The Official Chess Thread (ICC / USCF)

[Ming the Merciless]

Yes, this thread is about chess.

Click HERE for the daily chess problem on ChiefsPlanet...d1=easy,d2=hard,d3=GOD MODE

**If you have any interest in learning Chess or Playing on the ChiefsPlanet team, should we make one....bump this thread or PM me**

Chess Players Contact List * PM me or post in this thread to be added

Pawnmower - Chess.com - handle = Pawnm0wer (a zero)
Msmith - yahoo chess - handle unknown
otherstar - chess.com - handle = otherstar

PLEASE Bump this thread and let me know what site you use to play chess, and your handle if you wish to be on the list!



If you want to get started, here are some links to help you:

Click the banner below to join a GREAT free Chess website
You can play, study openings, solve puzzles, chat etc...

I play chess at Chess.com!

Pawnm0wer
Rating: 1696

Challenge me!

View my games

www.chesstempo.com <---- free site to help you improve your tactics/thinking (puzzles)
---
Play free Online Chess <--- play free

www.chessclub.com <-- maybe for now best place I know of for chess, not free but it is pretty CHEAP. They have a free week trial. If you join this site, I can look at your games and help you get better. Videos, masters playing 24/7 you can watch, lectures, simuls....so many things...

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

Ok Here is a very typical puzzle:

http://chesstempo.com/chess-problems/64

I haven't played chess in years, but I couldn't even figure out how to use that webpage, LOL, so I must be really stupid. It said "black to play" up top so I took the white rook with my black rook and let the white bishop take my rook, then I took (I think) a white knight with my black bishop.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by JD10367

I haven't played chess in years, but I couldn't even figure out how to use that webpage, LOL, so I must be really stupid. It said "black to play" up top so I took the white rook with my black rook and let the white bishop take my rook, then I took (I think) a white knight with my black bishop.

Thats my fault...I cant figure out how to make the links work for guests! (yet!)

BUT... You absolutely got the problem correct....Nice! It should say 'correct' but for some reason the link I used isn't working...(I am attempting to figure out why...)

If you had a free account, you would receive points towards your tactics rating and as you move higher in points, it serves you harder and harder problems...(you only get the points on problems randomly served in rated mode tho)

Nice job brospeh!


edit: so yah, you figured out the POINT of the problem....and that is if you take the knight 1st, he can simply take back with the rook and you have gained jack and shit. BUT if you trade off the rooks 1st, the knight is left without a defender. /highfive

[JohnnyV13]

Pawnmower, i'm not ranked, but i play a lot of strong uscf players in 10 minute games around tucson. I have beaten one master rank and a number of expert ranks in these casual games. Many players in this group generally estimate me as a 1700 to 1800 player. I once had a 2000+ rating on msn, but don't know how that would compare to a uscf rating, since its hard to play anything more than a 10minute game on such sites.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by JohnnyV13

Pawnmower, i'm not ranked, but i play a lot of strong uscf players in 10 minute games around tucson. I have beaten one master rank and a number of expert ranks in these casual games. Many players in this group generally estimate me as a 1700 to 1800 player. I once had a 2000+ rating on msn, but don't know how that would compare to a uscf rating, since its hard to play anything more than a 10minute game on such sites.

Hey bud!

Niiice! Tuscon sounds like a pretty cool scene...Around here (SF) they always wanna play 5 minute.....I hate 5 minute so much....10 minute is way better....I have never beaten a master, or an expert in a tournament game. I have beaten and drawn A players...and I once drew an expert in an actual tournament game. If you are 2000+ in MSN, I would wager that puts you at the A or B class. Pretty strong....You must have some natural talent or maybe you played as a kid? I dodnt start till I was 30ish so I have really had to work at it......But it is fun. You should register! You could play in some tournaments and win some decent money if you havent gotten rated yet. Theres pretty good prize money at tourneys sometimes....and if you are just starting out your rating will be lower than your actual strength for a while, so youll be able to enter D class and C class tourneys and PWN them! Dooooooo itttt!

Edit:

Im not sure about MSN but www.chesscube.com is a pretty good site too for playing others.....

ALso www.chesstempo.com -- once your 'blitz' rating gets to the point where tour RD (rating deviation) is lower that about 100 , I think it equates pretty well to a USCF rating....it is free try it...I think you need to do about 100 problems maybe on blitz mode before it gets accurate.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

BUT... You absolutely got the problem correct....Nice! . . . edit: so yah, you figured out the POINT of the problem....and that is if you take the knight 1st, he can simply take back with the rook and you have gained jack and shit. BUT if you trade off the rooks 1st, the knight is left without a defender. /highfive

Really? That was it? Jeez. I rarely played chess, and I don't consider myself any good at it, but I saw that move immediately and didn't think it was anything hard. Maybe I'm smarter than I think, LOL.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by JD10367

Really? That was it? Jeez. I rarely played chess, and I don't consider myself any good at it, but I saw that move immediately and didn't think it was anything hard. Maybe I'm smarter than I think, LOL.

Yah man! You nailed it...You should start a free account there and play like 5-10 problems erry' day!

If you do that in a few months you'll really gain some strength.

If you ever have any that stump you, post the problem number up and we will work on it together!

[JohnnyV13]

JI started when i was six.

My dad was (and still is) a pretty strong self taught player who never read a chess book.

I played regularly until i was 12, but was so much stronger than my friends that i got bored with the game. Played a little in college. Toyed with 'power chess' in the late 90's, but then moved to tucson in the early 2000's.
By chance, i learned that the 60+ grocery stocker who worked in a store across the street from my worklace was a former master rank player. He sort of introduced me to his casual play group.

My game has gotten much stronger since. Though i have only read 3 chess books. Tucson has a ridiculous level of local chess play. In the mid 2000's, a tucson high school won the world high school team championships. In 1999 or so, a tucson kid won the world junior championships. Its easy to run into a 2000 rated player playing speed games in places like a coffee x or borders.

I

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by JohnnyV13

JI started when i was six.

My dad was (and still is) a pretty strong self taught player who never read a chess book.

I played regularly until i was 12, but was so much stronger than my friends that i got bored with the game. Played a little in college. Toyed with 'power chess' in the late 90's, but then moved to tucson in the early 2000's.
By chance, i learned that the 60+ grocery stocker who worked in a store across the street from my worklace was a former master rank player. He sort of introduced me to his casual play group.

My game has gotten much stronger since. Though i have only read 3 chess books. Tucson has a ridiculous level of local chess play. In the mid 2000's, a tucson high school won the world high school team championships. In 1999 or so, a tucson kid won the world junior championships. Its easy to run into a 2000 rated player playing speed games in places like a coffee x or borders.

Sounds great....I live in a pretty small town and have to drive over an hour to get to a decent club with strong players 8-(. Although theres a couple of shops with experts and A players we don't have too many masters in town...

I am not really into fast chess like coffeehouse 5/10 minute but...BUT...It is really really fun...I actually have to pry myself away because I truly think too much of it is bad for your development. If / when I get to the point where I am satisfied and don't care about progressing, I'll be one of those dudes always at a coffee shop LOL.

[JD10367]

I have a small Radio Shack chess computer that's probably older than most of the posters here, LOL. One of those things with 10 levels on it, and the easier the level the quicker it moves. Play it on Level 0 and it's a moron that moves in 1 second. I think I got it up to around Level 5, where it would take about a minute to make a move. (The longer the time, the more moves into the future it calculated.) I think Level 9 was the highest, and it could take hours to make a move...

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by JD10367

I have a small Radio Shack chess computer that's probably older than most of the posters here, LOL. One of those things with 10 levels on it, and the easier the level the quicker it moves. Play it on Level 0 and it's a moron that moves in 1 second. I think I got it up to around Level 5, where it would take about a minute to make a move. (The longer the time, the more moves into the future it calculated.) I think Level 9 was the highest, and it could take hours to make a move...

Hhhhahaha....it is AMAZING how technology has progressed in such a short time...

Try this one:

http://www.turbulence.org/spotlight/thinking/chess.html

Its pretty cool, for a toaster.

I dont recommend humans play toasters on a regular basis, but to use them to study our own games or endgames and such is cool...I prefer playing living beings! But once in a while it is fun...

[WebGem]

Chess? Wut.

[Ming the Merciless]

Medium level explanation of some elementary tactics.

When he says PAUSE , press pause and try and evaluate the position and pick a move.....see if you can guess the right move. (He says pause fast and weird "white to play here, pause...), just hit pause quick LOL)

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

Medium level explanation of some elementary tactics.

When he says PAUSE , press pause and try and evaluate the position and pick a move.....see if you can guess the right move. (He says pause fast and weird, just hit it quick LOL)

I'll have to check this out when I get home, the work puter is firewalled.

I'm old-school. I remember the little puzzles in the newspaper, where it would say "White checkmates in four moves" and you needed to figure them out.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by JD10367

I'll have to check this out when I get home, the work puter is firewalled.

I'm old-school. I remember the little puzzles in the newspaper, where it would say "White checkmates in four moves" and you needed to figure them out.

Oh hell yes...

if you hit pause when he says, and give yourslef like 3-5 mins to solve it.... its a puzzle just like that! Only this guy Peter is like an Expert or Maybe a Master (somewhere in between) so its cool to hear him explain it.

I love puzzles man...I'm addicted

[Earthling]

In grade school my best friend was bed-ridden for a year I would spend countless hours at his bedside playing chess with him. Today would prolly be video games. Anyway, been playing for many years now but haven't played a lot it seems like these past 4 or 5 years. Joined the Chess Federation about 1969 or so and was around 1500 rating when I left after a few years (finihing my enlistment in the Navy). I did some of these puzzles and now am kind of motivated to play some more. Rep and Thanks !