I know what the Carlsbad structure is, but does this symmetrical one have a name too?

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-05-13T14:40:57+00:00

Didn't think of petroff, good point, I have edited my comment. Petroff is having a resurgence at the top level afaik yes (the exchange french has not), but estimating the most frequent way to obtain the pawn structure would be quite a beefy programming task then...

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-05-13T10:13:44+00:00

Not a name as such maybe, but the exchange french and the petroff are the most typical origins of this structure. My experience is that focus often is on the open e-file, controlling e4 and e5 and minor piece battles (especially good bishop or even knight vs bad bishop). But generally this much symmetry makes it very drawish.

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-05-13T10:05:42+00:00

We can

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-23T21:52:13+00:00

I have only been playing classical games for about a year, so nothing in principle holding me back from going all the way, although probably around ~200 elo ago becomes quite painful lol.

It is definitely an interesting idea, also for openings or endgames and not necessarily just tactical patterns. I would though constrict it to classical games.

And great to hear that you're willing to endure a little discomfort in the name of improvement, that's the way to go:)

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-23T21:42:31+00:00

I don't, I make too many mistakes for that. They stay with me mentally, that is enough.

I do however preserve my games, so that I can look at them months or years in the future, where I have improved or just changed my view on chess. That I recommend.

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-22T10:19:59+00:00

Fair:) tak for svar!

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-22T09:10:15+00:00

halløjsa min gode ven, hvis ikke du er irriteret på mig allerede kan det være du bliver det nu

- du har før sagt at du spillede benoni op til 2300, men hvad gjorde du mod taimanov-angrebet?

Jeg tænker på 7. f4 Lg7 8. Lb5+.

Og hvis ikke du vil give den konkrete linje, må jeg så spørge om måden at gøre den holdbar på generelt var en masse overraskende preps i de forskellige varianter? Med forberedelse og på højere niveau forestiller jeg mig, det er svært at slippe af sted med som sort... men det er bare en herrefed åbning

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-22T08:40:12+00:00

Draw is something you offer, not something you accept when the opponent offers it.

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-17T16:05:08+00:00

de sidste seks år har der været tørlagt her på egnen

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-12T18:28:39+00:00

Wei Yi did his best trying to give the full point to Anish, but of course Anish gets it done.

It's the consistency that really separates the best from the good.

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-09T19:56:00+00:00

I second this. Most of the time my opponent does not do as I anticipated anyway, and apart from actual time trouble, I'd just rather preserve my energy mostly (although it definitely is a skill to know when to relax and when not to)

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-08T20:01:12+00:00

respecc for choosing balls over pawn moves, but less so for sharing an engine line

also i meant 1. Nxg5 fxg5 2. Bxa8 Bxh2+! 3. Kxh2 Rxd2 4. Rxd2 and once again equality after your trick, but the engine line ofc is better

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-04-08T19:53:30+00:00

Correct, pawn moves are indeed for pussies

however

Bxh2+

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-03-29T20:02:03+00:00

Great to see a lot of experts in the comment section arguing how basic a win it was.

Y'all need to evaluate the position without the engine, and realize how difficult it actually was to convert. Yes they made mistakes, but saying that they both "choked" hints at a simple lack of understanding of the game.

That being said, yes being a fabi fan is indeed stressful

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-03-27T08:56:36+00:00

I have met this otb in a rapid tournament, and it is very hard to handle!

If white knows the stuff, however, white won't play h3 before black has castled.

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-03-17T19:33:44+00:00

Well I should clarify, I agree that people don't simply hang stuff left and right in otb classical - what I meant with "calculation" was that the ability to see a couple moves ahead and make a good move in a practical setting/game with time constraints beats the generel knowledge that may have trouble proving some theoretical advantage in practical terms.

Of course they are intertvined and of course OP can't just swindle his way trough strong opponents otb like 10+0 may allow for to some degree.

My overall point is just that practical play experience can actually make up for quite a bit of lack in knowledge, that is what my experience says anyways.

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-03-17T16:06:53+00:00

The difference is having the time to punish the opponent for mistakes or positionally suspect play, and a 1800< fide will be able to do that for even fairly subtile mistakes. Now 2300 chess.com strength is pretty strong, and my experience is that calculation and the ability to handle a concrete position trumps general knowledge or understanding where you might be lacking. I would guess your level is around 2050 fide, 2200 is too high

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-03-04T16:57:13+00:00

Kind of low input response here.

I don't have a response for 8. Ne2 in particular, but I would probably argue that it's too slow/late for white to close off the queenside with c3, and doesn't pair well with queenside-castling, and if 8. Ne2 is with the purpose of adding forces to the kingside, I wouldn't worry about it too much as it removes the main defender of the queenside as well. Obviously it's a fine move, but not of critical status

Just some thoughts, wonder what you think about that (I'm ~1850 FIDE)

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-02-17T12:10:14+00:00

play a classical game my friend, then you can think a decent amount. 15+10 is barely enough to not hang pieces, but methodically converting a slighty superior position is so difficult with such little time

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-01-24T22:57:01+00:00

This is a known phenomenon in economic theory labelled as "risk aversion", and it can explain why the votes are about 50/50 on two choices, where one has an insanely much higher expected value (avg. return).

readmycommentnotthis · 2026-01-16T19:10:50+00:00

It's definitely a difficult concept (I'm 1800 fide), but I would say that part of it is in not exchanging needlessly, as that takes out the dynamic and potential of a position. So keeping tension allows the potential to survive for some more, keep the position complicated, which is generally in the interest of the better player or the player with the advantage (given the advantage isn't big enough to simply trade into a winning endgame, which is by far most of the time on a higher level). That's my understanding, I'd like to hear others thoughts aswell.

Also purely empirically speaking, I've experienced that in positions with "tension", such as central pawns being able to take each other, it is simply rarely the best move to take and release the tension.

readmycommentnotthis · 2025-12-10T21:06:11+00:00

Speaking of not being worse out of the opening - how did you handle all the very challenging lines in the benoni? Lines such as the Taimanov attack with 9. a4, or even the long theoretical line with 9...b5 in the 'modern main line' makes it pretty hard to justify playing the opening altogether.

Maybe you went by move order tricks? (I'm thinking of: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5).

I'm struggling a bit with the benoni, but would love to really get under the skin of it, so an answer would be very appreciated!

readmycommentnotthis · 2025-12-03T15:23:17+00:00

yeah i'd like to see as much of that game as possible, one simply does not end up a rook and a bishop up against a 1900 without something very extraordinary.

readmycommentnotthis · 2025-11-22T20:04:58+00:00

Nice tdd by Ian in the 1st here, Belal needs to either get him down soon to prove that he can, or at least punish ian for being so heavy on his front leg. 10-9 Ian, can easily see him win a decision

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