You basically get a really long time to make your move, so you can really think it out... And you can play many, many games at once, so you don't have to feel like you're waiting on someone either.
PS: [ indent ] if you really want to use it... Most of us just put a space
You sir, good sir, are a saint. I was pondering taking a course on Java just to be able to indent, I'll edit it now. I'll check out the site too, thank you.
I've been a member for years and it is easily my favorite place to go and play chess online. Also, no clue if you are interested, but you can watch GMs and IMs play blitz, which can be entertaining. Further, the club has tons of lectures on a variety of topics and offers live coverage of major tournaments.
Just out of curiousity, what is the strength of the players posting? My High is 1967 USCF.
I perform around USCF 1800ish although I have beaten rated USCF players above 2000. I am more of a blitz player/fan though. If you want chess you can play on school computers (like in computer labs) you can use instantchess.com. For your level its probably pretty good and its free.
On June 05 2009 12:40 illu wrote: First learn the mechanics. How each pieces move and their values. Then learn some build orders. I say that I actually mean some common openings and variations. You absolutely need to know how each opening plays out and which move gives you the more advantages. Memorize if needed. Then learn some end game mechanics. For example how to win with a lone rock (or at least know that you can win with Rock + King vs King), and how you cannot win with Knightx2 + King vs King unless in exceptional circumstances. For something slightly more difficult but also essential you need to know about end game pawns.
I personally find the mid-game difficult with pseudo-infinitely many variations. That's when you may want to rely on experience (play as many as you can?).
If you want some resources, try this to begin with (and all of his videos):
I love this guy, I've been watching him even before this whole chess adventure (not really learning anything but just cause I'm fasinated my people who really understand something; odd parallel, I started watching Chill's strat vods before I started playing sc as well ). Thanks for the guidence; could you clear something up for me though, I'm pretty sure I know all the piece values and whatnot but why do people sac bishops for knights? Isn't the bishop=6 and the knight=5?
afaik, bishop and knight are both 3.
pawn 1 bishop/knight 3 rook 5 queen 9 king over 9000
That is a rough estimate, but it doesn't tell the whole story. A few simple things to note.
1. Pieces in general are worth more than pawns even if it's fair exchange(i.e. bishop > 3 pawns). Value of pawns vary depending on the situation. But for beginner, don't worry too much about such things. 2. Bishop pairs are worth more than Bishop/Knight or 2 knights. This is due to their ability to control both light and dark square. Bishops operate better under open conditions, and knights under closed conditions. But that said, bishops are simpler to use than knights(kind of like mech terran vs MnM terran) 3.Trading bishop/knight for rook is almost always a good proposition. 4. 2 rooks > Queen + pawn(or even 2 pawns) in general. 5. Everything above are just general guidelines. Use them for now until you know enough to judge yourself.
and bishops are better in open games and knights are worth more in tight games
First of all: Check out #Chess on quakenet IRC (same server as #teamliquid). Over the years, a small community of players has established there, although the really skilled ones dont join anymore due to RL. Even though, I teach everyone who comes in there the general basics and give pointers - if wanted.
Teamliquid has some very good players: OnePageMemory, who is an IM, and SR17, who although without a title beat several IMs/GMs, are by far the strongest and competed in the final of the first teamliquid chess tourney (unfortunately the second tourney was never played out). Other noteworthy players are kdog3682, Xeofreestyler (who is ridiculously strong but rarely plays anymore) and micronesia, who started chess just some months ago and improved dramatically.
A quick overview about the most common chessservers:
ICC (Internet Chess Club)
ICC in chess is like... ICC in bw (duh). Seriously, it is the server with the highest general level of play, the place where strong players train online if they cant find someone in RL. Players are usually too busy playing and improving and have no time for flaming/bm. If you want to boast with an rating on an internet chess server, you can do it with an ICC one. The membership does cost money though.
Playchess.com can be compared to the battle.net - its free, there are a lot of good (and bad) players online and most people play for fun. If you buy Fritz or Rybka, you can play for 6-12 months for free, after that period you can continue to play though without the chat-feature. Since there are so many players, people will often ignore (=banning you from their games forever) or flame you when you win vs them, which sometimes can be really depressing. There is also a ton of features like live coverage of tourneys or observing GMs/IMs, which can be a lot of fun - Starwars (Nakamura) vs Rafael (presumably Kasparov) are always high paced games with a lot of energy. You can also play for coins, enabling you to prolong your membership or buy goods from the shop. Dont take the rating there too serious, it really means not much. You can win (or lose) several hundred points within ours, one guy from Germany once did a bet ant went from 0 to 29xx within two days.
Chess.com
Comparatively new site where most guys from our channel play nowadays and the best place for beginners imo. A lot of newbies in Live Chess as well as Online Chess (basically correspondence chess). Basically, if you know an opening and do and blundercheck before every move, you should be easy getting to 14xx.
That being said, you may just join our channel and play some games for fun.
I've been a member for years and it is easily my favorite place to go and play chess online. Also, no clue if you are interested, but you can watch GMs and IMs play blitz, which can be entertaining. Further, the club has tons of lectures on a variety of topics and offers live coverage of major tournaments.
Just out of curiousity, what is the strength of the players posting? My High is 1967 USCF.
Wow, a serious chess player.
I think my high was in the 1400s(can't remember exactly), back when I played from 8th to 10th grades. Then college preparation stuff got in the way and haven't touched a chess board since.
I am (was) a quite competetive player myself, got to 2000 ELO rating before university kicked in and I kinda stopped playing then. What I did, I went to a local club, got owned by 8 year old kids (oh my god that hurt my ego sooooo bad ), went home scratching my head. Got some basic books on strategy and tactics, studied them religiously. I went to that club 3 times a week, and I was getting crushed but I analyzed each game with my mentor. Month later those little smart-asses got what they deserved.
I started playing in real tournaments after that, and those are sooooooo valuable. I never really played online, live play is just so much more instructive. And you get to meet new people and you can ask them for advice and stuff.
Well, in short go join the local chess club. It took me a year to get my rating, and one more year later I was able to play against 2100-2200 players on equal footing. And I didn't even study theory that much. Some basic opening theory, some tactical stuff, quite a bit of typical middlegame positions. I sucked at calculating variations. The key was analyzing ALL of my games - preferably with my mentor. That, and good endgame knowledge.
Overall, chess isn't an easy game. I know plenty of intelligent people that will never get decent at this game no matter what. It takes a lot of talent and dedication to achieve anything substantial. This isn't starcraft which you can geek for a year or two and then be one of the best. Nope, nothing like that. It kinda depresses me to know that I will never achieve grandmaster title (I do have enough talent, believe me on that, but I don't have the dedication), but I simply love the game itself.
This thread got me thinking that I should probably start playing online as well, seeing how I practically haven't played in any live tournaments for the last year and my skill has dropped down tremendously .
On June 05 2009 12:40 illu wrote: First learn the mechanics. How each pieces move and their values. Then learn some build orders. I say that I actually mean some common openings and variations. You absolutely need to know how each opening plays out and which move gives you the more advantages. Memorize if needed. Then learn some end game mechanics. For example how to win with a lone rock (or at least know that you can win with Rock + King vs King), and how you cannot win with Knightx2 + King vs King unless in exceptional circumstances. For something slightly more difficult but also essential you need to know about end game pawns.
I personally find the mid-game difficult with pseudo-infinitely many variations. That's when you may want to rely on experience (play as many as you can?).
If you want some resources, try this to begin with (and all of his videos):
I love this guy, I've been watching him even before this whole chess adventure (not really learning anything but just cause I'm fasinated my people who really understand something; odd parallel, I started watching Chill's strat vods before I started playing sc as well ). Thanks for the guidence; could you clear something up for me though, I'm pretty sure I know all the piece values and whatnot but why do people sac bishops for knights? Isn't the bishop=6 and the knight=5?
afaik, bishop and knight are both 3.
pawn 1 bishop/knight 3 rook 5 queen 9 king over 9000
That is a rough estimate, but it doesn't tell the whole story. A few simple things to note.
1. Pieces in general are worth more than pawns even if it's fair exchange(i.e. bishop > 3 pawns). Value of pawns vary depending on the situation. But for beginner, don't worry too much about such things. 2. Bishop pairs are worth more than Bishop/Knight or 2 knights. This is due to their ability to control both light and dark square. Bishops operate better under open conditions, and knights under closed conditions. But that said, bishops are simpler to use than knights(kind of like mech terran vs MnM terran) 3.Trading bishop/knight for rook is almost always a good proposition. 4. 2 rooks > Queen + pawn(or even 2 pawns) in general. 5. Everything above are just general guidelines. Use them for now until you know enough to judge yourself.
On June 05 2009 20:32 IMlemon wrote: I am (was) a quite competetive player myself, got to 2000 ELO rating before university kicked in and I kinda stopped playing then.
Link to your FIDE or national 2000 elo rating account please.
and your post about starcraft is fucking retarded.
1. work on your endgames. it's a very important aspect because from the midgame, you will be able to make better and precise decisions for your endgame. Not all the time you can win with a significant material advantage; with precision, you can win your opponent due to greater foresight on the minimum material required for a win.
2. for starters, don't use clocks. it hampers improvement as one might form a reliance on time-up to win. especially blitz chess.
3. always record your games and ask 'why did i win' or 'why did i lose'. finding out the turning point of the match is always important.
4. Opening learning should be kept to a minimum until you have very very good foundation of the endgame. opening systems are quite developed now and are more or less 'there' already. Hence, i suggest beginners to take white at all times first so as to have a certain control over the opening.
5. review higher level games and try to put yourself in the player's shoes. what was he thinking? what was his intent? you can see the effect after a few moves. it's advisable to read a level only slightly higher so as to comprehend it easier. jumping straight to GM level might leave you totally clueless as to what he's thinking.