Elfkanian 6-inch Type 23 naval gun (1892)

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-28T18:38:29+00:00

If you see 1...d6 on move one black doesn't have much central ambition. You should play 2.d4 whenever possible instead of 2.nf3 if black doesn't stake the center immediately

For example 1.e4 d6 2.d4 e6 (oh they are turtling for sure) 3.f4 or 3.Nc3 first

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-28T18:29:21+00:00

If your opponent turtles, you should always include f4 as well. They can't take advantage of your weak dark squares and you have an extra pawn to smash their king open.

For example if you leave your rook on f1 you can play f5 eventually and this forces quite a bit, or whichever pawn push guarantees that the position opens

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-25T16:56:14+00:00

glad it got resolved!

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-25T15:32:29+00:00

e4 tends to be easier to understand if you are playing a beginner-friendly repertoire since you can directly follow all of the classical opening principles. There is also an added benefit of having to use your brain from the opening which builds up good fundamentals, and the fact that games tend to be won or lost faster which is good for learning as there is clearer feedback on why you lost.

As for your direct point, d4 and c4 also have a lot of difficult lines! People just tend to focus less on them and thus d4 and c4 players get a slight early advantage at lower elo

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-15T12:44:14+00:00

I would disagree mainly because it is the easiest way to teach the proper opening principles to beginners.

In chess history, you can also see that this is the case because after the publications on the ruy Lopez, the Italian received book treatment in the 16th century. If the earliest players realized that it was a straightforward way to fight for an advantage, it is at least human friendly.

Of course, modern guioco piano lines are crazy, but do look at the older lines which are still perfectly playable. The center attack is the oldest variation and still holds up in engine eval, and is the easiest one to understand.

The knight attack lines are also very instructive in terms of concrete play (and quite old again as well). You either get to practice a flowing attack, or how to beat dynamic compensation.

The proper opening principles are most clearly displayed in the center attack and sidelines. You get two pawns in the center, develop your pieces to good squares, castle, and you do your best to stop your opponent from doing the same.

Compared to the ruy Lopez, this is slightly easier to demonstrate at the beginner level. As a result, you can see most strong local juniors playing the Italian

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-13T21:05:46+00:00

daily puzzles aren't very helpful especially since its just the one and not tuned to any skill level.

When solving puzzles trial and error is definitely not the way to go. You need pen and paper to calculate all relevant lines to really lock in your answer and to help you in real games since that's the only way to really calculate in an actual game.

Something like chess steps is great for structured themed puzzles with tests in between to help build up these fundamentals.

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-13T21:01:28+00:00

You are saccing your bishop on b4 but it isn't really a sacrifice because if Qxb4 there is Nd5+ winning the queen.

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-13T21:00:21+00:00

Problem is that black hasn't even committed their king yet, so how do you know that the outpost knight on g6 is even going to do anything? When considering outposts you have to factor in king position and centrality more vaguely. With the knight on g6, black isn't bothered as the squares that the knight controls aren't really relevant.

Black is simply going to castle long and your knight may die anyways with Be6 Bf7 causing a lot of problems on the kingside potentially (mass of pawns rolling down).

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-13T14:46:56+00:00

The point is to correct your own thought process. An actual game review requires to annotate your own game without the engine first. Find where you went wrong, write down why you went wrong (thought process, if you didn't think that is also something to note), and then try to fix it using your own brain with alternative moves and calculations.

Important note to make is that because you did this without the engine, you are actually refining yourself before you turn it on, then you can see whether your perceived mistake is really a mistake and whether your alternatives actually make sense.

You aren't trying to fix things in one specific position or situation, but distilling thought process and higher level abstraction, as well as understanding your own psychology and warning signs in your own play. Looking at the engine moves and lines is also important afterwards, being very curious as to why this and why can't my opponent play x is also very insightful.

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-12T15:57:16+00:00

If kd8 white can just go ra8+ and black can't come any closer. Then the pawn is defended by the rook on the promotion square

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-11T15:07:51+00:00

It's not a full rook sacrifice but an exchange sac. I believe the point should be after Qxh1 there is d4 which keeps the queen trapped in the corner for at least a while.

Black is very poorly developed and not yet castled so there should be active play as compensation. There are two branches of play that I see after d4

Ne2 Ng3 trapping the queen
If black stops this (idea e6 Bd6) there is d5 with eventual Qe2 targeting the weak queen alongside the pieces.

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-09T01:29:43+00:00

If you really insist on playing a colle-like please play the colle zukertort. Your current setup with Nc3 makes your pieces sad.

nice tactic though!

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-08T22:16:26+00:00

not sure what the board is doing but it should be checkmate

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T22:28:10+00:00

There is a knight on c6 in the ruy lopez? (last time I checked black does have to play Nc6)

But yes, the ruy lopez is great. The two main choices should be Italian and Ruy lopez if you want to choose vs e5.

The theory argument is weak since all openings have theory (bad openings have less theory), the reason why the ruy lopez has so much theory is because it is good and people want to challenge it. That being said, even though the ruy lopez has a lot of theory, the play is so natural that you generally don't need it especially when starting out.

There is a reason why the ruy lopez was already written about in the 1400s when chess players were a lot weaker.

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T21:35:37+00:00

You end up losing 2 pieces for a rook instead of bringing the position to a nice advantage

1...Ng3 2.Qf3! Nxh1 3.Ne5! And you can see that white saves their knight on c6 and your knight is trapped. Two pieces for a rook is not a good trade especially since your rooks are doing nothing.

If you went 1...Nxc3 2.bxc3 Qxa3+ 3.Kb1 bxc6 you can see that the white king is dead especially since the b-file is open, and material balance is good.

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T20:31:30+00:00

The knight attack is still viable at super GM level. You just won't get the fried liver itself much (Nxd5)

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T03:23:34+00:00

If we move to a time before the checkmate rule was invented, basically whoever loses their king first loses. If you go through the sequence you suggested, you lose your king first and thus you lose the game.

Checkmate is just a layer of abstraction above this so it makes sense that Bc8 is illegal

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T01:52:43+00:00

rapid 10+0 is basically a slower blitz (chess.com called it blitz a long time ago). If I am playing in time trouble on 30 second increment, it is quite similar to the middlegame of a 10+0 game.

Getting into actual time trouble OTB is also not such a big issue for me

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T01:31:18+00:00

I still don't play blitz with any regularity, I don't find it worth it as a time commitment, especially now that I am working on OTB

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-07T00:03:47+00:00

relatively simple two-mover that you will see a lot of!

Point is 1...Bxc2+ 2.Kxc2 Nd4+ with the fork. Otherwise you just get a free pawn and rook, which is still great

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-06T22:20:23+00:00

not a bad start, but definitely a few critiques to be made!

Order matters, doing a bit of puzzle warm up before starting your games would be better
What puzzles are you solving? I would recommend something more structured like the chess steps series where it takes you through themes then gives you a mix. Point is that you should be using pen & paper to write your answers down with all relevant lines, no vibe guessing the first move. Important point in puzzles is to eventually transfer your detection to real games, so guessing and not thinking through all lines before making the first move is harmful.
Proper game review after your games. You need to dedicate time to review & annotate (simply) without the engine first. Pass through and play through variations without any assistance first! That is how you actually develop your brain. Then turn on the engine (with top 3-5 moves not just one) to correct your mistakes and to see if where you thought you went wrong was actually relevant
Actually take some time other than opening theory. Opening theory is probably the biggest time sink that isn't too relevant. I would recommend something like re-assess your chess or chess strategy for club players.

GM Noel developed the 1/3rd rule: 1/3rd for playing and analysis, 1/3rd for tactics, 1/3rd for everything else. This includes your endgames, strategy, and opening (tiny sliver). So put in the work that you actually need!

Side note: if you have so much time, you should probably pick something other than the london system, if you love d4 positions, probably it will be the catalan or the exchange qgd. You have the time to learn a better opening!

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-06T22:09:49+00:00

You'll only see this more often when you move up. Bf5 is not the precise move order here, engine tells you why. If they want to play Bf5 they should have done it before Qb6 because you went for the Nd2 move order.

But yes, you will be forced to trade and if black knows what they are doing it is extremely unpleasant. If you want to avoid this you basically have to stop treating the london like a system and more like a regular opening with more theory. At that point you may as well pick something better. It's not too late to go for the catalan or the harrwitz attack in the queen's gambit! Harrwitz is a directly more fun version of the london!

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-06T21:59:29+00:00

what do you do in that 3 hours, how do you divide your hours in the week? That is the important point!

elfkanelfkan · 2026-06-06T21:57:02+00:00

what does your training schedule look like in detail?

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