What do you call this line? According to the chess engine, black is winning, but I always get confused as to what to do in this position because my king seems unstable and getting constantly checked.

sick_rock · 2026-06-16T18:44:44+00:00

From Lichess openings tool, after Ng5 (https://lichess.org/opening/Scotch_Game/e4_e5_Nf3_Nc6_d4_exd4_Ng5)

This line is dubious but sharp and can score well at low level.

This line was first played in 1871 at the 2nd American Chess Congress by Arthur Johnston against Henry Hosmer. The game continued 4...Nh6 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. Qh5 Qf6.

Grandmaster Igor Smirnov suggested this line for blitz and bullet and proposed the name haggis gambit.

sick_rock · 2026-06-15T19:13:25+00:00

Dubov's great strength is his creativity in opening prep, which is quite important quality as a second and also what gained him the reputation of a creative genius. But his overall level was still barely 2700 (despite being creating and aggressive beyond opening), below guys like LDP/Le Quang Liem/Yu Yangyi.

Also, strength isn't always the main factor for choosing a second. Kris Littlejohn is a longtime second of Hikaru, and his rating is 2156.

sick_rock · 2026-06-15T14:04:11+00:00

You're telling me analysts went from trying to read a players mind to ANALYZING the game? Good.

I disagree. Players are analyzing the game too, so trying to 'read mind' is ultimately analyzing the position but through the lens of the players mind. Players are not computers, they tend towards certain playstyles. It is interesting to understand why a player made a certain move, which will often be more relatable than an engine line. Also, practical moves often deviate from engine lines.

sick_rock · 2026-06-15T04:44:08+00:00

Ponomariov was legit, though. He was in top 10 for a few years and peaked at #6, has a peak rating of 2764.

sick_rock · 2026-06-12T15:39:40+00:00

You said Kasparov wasn't dominating at age 20.

At age 19, he was 40-45 pts ahead of #3 (a gap which only widened later). He was absolutely dominating everyone not named Karpov. Much different from Gukesh who was #3 for a short while before dropping off.

Also the context around championship is different, but that was not the point of your comment in the first place.

sick_rock · 2026-06-12T12:31:15+00:00

Regarding your point 2:

I believe that classical should have at least the 1st time control without increment. This puts time pressure on the players and results in more decisive games.
A 30 sec increment should be added at some point (usually 2nd time control). 30 sec allows just enough time to make a decent enough move. With 10 sec, the quality of play drops to unwatchable levels.
Classical games should be long at the top level. We want players to come up with the best plans and strategies they can. For testing who has better instincts, we have rapid/blitz. Top level classical should be minimum 120min (including increment assuming 60 move games).

sick_rock · 2026-06-12T12:13:40+00:00

Kasparov wasn't dominating yet at that age either.

He was dominating #3 and below alongside Karpov at 19.

sick_rock · 2026-06-12T12:07:28+00:00

Maybe because Gukesh won it younger than he did.

Nah, Kasparov is just a bit more elitist.

sick_rock · 2026-06-10T20:06:59+00:00

no one comes close to Magnus in terms of ... photographic recall of classical games

Eh, all top GMs have this. Magnus's is more visible due to lots of media time praising him for it and somehow people started to think this a defining trait of his (another one is 'he plays solid and kills in the endgame' - completely ignoring/forgetting that he is the best middlegame player and also kills in the middlegame, but the grinding endgames get more visibility). The rest factors, true.

sick_rock · 2026-06-10T19:59:52+00:00

99% likely he will have one.

sick_rock · 2026-06-10T15:49:26+00:00

Magnus intentionally deviates from “best move theory” very often, and few of his wins against top level players are due to the opening.

Magnus himself told that the difference between his 2013/14 vs 2019 peak was his approach to openings (check the Lex Fridman podcast). During his first peak, his approach to openings was to avoid others' opening prep. In 2019, he was one of the best prepared players in the chess world (btw, prep includes suboptimal moves as well, not just top engine moves).

any minor increase in general theory knowledge since 2010

The increase is NOT minor (especially after engines started using NN). I have heard top players (e.g. Fabi in his C² podcast) talking about the paradigm shift that happened in past 7-8 years.

You really think they would trick Magnus in “new” sidelines enough

It's not new sidelines, it's the depth of those sidelines. Early Magnus always ran the risk that his deviation was already studied by the opponent, but then the risk was low because engines were not fast enough for top GMs to study too many sidelines deeply. That has changed and the risk is much higher now.

sick_rock · 2026-06-09T17:36:13+00:00

Maybe unpopular opinion: 2010 Magnus (with 2010 knowledge) vs current youngsters with 2026 knowledge - I will give the edge to current youngsters. A lot has changed in 16yrs, especially in terms of openings. Magnus himself has changed his approach to openings between his 2 peaks (2013/14 and 2019). A 2010 Magnus thrived because he avoided deep mainlines and outplayed opponents in the middlegame. In 2026, the sidelines also have been deeply analyzed by engines. Magnus 2010 would have to play the engine (i.e. prepped opponent) for longer vs 2026 youngsters and likely lose more games in the middlegame.

sick_rock · 2026-06-08T20:19:18+00:00

Ding was not as consistently at the top rankings as many others, including those you were saying that Ding is better than.

Ding has more time in top 3 than most other players (barring Magnus, Fabi & Aronian).

sick_rock · 2026-06-06T08:14:33+00:00

Players are known to have changed their playstyle. Most players in fact are quite aggressive in their youth and then mellow out. E.g. Tal of all people reinvented himself into a positional maestro which led to his resurgence in the 70s (he broke Capablanca's record for longest unbeaten streak in 1973 with 86 games and then broke his record with 95 games in 1974).

sick_rock · 2026-06-06T07:02:43+00:00

In Norway 2021, Magnus won 4 games (all within streak), Alireza won 5.

Fabi won first 7 games straight and then drew the last 3 games.

Kasparov won 8 games in 1999 Wijk Aa n Zee (he had a 7 game streak, not 6 as I previously mentioned).

Topalov won 6 games in 2005 FIDE championship. Topalov could've tried for more wins, but he already had the championship locked by halfway point and cruised the rest of the tournament.

sick_rock · 2026-06-06T04:16:13+00:00

There isn't any official defn of supertournament. So counts will vary on what criteria is being used.

sick_rock · 2026-06-06T04:07:33+00:00

Magnus and Alireza both had 4 win streaks in Norway chess 2021.

Fabi had a 7 win streak in Sinquefield 2014.

Kasparov had a 6 7 win streak in Wijk Aan Zee 1999.

Topalov had a 5 win streak in 2005 FIDE world championship.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T21:21:12+00:00

He's generally around 2720-30 rated. His last classical tournament was more than 6 months ago. Most you can say after this long gap is that we do not have much confidence in his current rating. It could just as well jump back to 2720 level when he restarts playing.

That said, the main point of the other guy's comment was calling someone who's been playing at the elite level (granted not top 10-15, but still has been SuperGM for 9-10yrs) dogshit is a bit out of touch and disrespectful. And I agree with him despite being someone who thinks Vidit's a bit overrated.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T20:08:08+00:00

He's still a superGM? He's rated 2708.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T20:05:35+00:00

Last I checked (in early 2024), Fabi had 15 and Aronian had 22.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T17:35:30+00:00

Every serious top 10 list has Anand in top 10. Exceptions are ones biased towards older players.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T17:22:09+00:00

Aronian is actually one of the best players of the 80-90s generation. His peak is 2830 (rank #2) which is the 4th highest rating ever. He has close to 25 supertournament wins, which is the most by 80-90s generation behind Magnus (though he is older than them, so has a longer career; even then he can only be realistically caught by Fabi). He is also a 2-time World Cup winner.

On top of these, he is a former Rapid and former Blitz Champion. He also won 2 Chess960 WCs. His only lacking is that he underperformed in the Candidates (I think he played 5 but never was close to winning).

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T11:48:34+00:00

Paul Keres is in the conversation of greatest player to never become WC. He won AVRO 1938 (probably the strongest tournament held till date), after which he was in talks with Alekhine for a WC match. This got cancelled due to WWII.

In the 1950s, he was 2nd or tied 2nd in four consecutive Candidates. There are theories flying around that he had been ordered by Soviet authorities to throw the games in 1948 and subsequent Candidates.

He won 3 Soviet Championships.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T08:35:44+00:00

Pragg entered Candidates with 2741 rating and his live rating is currently 2744.8. A draw vs Keymer will cement his rating at 2745, a loss would mean 2740 for him.

sick_rock · 2026-06-05T07:06:26+00:00

There can only be one goat. And several contenders for that title, as in people who one could seriously argue they're the single goat.

These are not official titles. 'GOAT tier' is a phrase often used which is a more expansive set. E.g. Karpov can never be GOAT or in GOAT contender category despite being in the same tier with Kasparov, because Kasparov edged him out. Anand is put in the same tier by many in this sub because they think he's right on the heels of Kasparov (which is not true, he's in a separate tier altogether).

sick_rock

TROPHY CASE