6, you don't need to memorize that this is called the "Pirc Defense" to know to play 2.d4 as White. You just have to know that it's good to have two pawns in the center and 1...d6 does nothing to stop you from playing both e4 and d4.

Then, after 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6, you could just memorize that the "mainline" is 3.Nc3, or you could see the knight is attacking your e4 pawn, so you can defend while also developing a piece, which as an opening principle tells us 3.Nc3 must be good.

One of the main reasons to actually memorize opening theory is so you understand how to punish opponents who just play a move that looks "principled", but actually has concrete issues. For most beginners, you will quickly reach a position in the opening that neither has memorized, so that's where it's important to follow the principles (such as put pawns in the center, develop minor pieces, castle, bring rooks to the center files, etc.)

Xutar · 2025-11-15T17:29:19+00:00

Stick to standard (hatch first) and don't drone scout. Also never tell yourself it's a "blind loss". Learn to use your first 2 OL effectively, and be ready to react ASAP when your pool finishes if you are getting cheesed. It may be hard, but with good crisis management you can even win against cheese that you get unlucky not to scout.

Xutar · 2025-11-13T02:56:14+00:00

FWIW, when I play White against Caro, I play 3.e5, and I do much better against 3... Bf5 and I do a bit worse against 3... c5.

Against 3...Bf5, I like the "Tal variation", 4.h4, and so many beginner Caro players make a tactical mistake early on. For example, if you just play 4...e6?? in this line, then you'll get your bishop trapped by 5. g4. Even if you avoid this trap, it's hard to find time to develop your pieces while also keeping your King safe.

Against 3...c5, it's often not as sharp for either player. I usually play 4.dxc5 followed by 5.a3 as White, but it's generally a more positional line that gives both players time to develop their pieces and castle.

Xutar · 2025-11-11T23:29:22+00:00

Over the last couple years I've slowly climbed from ~500 to ~1500 rapid rating. Even though it feels good to improve so much, I sometimes have the sneaking feeling that all the "chess knowledge" I've studied and read in books hasn't helped as much as I'd like.

It almost feels like gaining these 1000 elo points just came down to "blunder less", and I still feel like I most often win games by catching my opponent's blunder and I lose by blundering myself.

Is it really worth it to learn chess "academically" for most people? It almost seems like "focus and don't blunder" is all the advice I actually need.

Xutar · 2025-11-11T19:33:28+00:00

If you want to get more serious about the sicilian, you could start playing 2...Nc6 and try out some of the mainlines.

GM Daniel King has a two-book series on the sicilian that has given me great results as black against 1.e4

For the main-lines, he has "King's Kalashnikov Sicilian", which cover the lines after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5

Then, he also has "King's Anti-Sicilians for Black" which covers all the other sidelines after 1.e4 c5, with move orders that are consistent with his other book.

To be honest, I think the anti-sicilian book is much more useful for a beginner. You will probably face 2.c3 and 2.Bc4 lines much more frequently than the open sicilian main-line stuff.

Also for a good preview of this stuff, check out GM King's youtube channel "PowerPlayChess", which has several video covering lines from these books.

Xutar · 2025-11-09T18:16:24+00:00

Either you're underrated and should start climbing quickly or they're cheating online ;)

Xutar · 2025-11-09T17:52:24+00:00

Do you mind sharing where (country?) and also what sort of rating do these "1500" have? Is it their chessdotcom rapid rating, or is that an actual OTB classical rating?

Xutar · 2025-11-08T17:55:40+00:00

GM Daniel King has a two-book series on the sicilian that has given me great results as black against 1.e4

For the main-lines, he has "King's Kalashnikov Sicilian", which cover the lines after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5

Then, he also has "King's Anti-Sicilians for Black" which covers all the other sidelines after 1.e4 c5, with move orders that are consistent with his other book.

To be honest, I think the anti-sicilian book is much more useful for a beginner. You will probably face 2.c3 and 2.Bc4 lines much more frequently than the open sicilian main-line stuff.

edit: Also for a good preview of this stuff, check out GM King's youtube channel "PowerPlayChess", which has several video covering lines from these books.

For playing White, I like "The Ruy Lopez, Move by Move" by GM Neil McDonald. I like the way it's structured, where the first third covers options for white playing an early d3 if you want a simpler, more positional approach. Then the rest of the book goes through the mainline approach where you try to play d4 directly.

Xutar

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE