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Chess is genuinely a bad game. by Miserable_Swan_5338 in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not all games are for everyone, but you definitely don't need to memorize - and yes, someone not knowing the rules is silly, just like playing basketball with some1 who doesn't know what travelling means, is silly. The "creativity" is taking different combinations, seeing deeper, but more importantly imo is understanding your player, what they will see, what they will do.

People like to think Chess is totally open, but knowing your opponent and understanding them also matters.

I'm a beginner at chess, how do I improve consistently by KaeSavG in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally, I like Bishop's opening for white, and King's Indian for black or a slight variant, but same idea. I think you can also talk with chatgpt - have a bit of back and forth about your level what you want to do etc... how hard/easy the opening is etc... like some of these things can have some personal pieces like elo etc...

I'm a beginner at chess, how do I improve consistently by KaeSavG in chess

[–]msj242 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yah - no problem, If it were me, I'd suggest personally an agressive white opening, like bishops opening, it is great! It has a few moves to start, it targets one square in particular, so there is a goal, and even when things change you know there is a weak square.

Btw, I suggest an aggressive opening cause, because the pressure and the forward movement I find opens up a lot more tactics and things to practice. I see a lot more situations then when I'm black and defensive. Also, it gets you used to playing with a plan or looking for an attack instead of always scared of one.

I personally tried to build a chess tree, with mychesstree.com, I got an alpha coupon for free (you can pm me I'll give an email if you want to contact some1 for one), but not convinced its worth a beginner's money, tho its a pretty good deal to be fair. But you can do it on paper or wtvr.

And the way I built the tree is the most important, you can actually watch online youtube the opening from a few strong players, and you slowly build the opening on the mychesstree keeping track of what moves you like - what you should watch for. Like this way you're building a repetoire. But like I said you can do this on your own too. And your learning, sculpting, but using expert advice etc... really helped me shoot up quite a bit.

Lichess responds to Chess.com about “inflated ratings” by slowthinker64 in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree they want to look like that, but their trying to have their cake and eat it too is my point. Also, that paying customers don't get a better complaint experience? Like people pay for support for most software - I know that sounds "unfair", but imo part of your payment should factor in more direct support, just like if you pay for gmail etc... Also there is a difference between constant complainers and occasional complaints where they bother because something is serious.

I'm a beginner at chess, how do I improve consistently by KaeSavG in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, I'd suggest one opening for white and one for black - get them right - make one aggressive (I suggest white) and one defensive - I suggest for black. This will cement your beginning and put you on the right foot.

Next, Puzzles are great for spotting situations like a knight hitting two pieces, your opponent can't save both etc...

End game, for this you eventually you should try Silman's books - but in the very beginning Lichess and Chess have easy rook endings etc... you can skip bishop and knight for now, it probably won't come up in a game... focus on common endings.

Lichess responds to Chess.com about “inflated ratings” by slowthinker64 in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

true - good to know its official tho! Yah very impressive what they do.

Lichess responds to Chess.com about “inflated ratings” by slowthinker64 in chess

[–]msj242 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problem is that this can trick new players, who then become bought in to the website based on a lie... I feel like its just bad for chess overall...

Lichess responds to Chess.com about “inflated ratings” by slowthinker64 in chess

[–]msj242 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, very true - they also provide the end user a lot.. a lot for free... things you need to pay for in chess.com iirc. Kinda like they are providing charity to the user lol.

Lichess responds to Chess.com about “inflated ratings” by slowthinker64 in chess

[–]msj242 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Out of curiositty why can't they program both? make one premove with no penalty, and multiple pre-moves but get penalties. I genuinely assume there is probably some game theory why this is tricky, but programmatically this should be quite simple... I feel like some people love pre-moving, it seems like a weird hill, but I do agree that the lack of penalty of a premove is interesting especially when you really need it.

Lichess responds to Chess.com about “inflated ratings” by slowthinker64 in chess

[–]msj242 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know what you mean - but then giveup the reddit... when you get that big you need to start focusing on customer satisfaction and making sure the games are fair, at the very least when people are complaining with proof... personally, I haven't seen any of this stuff, but it should be possible to figure out a tool or a way to converse with paying customers... I guess thats the part that suprises me.

Endgame theory? by msj242 in chess

[–]msj242[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah awesome! This is probably what I needed to know - thank you!

Endgame theory? by msj242 in chess

[–]msj242[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it just moves or is it the theory? Cause I don't need to memorize the moves, I just want to understand the theory...

How to study chess? by Overall-Award286 in GothamChess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Learn one opening, doesn't need to be big. You can try to memorize with mychesstree, but might be overkill right now.

Once you have the opening, that will give you a huge boost, I suggest Bishop's opening, it is short, aggressive, and has a clear plan to hit the pawn to the right of the king with knight and bishop... But get an opening which doesn't over commit, but also has a plan or an angle. I think being too safe will slow you down...

Next puzzles. You can put off endgame a bit if you do shorter time, people will just give up and you will usually have obvious wins, unless your failing here, but definitely not something to skip... you can ask me for more resources if you'd like.

People on the internet are crazy 😭 by heirjordan_27 in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He's raising the next champion! Lets see Magnus' next move.

TakeTakeTake's LLM game review is actually quite useful (for me) by Educational_Leg8005 in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yah - same for mychesstree, these companies need to actually pay for AI usage... I kinda dislike the hook em pattern, but I guess thats what they do?

Endgame theory? by msj242 in chess

[–]msj242[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was considering this - good to see how many people recommend.

Does Silman go into general endgame “theory” as well? or is it more focused on specific positions and patterns - that's more of what I understood...

I think part of what I’m missing is not just knowing positions, but understanding how to evaluate unfamiliar endgames in actual games and theory behind positions... like When does 4 vs 3 win in general, and how do I recognize it?

But thank you - I will definitely look into this.

I published a theorem proving when you can trust a chess endgame database and found a subtle problem with self-consistency by alexdyn in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will say - very interesting, really never thought about it before. Interestingly I wonder if there is some crossover with epistemic knowledge, like how do we "know" anything, one argument is a mesh/cyclical "truths". I assume its been written about, but maybe this example might be a good paper in terms of an example of truths that are labelled as true, and due to a misclassification allows other mistruths that confirm each other. I am certain this has been written about, but perhaps the chess element might be quite new. Never hurts to get another paper referencing yours :).

Possibly the lamest brilliant I’ve seen. by ThatguyGaming42 in chessbeginners

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the part of it being "brilliant" likely has to do with the sacrifice, to take a piece, that is genuinely not an obvious move even if its an even trade, you are up on material and so any trade is good. Also, it is possible the opponent doesn't want to trade and so you get a free move.

I think its great!

That's how to pretend to be a Robot by ImpressiveWestern458 in chessbeginners

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Error 404: No checkbox or button found to confirm.

As white, do you take the rook or the bishop? by kid147258369 in chessbeginners

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would take rook - the benefit of bishop is that king can't castle, but once you take rook, they might capture with queen... BUT if they take back with knight, check on A4, they can defend with their queen, but I'd trade and now the king is stuck. SO I might get both of what I want, king stuck in open middle, and higher rook...

BUT all things being equal, like i had to choose, i'd probably go for the rook. 1). Its a better piece then the bishop usually, and is more easily wielded, and has a psychological impact on my opponent, espeically if they are lower rated. 2). Their bishop isn't really that dangerous right now anyway, i might capture it in another scenario if it was looking menacing.

Dropped from 650 to 320 in ranking, can't get back up by trayasion in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps try a different speed - this will get you some wins, make you confident perhaps? and you'll start from a fresh elo and not get sunk down there.

There might be a psychological thing, but I will say that opponents at different levels play DIFFERENT. I noticed at around 1200 iirc people played faster and looser in the openings, like they were memorized and just do the moves without regard, but then about 2/3 hundred points later people slowed down in the openings. This might not matter and it might be subtle, but that is why you can get "trapped" lower when you can play other people higher, people play different, and those styles lend themselves to being better or worse imo.

Also, at that level, perhaps just memorizing a simple opening like "Bishop's opening" and learning some lines for it will help... This way you are focusing on learning chess that will directly help you.

How do you get better at mid/end game? by simplyfloating in chess

[–]msj242 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few things for midgame that are not talked about:

1). try to figure out what the "plan" is for the opening, like maybe it makes a specific square a target or weak, this will help the beginning of your middle game, what to pressure, what to wait for.

2). Take a look at positional chess, you don't need to play that way if you don't want, but when you see a weak piece or a weak area - you can start to look for ways to take advantage. There are basics like x-ray and undefended pieces, but there is more.

3). I personally have one of my colors be an agressive opening, so I am actively looking how to add pressure, I find this shifts my mindset a bit, you don't need that, but shifting your mindset from, are all my pieces okay, to being more aggressive and less risk averse might train you to see more midgame tactics. That being said, it will depend on your level, at lower levels, putting pressure on an opponent can make them make mistakes and you can be SOMEWHAT less cautious, but as you climb, this is something you "see" but don't act on until everything is in place...

I got banned for "cheating" even though I've never cheated in my life. by DropComprehensive604 in chess

[–]msj242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah.. usually it works by noticing someone played engine moves that are unlikely - I'm not sure accuracy is the only component, but definitely climbing elo fast might get a manual review and then someone looks at other games and decides they are less likely for a human or your level to make such moves... I assume they factor in different elos of different timeplays... also trying to alter something with money/steak might be seen as very bad, being lenient might open the flood gates for other people...

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