demagogue on 25/1/2014 at 15:54
I know I dropped out of our chess scene last year when I got busy with my new Fellowship, sorry about that.
I had what I thought was a cool looking 5-piece mate today against the computer though, me as White (winning against it is still a real accomplishment for me), and felt inspired to share the final position. The game itself was kind of wild though.
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PigLick on 25/1/2014 at 15:55
you've actually won against the computer?
*mind blown*
we need to get back into this if people have time, twas good fun before.
*shakes fist at Subjeff*
faetal on 25/1/2014 at 17:00
Yeah, I had to pack it in while I concentrated on the thesis because I was frustrated by not improving quickly enough and ended up throwing too much time into learning chess - had to stop. I hand in my thesis next Friday (fuckfuckfuck) and then, after the obligatory week of sleeping, crying and drinking until the world goes white, I shall start doing intellectual things for leisure again.
[EDIT] Btw, nice mate Dema :) Just looking at the pieces and thinking about where they can go makes me want to play again. There really is no game like it. Should have its own genre: turn-based move-em-up.
SubJeff on 25/1/2014 at 17:12
I'm game.
PigLick on 25/1/2014 at 17:35
shit better get practicing again
Nuth on 26/1/2014 at 04:41
If you're talking about the Grooten book, bear in mind that it's relatively advanced. I'd rate it as a high intermediate book. Be prepared to put in some serious study if you get it. It looks like a very good book, good enough that it's one I purchased. Haven't read it yet--imagine that, ha! Actually, I have two or three other books I want to read before I get to the Grooten book.
The other book I mentioned in that thread, I don't own, but Beim is very good at explaining things. Looks to be an easier book than the one by Grooten, but I'd still expect it to be an excellent book.
demagogue on 31/1/2014 at 06:56
For where I'm at, I feel like the Seirawan Winning Chess books are the fastest bang-for-buck in terms of what I learn for study time. Maybe they seem basic, but I actually learn a lot from them. He explains things really clearly for me, and he puts it all in foundational terms, I mean in keeping the overall picture always in view and how everything hangs together (as opposed to specialized topics that just apply to their little corner). Well, more than that, it's stuff that works in terms of immediately improving how I play.
I feel pretty good at tactics & middle-game play and respectable end-game, but I need to actually get to the middle game unscathed to do it, and know how moves advance my overall position, so I'm going to go through Seirawan's Strategy & Openings books. And then I think with those two, I'll finally have a full system down and ready to pounce.
Nuth on 31/1/2014 at 07:51
That's a good series of books. Jeremy Silman helped write those, and he is very good at explaining things.
Dunno if anyone is interested, but the Zurich Chess Challenge is taking place now. I think this year's tournament is the highest rated tournament ever. Magnus Carlsen won the first long time control tournament game that he's played since becoming world champion. Here's part of the game with commentary: (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFwKASfSozQ&feature=youtu.be)
Neat pawn sacrifice by Carlsen to improve his position then ties Boris Gelfand into knots with tactics to finish the game.
Round 2 has Carlsen playing Lev Aronian(ranked number 2 in the world and a likely challenger for Carlsen's crown), so I'm looking forward to that game.
Gryzemuis on 31/1/2014 at 11:03
Carlsen's games are a mystery to me. And I think they are a mystery to most players.
They always start so boring. Carlsen's openings are nothing special. He never starts a heavy attack. He never manages to get any obvious advantage out of the opening. Then in the middle-game, nothing seems to be happening as well. Until the middle-game is almost over, then he seems to have some tiny advantage. Most players would happily agree upon a draw at that point. But Carlsen plays on. Somehow he either manages to convert that tiny advantage into a clear win. Or because he keeps the pressure up for so long, his opponent will make a small unnecessary mistake, and he wins as well. It almost seems pure luck. But because he does it so often, it's not luck. He seems to understand the transition between middle-game and end-game better than most other players. (Maybe Aronian, Kramnik, and a handfull of others can follow). Carlsen is unique. It's almost as if he has developed a whole new style of playing chess. Not good entertaining chess. Not good to teach new players. But something mysterious, yet totally devastating.
I'll keep an eye on the games. I do the puzzle on the frontpage of chessgames.com every day anyway.
