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Game result (chess) B. Ozen, 2269 N. Wilson, 2121 1/2-1/2 See game 152323 |
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Here are 0 results for Ning James in the games.
There are at least 100 results for Ning in the forum.
George Jempty (2026-06-06 20:57:59)
Next thematic tournament
we all have suggested great options there are 3 people (including me) in the 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 tourney right now, let's fill that section up and ask Thib to change the opening line.
Ulises Pineda (2026-06-01 03:15:35)
Cheating / Forfeiting
Let me play devil's advocate here: It makes sense that all these players take a vacation at the same time if they're from the same family, presumably the family goes together on vacation and are expected to come back together as well.
What shouldn't be allowed is if they play each other and let the game run out of time to give the win to one of them, that's not random, but I haven't seen that happening, anyway.
George Jempty (2026-05-28 12:36:54)
Berlin Defense
I used to play the Deferred Schliemann. I used to steer for a line in which the analog without 3...a6 had been played as Black by Lasker, a line involving ...Bd6. I tried it in a US Correspondence championship qualifying round in the 90s but didn't play accurately at all in the opening after that, this was a no-engines tournament (well it was the 90s anyway). But the game score made it's way into chessbase, and a Norwegian IM drew GM Sax with the line in 2005. So I was influencing theory way before the centaur/correspondence era ;) Also, in any case, I've been drawn to ...f5 lines for quite a while, I used to play the Latvian when I was a teenager, but now I've settled on the Modern Steinitz, with it's possibility for the Siesta, but I think overall is more sound than other lines involving ...f5, but still with plenty of winning chances; e.g. the Noah's Ark trap. As Black I play for a win, as White I try not to lose LOL
Ulises Pineda (2026-05-28 09:30:16)
Berlin Defense
OTB I like the Schliemann Defense against the Spanish, after 3...f5 black is completely fine and there's no winning line for white, but there are two other things. First, you can feel it in the air, Ruy Lopez players have spent a great deal of time studying it and they want to prove their superior knowledge aiming for lines where they win if black plays a small inaccuracy, which happens often and that's why they like playing it.
You take that away which is a psychological victory.
Second, they have two options, either they play fast and will most likely abandon the advantage because white needs accurate play to keep her edge, or they will sit to think on the best continuation, but after the position settles down it's equal and you come up with a huge advantage on the clock.
My favorite line is when you have your queen on d4 and they play Nxg6 because they're used to positions where capturing back allows white's queen to capture the rook on h8, only to find out they can't do that because it's protected by the queen! So they have to play Qxg6+ but after covering or moving the king black is already better!
It's as if I saw the Spanish die before my eyes like that, even if my wins are mostly on the clock, it has forced players to avoid playing it against me, because it's easier to go into some g3 and Bb2 stuff and beat me from there than figuring out how to play against 3...f5.
My only lament is its name, it would be so cool if it was the Schliemann Gambit, or Schliemann Counter-Attack or something that gives it justice.
George Jempty (2026-05-27 22:26:57)
Berlin Defense
As it turns out, the Siesta is just as drawish as the Berlin (Capablanca knew it was sound all along), but WAY more fun, especially OTB, with winning chances for both sides, but I like Black
Ulises Pineda (2026-05-15 07:17:39)
PGN
Once you have downloaded the PGN double click it, you will be asked if you want to search the web or choose a program to open it, pick the later. Search for something like Notepad and select it and click OK. Once opened, you'll see some text, you can select this text and copy it, and then paste it to chess lab or another program.
A PGN is just text that contains the chess moves of the game, so, instead of doing all this, you can copy them from the page directly, some programs like Chess Openings Wizard are pedantic and will not accept that you paste the moves, for those you have to copy also the part on the top of the moves, the one that starts with "[Event ", that is, the game pages are already showing PGNs you can copy, because they're just text files with that extension, you'd only download them to access them offline or to store them in a personal game archive.
Paul Guralivu (2026-04-16 10:51:02)
Cheating / Forfeiting
Pretty SUSPECT that 4 players, atleast 1 not part of the family,
take vacation AT 4 AM (in the MORNING!)... minutes or seconds from one-an-other!
Paul Guralivu (2026-04-16 10:15:06)
Cheating / Forfeiting
"Pech/Pechova, I'm looking at you"
this might actually be true:
Stepan Pech ... is in vacation until 2026 April 17 4:20:21
Hana Pechova ... is in vacation until 2026 April 17 4:21:1
Taking vacation in the morning, 40 sec difference.
Trully, someone needs to look close at it!
George Jempty (2026-04-15 13:53:53)
Is rating just a number on this site?
Hello, I'd not responded earlier because I'd taken 45 days leave to begin the year, largely because of frustration around these very sorts of things. Even the 2300+ players do not enter 2200+ tournaments. It's not even because I want to keep drawing 2300+ players to inch my rating up, it's because I want the competition, to enrich my opening repertoire. Enriching my repertoire is the only reason I'm around here anymore, but not for long, not now that I've settled on 1.d4 and 2.g3
Thibault de Vassal (2026-03-13 23:17:02)
Post-tickets FICGS
The long answer:
FICGS story is a quite simple & classic one, the reasons why it's declining are quite obvious, and unfortunately the solutions aren't. A bit of story:
1. Luckily, FICGS.com was created when there were a demand, just after IECG stopped... It grew very quickly, and I was in a rush to code it (FICGS was the very first dynamic website I ran from A to Z), there were ideas from everywhere. FICGS.com was the shortest domain name available, but not a so good one. Quite hard to remember, hard to tell, not clear for search engines (unlike chess.com which is a perfect one). Maybe it was a mistake to choose it, I can't tell. Either it meant "Free Internet Chess Games Server" or "Free Internet Correspondence Games Server", so I added another game, Go (Weiqi), to FICGS, which is a quite heavy decision: After that, FICGS is not only a chess server anymore.
2. A few years after, there are several thousands players (a few hundreds active). The number of new players slowly decreases month after month but a few sponsors come. Obviously, the way I coded FICGS made it more and more difficult to fully update from a PHP version to another one, or to change it in deep. Even now, I'm not sure to regret it though cause I couldn't have done it differently, so it is what it is. At this time, chess.com was less interesting than FICGS (my taste), but success is already here thanks to a perfect marketing formula: best domain name & pay for options. On the contrary, I chose to keep FICGS completely free.
3. Chess engines explode, correspondence chess continues its evolution (human's thinking decreases in moves decision), finally I add another game that is in a hype: poker texas holdem. New sponsors come, I still play correspondence chess myself but now I play another game even more: Google. FICGS also extends this way and it works in some ways. At its peak, FICGS is about the 32,000th most visited website worldwide. But the number of players continues to decrease, Android & phones started to change the landscape already. Chess.com released its app and added probably its best feature: a quick Stockfish analysis with evaluation & explanation for each move (which is excellent for blitz games but quite a non-sense for a correspondence chess website).
4. The number of players suddenly declines very quickly, I react by creating FICGS apps for Android, a dozen apps... On some apps, you can play against the machine, virtual opponents, chess 960, blindfold & so on. But the way to maintain it is not easy at all for many reasons, but the main one is that Google (Playstore) constantly change technical things & rules. After a few years, I even have to completely remake it, losing what was acquired. And some apps still fail to re-appear at Playstore, that's why I just made the APK files available to direct download. But these applications confirm something clear: blitz is more fun and attracts much more players. Changing rating ranges for correspondence chess tournaments or championships formats won't be a solution for this.
5. FICGS is now 20 years old! Internet completely changed over the years but it survived longer than Messenger, Skype & many other great services. If you look at many websites, new versions of their modern interfaces are often worst (bugs or options) than previous ones. FICGS was never perfect, maybe even clear, but at least it remained coherent. Now Google (just like all major services) is mainly governed by AI, sponsors left - that does not change anything, FICGS will continue to run. I created other websites, but none so far successfully helped in a way or another to solve the problem we encounter here: how to increase the number of correspondence chess, Go or poker players again? If FICGS becomes a pure correspondence chess site again with a brand new interface, I'm quite sure that wouldn't change anything or almost. I might be wrong of course, but according to me, this is a deep problem, connected to society evolutions, computers, phones, our attention, time, even health & so on... In my personal case, I wish to play correspondence chess again, but still cannot find the time to do it. Finally I have no idea what internet will look like within 5 years, but FICGS will be there. Maybe an AI will find a solution soon ^^ Meanwhile, I received many ideas to improve FICGS and I have to thank you very much for this. Few ideas were released for reasons I explained here (but new ones are always wecome), I hope you'll better understand it by reading this.
Have good games & take care!
Scott Ligon (2026-03-01 19:25:51)
Next thematic tournament
It does look like black is skating on thin ice in this line. These are exactly the kind of lines that might still be interesting to play in the Stockfish era, where solid openings are trivially drawn. One side or the other needs to have misplayed the opening enough to be almost losing, or possibly losing already, but in a position where this isn't clear.
Ulises Pineda (2026-02-21 04:35:44)
Is rating just a number on this site?
It became just a number after tickets were introduced.
I could easily have been 2400 if tickets were promoted from the beginning and I bought them whenever it was possible, even though I would have been playing at the same level.
For rating to matter you can't just let players play in the next tier, there's the strong 2400 players that got there beating others on their tiers or lower, but now there'll be 2400 players that bought tickets and drew their games of that tier, making it be just a number.
Garvin Gray (2026-01-29 07:12:28)
WCH_STAGE_2_GROUP_01__000029
What is happening with these groups?
Garvin Gray (2025-11-28 04:17:09)
New Tie Break System
Sorry, but I don't really want to participate in these discussions.
I have been through them before, even to the point of full on arguments with Thibault.
And also as National Delegate for Australia at ICCF, I have been involved in so many proposals on this topic that I have had enough of these discussions.
ICCF already has a set system and this is because it has been hashed out by all the ND's and the ICCF executive board over a number of years.
I see no point in trying to re-invent the wheel.
Talk of using different points for black wins or other criteria have also been debated in ICCF proposals and been defeated as they are unfair in the group as the player could get the win through an ETL.
And player mass resigning games without punishment is a topic that has recently been complained about on here again.
See why I don't want to discuss this topic. I have been going over these topics for almost two decades.
I am done
George Jempty (2025-11-27 20:41:31)
Maintaining the initiative s a matter of
crap i thought i was posting that to my blog
George Jempty (2025-11-27 20:40:26)
Maintaining the initiative s a matter of
Restricting your opponent's counterplay
Ulises Pineda (2025-11-19 06:45:16)
Clarification of Rating Groups
I'm contributing with my moves and participation in the platform, I also don't ask for money to the site owner to see my moves or to start new games, because it goes both ways, without players like me participating, the site would die, if someone gets a very sour taste in their mouth that they stop participating, it's the beginning of the end.
The players are needed, is the site needed? We're already playing a game in another place, Ozen, I see you making conditional moves over there that you can't send here, so what's the advantage of playing over here instead of playing over there?
At the end of the day, I come here because of the players I can face here, that only play at FICGS, so it's the only way. If they happen to leave because of some circumstances, then the site becomes pointless.
FICGS is its players.
FICGS needs the players more than the players need FICGS.
Gratitude goes both ways, I don't feel appreciated because the site's owner hasn't even replied here, because I'm just another useless player and if I left someone else would come to replace me, perhaps someone that buys tickets.
If I'm not valuable, if my games and move contributions are meaningless perhaps I should stop creating new games around here, there's other places that are completely free, have more features, and don't let players pay to get in higher rated tiers.
Ulises Pineda (2025-11-18 10:33:59)
Clarification of Rating Groups
I demand a button that buys a ticket automatically when a player is elegible for playing a higher rated tournament and the Epoints to pay it are available, because right now, I have no idea how to do such a feat, in that case, Jempty outsmarted us all, unironically.
Not that my demands have any weight, I think people's lives have gotten better since they ignored me, and perhaps it'd be better for everyone if these rules remained hidden and nobody ever used them again (except Jempty would continue to play a tier up when able), but it's worth a try.
I don't have a bad taste but this has caused me physical pain in the lower back part of my head, is it stressful?
It's nothing personal against George, it's just that climbing the rating ladder is one of the most difficult tasks one can do in life, so when one sees a 2400 player, one respects them, because of all the time and effort they had to put to get there, which, for all players below that tier is immeasurable, if we could measure it we could have that rating too.
But someone getting there by buying tickets that allowed them to face higher rated opposition and take shortcuts to avoid dealing with lower rated players does cheapen the meaning of the number.
I guess it's all about the money, pay to win iff someone buys the Epoints for this reason, and holds a higher rating to skip a tier (note I said iff, not if, not accusing anybody of doing that.)
It's like buying a car instead of running the marathon, and the rating doesn't actually reflect chess skill anymore.
Ulises Pineda (2025-11-12 20:26:59)
a 2300-player tried the Budapest
Yeah, I couldn't do anything against your Paris Defence, frankly, I've fared better against 3...Bc5 or 3...Nf6, still can't believe 3...d6 and 5...Nb8 held that well, but it was interesting while remaining solid.
Ulises Pineda (2025-11-11 23:02:26)
Increasing the Number of Games in Progre
What about penalizing players that forfeit too many matches by disallowing them to start new games for a month, or something like that? Other kind of penalties would be problematic because they'd depend on how many games are already running, but a time out for forfeiting games seems reasonable.
Ulises Pineda (2025-11-10 17:16:18)
Russian flag replaced
It's very interesting that the only message here from people actually involved is from an Ukranian that was happy becoming Russian. There's always two sides of the story, it's unfortunate almost nobody speaks Russian and we only get to hear the "English speaking world" narrative of the events where the side to take is clear, and you never get to know about the critical events happening there because they are only shown in a language nobody reads.
George Jempty (2025-11-08 12:11:03)
Clarification of Rating Groups
Hello Garvin Gray, there is a similar rule if you are within 50 points of the floor of the next higher group, and "the field has gotten to the last two entries", and you pay 10 e-points.
I think this policy helps fill up hard to fill groups, like standard-M. Nobody has joined the new/empty rating list for that group in the meantime.
On a personal note, my future rating just since the last update earlier this week, has even gone up over 20 points and now stands at 2199, AND I have a clearly winning position (+3.0 per SF 17) against a 2300.
IMO I am clearly worthy of standard-M, and am not making a mockery of anything.
George Jempty (2025-11-04 13:58:15)
Banning players who forfeit too much
ok I will try to find the particular instance that prompted this post (it's been a few weeks so I've forgotten) and let Thib know so he can perhaps take some kind of action
Herbert Kruse (2025-11-04 11:46:24)
Banning players who forfeit too much
These Players are Not playing fair and Change results of tournaments.
I will Stop playing round Robin, If nothing can be done
Scott Ligon (2025-10-31 12:46:50)
a 2300-player tried the Budapest
To make things just slightly interesting. There's no challenge at all in holding the draw with black while playing a standard opening. Modern engines make it trivially easy. But in the Budapest or the Albin Countergambit or Alekhine's Defense, I'm pretty sure black can still hold the draw, but you have to be careful.
George Jempty (2025-10-31 08:00:36)
a 2300-player tried the Budapest
I played the Budapest OTB for *decades*. As you say, playable "just barely". Same goes for the Benoni and the Dutch. Why handicap yourself with such disadvantageous openings in correspondence play?
George Jempty (2025-10-30 08:42:46)
Banning players who forfeit too much
I'd have to go through my games again. In any case, maybe they should banished to un-rated tournaments, and only if they finish that, they can play in rated tournaments again
Thibault de Vassal (2025-10-27 18:42:15)
Banning players who forfeit too much
Hello George... I didn't see that, please send me details by email (I have many emails late, sorry).
George Jempty (2025-10-08 17:21:57)
Next thematic tournament
Ah, right. In any case, tinkering around with the Leningrad, I came up with the idea of 4.Bf4
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2025-10-08 11:44:36)
Next thematic tournament
In the Leningrad 5.d5 is indeed suboptimal, but the lichess engine prefers 5.Nf3. After 5.e3 black has a combination with 5...Qa5 6.Ne2 Ne4 7.Qd3 cxd4 8.exd4 Nxf2 9.Kxf2 Qxg5
George Jempty (2025-10-07 17:28:05)
Banning players who forfeit too much
Can't we do something about this problem? I now stand to lose rating points by drawing against a serial forfeiter who now continues to play against me after their rating went down over 125 points, and mine has gone up as much. I entered the tournament figuring however that I would gain rating points, except my rating in the meantime has gone up around 125 points. THIS IS UNFAIR. I propose that anybody that forfeits more than one game in a month, that they get banned.
George Jempty (2025-10-07 17:15:16)
Next thematic tournament
Yeah probably too tame for correspondence, interestingly I do intend to play 4.f3 for the most part, but I came up with the 4.Bf4 idea when investgating the Leningrad variation. After 4.Bg5 c5 now 5.d5?! which had been the standard is considered sub-optimal by the engine which prefers 5.e3, and after 5...h6, I concluded that White didn't have to play 6.Bxf6 or 6.Bh4, which is when I started investigating 4.Bf4. I actually may start playing this in FIDE tournaments where I will probably be much lower rated, exactly to get into such a tame line
Scott Ligon (2025-07-08 12:59:43)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
You might still find a winning line as the game progresses. But if you think you have better things to do with your time than trying to refute these strategies, I won't disagree. And you're right, if you refute 17.1 @ 50 million nodes, I'll just double the node count next time.
The whole point of the exercise from my point of view is to find an unbeatable deterministic strategy, keeping node count to a minimum. With Stockfish 17.1, 20 million nodes didn't get the job done and 50 million might, I just don't know yet. Either way, I'm confident that unbeatable configurations exist, and I don't think they're far off if I haven't found one already.
Ulises Pineda (2025-07-08 07:43:23)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I thought it was clever of me to retire scripts on demand, but I realized I've been a fool after spending the last week being unable to find a win against the 50 million question and wondering what would I achieve after finding such a line, raising it to 100 million? 200 million?
I stand corrected and the other opponents have it right, I finally get why they don't even bother, so I'm retiring from finding lines that refute the nodes, and it's my first time since this all started where I'll be playing my moves without a winning line on my hand.
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2025-07-05 09:43:33)
50 moves rule
I wonder if someone just can't find the winning plan even with engine, how long does the game have to go on?
George Jempty (2025-06-26 23:39:19)
I did not win a game since 3 years
Yeah the only reason I'm winning in one of my games right now is because of poor play by my opponent. But 12 years ago or so I had an unbeaten streak for 2 years or so, with plenty of wins along the way (even one with Black with the Siesta variation against the Ruy) from an initial rating of 1900 or so, up to 2200+. The only reason I'm playing again now is too get some fodder for a chess opening book (about a different variation for Black against the Ruy) I've begun to write.
Scott Ligon (2025-06-14 02:43:46)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
While analyzing the game I'm currently playing as black against Pineda, I found a winning line for white against Stockfish 17.1 @ 20 million nodes. It follows the first 41 moves of that game, and white made a different 42nd move. Which may also lead to a winning line for all I know, but I will just post the one I found. At the end of this line Stockfish found mate in 23.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 O-O 8. b4 Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nf1 Ng6 13. h3 h6 14. N1h2 Qe8 15. Ra2 a5 16. b5 Bc5 17. Bd2 Rd8 18. Qb3 Qf7 19. g3 d5 20. Kg2 b6 21. Bc1 Bd6 22. Rae2 Bc5 23. Rc2 Rde8 24. Ra2 Bd6 25. Ba3 Rc8 26. c4 Kh7 27. Raa1 Kg8 28. Bb2 c6 29. Rac1 Bb4 30. Re2 d4 31. h4 Qc7 32. bxc6 Bc5 33. Rg1 Rf7 34. Qd1 Qxc6 35. Bc1 Rcf8 36. Rf1 Qd6 37. Rd2 Qc7 38. Ra2 Bb4 39. Rc2 Qb7 40. Rb2 Qd7 41. Bd2 Bc5 42. Qe2 Qc6 43. Rbb1 Nd7 44. h5 Nh8 45. Rb5 Bd6 46. Qd1 Qc7 47. Nh4 Nc5 48. Ng6 Nxg6 49. hxg6 Rf6 50. Qh5 Nxd3 51. Ng4 Qc6 52. Kg1 Qxe4 53. Nxf6+ Rxf6 54. Rxb6 Bf8 55. f3 Qe2 56. Qh2 Qxh2+ 57. Kxh2 e4 58. Bxa5 e3 59. Kg2 Ne5 60. c5 Rxg6 61. c6 Bd6 62. Bb4 Bc7 63. f4 e2 64. Rb1 Bxb6 65. fxe5 d3 66. a5 Rg4 67. Be1 Bxa5 68. Bxa5 Rc4 69. Rb6 Rc5 70. Bb4 Rc4 71. Kf2 Kf7 72. Rb7+ Ke8 73. Re7+ Kd8 74. c7+ Rxc7 75. Rxc7 Kxc7 76. Ke3 Kc6 77. Kxd3 e1=Q 78. Bxe1 Kd5 79. Bc3 Kc5 80. Ke4
Therefore I will be retiring the Stockfish 17.1 @ 20 million nodes strategy. For future games I will be using Stockfish 17.1 @ 50 million nodes.
Scott Ligon (2025-05-01 04:14:23)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
After the harsh words of my previous post, I must now give Pineda some credit. He did exactly what he said he was going to do against Stockfish 17.1 @ 10 million nodes so now I can't use that strategy in any of my future games, it is retired. Since none of my opponents in the games I have running now with this strategy are playing the same opening that Pineda used (the Italian Game), I can post a winning line for white immediately. Our game followed the first 43 moves of this line, and as black I had to deviate from this strategy on move 43 to avoid certain defeat. So here is a winning line for white against Stockfish 17.1 @ 10 million nodes. At the end of the line, Stockfish found mate in 22.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 a6 6. O-O d6 7. a4 O-O 8. b4 Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Ra2 Ng6 13. h3 Qe8 14. Nf1 h6 15. N1h2 a5 16. b5 Bc5 17. Bd2 Rd8 18. Qb3 Qf7 19. g3 d5 20. Kg2 b6 21. Bc1 Rc8 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. h4 Bd6 24. h5 Nge7 25. Nxe5 Qxh5 26. Nef3 c5 27. c4 Nb4 28. Rd2 Ng6 29. Qd1 Nf4+ 30. Kh1 Rcd8 31. Re3 Qh3 32. Ne1 Ng6 33. Qe2 Ne7 34. Nf3 Bxg3 35. fxg3 Nf5 36. Qf2 Nxg3+ 37. Kg1 Nf5 38. Bb2 Rf7 39. Bc3 Nxe3 40. Qxe3 Qg3+ 41. Kh1 Qh3 42. Qe4 Qf5 43. Qxf5 exf5 44. Ne5 Rf6 45. Nhf3 g5 46. d4 cxd4 47. Rxd4 Rfd6 48. Rxd6 Rxd6 49. Bxb4 Rd1+ 50. Kg2 axb4 51. c5 b3 52. Nc4 bxc5 53. b6 g4 54. b7 gxf3+ 55. Kxf3
Scott Ligon (2025-04-24 16:36:24)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
Yeah you found a line that beat the 10 million node strategy which I hadn't analyzed. Congratulations! I'm not interested in arguing with you about the next strategy I choose to play. You might find a winning line against Stockfish 17.1 @ 10 million nodes, or maybe I'll find it first, or somebody else will. Or maybe nobody will find it because it doesn't exist (this is the possibility you completely discount). I've got nothing more to say to you and I can't imagine how many stupid fights you probably pick with people for no good reason in your day to day life, but your attitude is hilarious.
Ulises Pineda (2025-04-24 16:20:25)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I'm going to find a winning line against it, and then I'm going to find a win against your next step, and then I'm going to find another one against the next one, so skipping steps are a way to save time.
Remember I never made a move in our games until I had found the line, I only played it out, I'm still surprised you haven't dedicated the time to find it as if you were your own opponent, unless I'm the only person in the world that knows how to find such lines.
By using Stockfish 17.1 @ 20 million of nodes you would get it retired by me already, I don't understand why you'd want me to retire 10 million or 15 million first, because this has never been about the number of nodes, this is about telling me how you're going to pick your moves so I can find a line that would make your method make a game losing blunder.
Remember you sent me a message thinking 10 million nodes would play just fine right before I made a move that would make it blunder, what I don't know is why didn't you see the move before I played it, or from the distance, and that it surprised you, have people really forgotten how to analyze games? If you build a big tree of moves and replies to them, it's going to contain a line that beats Stockfish at fixed nodes, it'll take me about 24 hours to find the one against Stockfish 17.1 @ 10 million nodes, and about 48 hours to find one against Stockfish 17.1 @ 20 million nodes, the difference is we'll save the amount of games we have to face each other.
Scott Ligon (2025-04-23 15:21:53)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
My goal is to find the minimal setting where Stockfish can't be beaten, or close to the minimal setting anyway. The title of the thread shows my point of view on this issue. I think currently available versions of Stockfish with relatively modest computing power are already good enough to be unbeatable, regardless of how much money an opponent is being offered or how many supercomputers and grandmasters they have at their disposal when devising a strategy. From the starting position of a game of chess, it simply isn't that hard for modern engines to hold the draw with black. The draw rate on this very site is evidence.
I could make the task easier by generating a small opening book to keep Stockfish out of trouble in the opening, so in the case of Stockfish 17 @ 15 million nodes it might be good enough to simply dictate that it play e5 in response to e4 (I don't know if that specific example is true but it might be - I never found any trouble spots for that strategy with black outside of the Sicilian). But I want to do this with no opening book and also no access to endgame tablebases, just the engine's recommendation using a set number of nodes for the search. The settings I've tried so far fell short, but I think they weren't far off, so I'm taking only small steps forward. Stockfish 17.1 @ 10 million nodes seems like a good next step to me. If somebody finds a winning line against it, then I'll take the next step, either increasing the node count or if enough time has passed I'll move on to the next version of Stockfish.
Ulises Pineda (2025-04-23 14:49:42)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I'll request that if you ever play against me, jump at least to Stockfish 17.1 @ 20 million nodes, because a doubling of nodes is some 50 elo boost to the model, so a lot of games can be saved by increasing the nodes, as finding a winning line against such a thing isn't more difficult in reality, it just takes more time, so I guess those people don't think winning a game is worth the extra time used, or maybe they really don't know how, but if someone offered a million dollars for the line I'm sure they'd sit down and find it.
It's a matter of strength, someone with Stockfish 20 could find the line with a relative ease, and I don't think it'll play a perfect game already either, the blind spots just switch places.
Scott Ligon (2025-04-23 02:27:39)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
At this point all of my games are safely past the point where they could transpose into the winning line I found against the Stockfish 17 @ 15 million nodes strategy, so I will post it now. At the end of the line Stockfish found mate in 15 for white.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4 Be7 9. Qf3 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. Bd3 g5 12. fxg5 Ne5 13. Qe2 Nfg4 14. Bg3 hxg5 15. Kb1 b5 16. Rdf1 Bb7 17. a3 Nf6 18. Nf3 Nh5 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. g3 f6 21. Na2 Bc6 22. Nc1 b4 23. axb4 Bxb4 24. c3 Be7 25. Nd2 a5 26. Bc4 Bd7 27. Rfg1 Kf7 28. Rg2 Rag8 29. Nd3 Bc5 30. Rd1 Ba7 31. Qg4 Ke7 32. Bb3 a4 33. Ba2 Ng7 34. Nc4 Be8 35. Qe2 a3 36. Nxa3 Ba4 37. Rf1 Bc6 38. Qg4 Rd8 39. Bc4 Be8 40. Qf3 Rf8 41. g4 Bg6 42. b3 Bb8 43. h4 gxh4 44. Kb2 Ne8 45. g5 f5 46. Qh3 Qc6 47. Re2 Ng7 48. Qxh4 f4 49. Nb4 Qb6 50. Bb5 Rh8 51. Nc6+ Qxc6 52. Qxh8 Qxc3+ 53. Kxc3 Rxh8 54. Rd2 Rc8+ 55. Kb2 Kf7 56. Rfd1 Bxe4 57. Rd8 Rxd8 58. Rxd8 Kg6 59. Rxb8 Kxg5 60. Nc4 Nf5 61. Nxe5 Nd6 62. Rb6 Kf6 63. Rxd6 Kxe5 64. Rd7 Bg2 65. Kc3 Be4 66. b4 Ba8 67. Bc4 f3 68. b5
Scott Ligon (2025-04-22 16:09:34)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I have found a line for white that defeats the 15 million node strategy, so it's time for another strategy upgrade. Due to games in progress I won't specify the line now except to say that once again, it's in the Sicilian defense. Of course there may be other lines as well but one is enough.
Rather than up the node count, I will be moving on to Stockfish 17.1. Conveniently for my purposes, Stockfish 17.1 prefers to meet 1 e4 with e5 at all settings I have checked (1 million to 15 million nodes in 1 million node increments). So for now, my plan is to play Stockfish 17.1 at 10 million nodes in all upcoming games, while sticking with the strategy I started with in currently running games. Of course if I find a winning line for white against 17.1 @ 10 million I will update this.
Scott Ligon (2025-03-29 18:03:58)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I think there's a decent chance that the 15 million node strategy is unbeatable, but I can't say what that chance is. Maybe I overestimate it. I have spent considerable time looking for a winning line for white and I haven't been able to find one. But, I had that same opinion about the 10 million node strategy before I found evidence in my games that it loses. Specifically games in the Sicilian. I haven't found any other winning lines for white.
As for my opponents, I think mostly they enter tournaments and play their usual game. I'm just another opponent. My focus is on the experiment I'm running, but I wouldn't assume everyone else is focused on it. But if anyone cares to prove that the 15 million node strategy is beatable, exploitive play is clearly the way to go about it. This most recent game shows that even a move that fails to give white an objective advantage could still merit consideration as a possible exploit against the fixed node strategy.
Ulises Pineda (2025-03-20 00:31:48)
Fried Liver analysis on rybkaforum.net?
Hello, I was a Rybka Forum moderator for several years, as Uly/Vytron, and the person with most games at their Correspondence Chess section.
I've been amassing a great deal of chess analysis since 2007 in Bookup files (later named Chess Openings Wizard files) so I have all the analysis that was posted on the forum.
It was able to hold up for years, until Sotckfish NNUE appeared, that was the software that obsoleted the analysis, as so many moves were misevaluated (it said white had a big advantage when it was the opposite, and vice versa) and Stockfish NNUE was providing, at low depth, moves that were refuting entire variations and trees.
It was at that point I realized I had more than a decade of useless analysis, and it's not just the Fried Liver, it happened in all of chess. In all the positions I analyzed for my games.
Which means any recovered analysis from rybkaforum would be garbage, since I do have it but had to start new trees from scratch because nothing worthwhile could be recovered from the old ones, and it was more trouble than it was worth, Stockfish NNUE would produce variations that from scratch would be more useful to generate than wasting time refuting the old lines.
At the end of the day, getting unpublished was a fortune because people will not waste time looking at those obsolete lines.
Scott Ligon (2025-03-04 16:30:48)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
So the current state of the experiment is that white can defeat the 10 million node strategy, and so far I haven't seen a way for white to win against the 15 million node strategy. Somebody might find a win for white, it just hasn't happened yet.
I already mentioned that if this strategy leads me to a losing position and I notice this in time, I will intervene and stop playing the strategy to try to avoid losing. I will add another exception. If I reach a position that is winning or close to it, I will intervene to try to play for the win, because of course these fixed node strategies don't always find the best move. This has already happened in at least one of my games but I wanted to make my policy clear. I'm using a deterministic strategy as a sort of autopilot mode, but if I get close to winning or losing, I'll turn off the autopilot. This is rare though. Most of the time neither side gets a decisive advantage and I'll stay on autopilot and the game will end in a draw.
Ulises Pineda (2025-02-16 20:29:13)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
In our game I tried to apply some psychology, reach a position that is lost for black where the engine gives a low evaluation so you don't take over the defense of the position until it's too late, too bad I was incapable of making the move I intended to play.
I'd like to request that if we ever play again and I am white and you are black, that we repeat the same game and you turn on the 10 million nodes script after I play the correct move, and we see what would have happened, while I ignore the winning line found against the script.
That's the only chance I have for all the hours of analysis I spent in our game to not go to waste.
Scott Ligon (2025-02-15 22:20:35)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
What I'm calling the winning line is only winning if black is restricted to the strategy of Stockfish 17 using 10 million node searches, though by the end of the line it is also objectively winning. Some of black's responses when using this strategy are mistakes, otherwise white wouldn't have a winning line. 21... g5 might not be black's best response but the position should still be defensible at that point. It starts to get very bad after 27 Rba1 Nf7 which I think is black's fatal error or close to it. Prior to that black should still have some defense.
Scott Ligon (2025-02-15 15:43:10)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
The position after 56 Ra7 is clearly winning if you run an analysis with Stockfish. I'm not saying it's obvious from a human perspective but if both players are using engines, black should resign at that point (and probably a few moves earler).
The move numbers don't line up with your game because I removed a repetition, but from your game if you go to the position after 22. Re1 Rg7, it's the same position as the line shown in this thread after 20. Re1 Rg7 and you can follow the line from there.
Scott Ligon (2025-02-09 21:47:17)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
My remaining games where I'm using the 10 million node strategy as black have gone past the point where they could transpose into white's winning lines against the 10 million node strategy (at least the two winning lines that I managed to find), so I will post them now. I found both lines while analyzing games that have now finished.
Game 147097: Kruse vs Ligon
https://ficgs.com/game_147097.html
Due to a repetition, the position after black's move 22 in the game was the same as the position after black's move 20 in the following line where white wins.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. a4 Nh6 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Qd6 10. Na3 f6 11. Nc4 Qe7 12. a5 Ng4 13. Bd2 Nh6 14. Qe2 Be6 15. h4 Ng4 16. Ra4 Rf7 17. Rb1 Bf8 18. h5 Qd7 19. b3 Re8 20. Re1 Rg7 21. Rb1 g5 22. Ne1 Nh6 23. Ne3 Qc8 24. g3 Bd6 25. N1g2 Bf8 26. f3 Qb8 27. Rba1 Nf7 28. Ng4 Qd8 29. Qf2 Nd6 30. Be3 b5 31. axb6 axb6 32. b4 Bxg4 33. fxg4 cxb4 34. Rxb4 b5 35. Rbb1 Qd7 36. Qf3 Rf7 37. Kh2 Rb8 38. Ba7 Rc8 39. Bf2 b4 40. Be1 c5 41. Ne3 Nb5 42. Nd5 Qc6 43. Bd2 Nc7 44. Ra7 c4 45. Rba1 Bc5 46. Nxb4 Bxb4 47. Bxb4 cxd3 48. cxd3 Rb8 49. Be1 Rb2+ 50. Bf2 Ne6 51. Ra8+ Rf8 52. Rxf8+ Nxf8 53. h6 Kf7 54. Kh3 Rb3 55. Ra2 Ke8 56. Ra7
Game 147106: Pineda vs Ligon
https://ficgs.com/game_147106.html
First 36 moves are the same as the following line where white wins. Black got the win only because white made a mistake in entering the final move, otherwise we were headed for a draw.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 a5 7. h3 b6 8. a3 Nf6 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Nc3 Ne8 11. e5 Nc7 12. Qe4 Ne6 13. Re1 Qd7 14. Qh4 f6 15. Be3 h6 16. Qg3 g5 17. h4 Qd8 18. Bd2 b5 19. b3 Kh7 20. Rac1 Kg8 21. Rcd1 Ra7 22. Rb1 Ra8 23. Rbc1 Ra7 24. Rcd1 Rb7 25. Bc1 Ra7 26. a4 b4 27. Ne2 Qe8 28. Bb2 Qf7 29. Nd2 Qh5 30. hxg5 fxg5 31. Qe3 Rd7 32. Nc4 Rdd8 33. Ng3 Qg6 34. Nxa5 h5 35. Qe4 Qe8 36. Ne2 h4 37. f3 Nd4 38. Rf1 Bf5 39. Qe3 Ne6 40. Bc1 Qg6 41. Nxc6 Rd7 42. Na5 Rf7 43. Rde1 Rd8 44. Nc4 Rdf8 45. Nb6 h3 46. Rf2 hxg2 47. Rxg2 Qh5 48. Rh2 Bh3 49. f4 g4 50. Qg3 Ng5 51. Rf1 Bxe5 52. Nd7 Bc7 53. Nxf8 Kxf8 54. Kh1 Qh6 55. Rff2
Scott Ligon (2025-01-21 23:17:17)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
And now I have found a line that defeats Stockfish 17 at 10 million nodes, so that strategy is not safe to play as black. I won't post the line yet because I don't want to give away information that might be relevant for my opponents in games that are still running, but I intend to post it later.
I will continue to use the 10 million node strategy in the tournaments I had already started, but in my upcoming tournaments I will switch to the 15 million node version of this strategy, to test whether or not there's a line that defeats it. As mentioned in the first post, if Stockfish's recommended move gets to what appears to be a losing position, I will deviate from these strategies to try to avoid losing, and I will message my opponent to let them know this has happened. In my games so far, I have not deviated from the 10 million node strategy, unless it happened by mistake. But I'm not aware of any such mistakes.
Scott Ligon (2025-01-07 18:55:30)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I am running an experiment where each move will be selected by Stockfish 17 in a deterministic configuration, so it will be possible to predict my response to any given move with certainty. I believe Stockfish 17 at these settings is so strong that it will be difficult if not impossible to exploit this strategy. However, if I reach a position where it looks like this strategy is going to lose, I reserve the right to deviate. If this happens, I will message my opponent to let them know that I am no longer following this system.
I'm using a python script to interact with Stockfish, but you should be able to get the same results running Stockfish 17 from the command line. I am currently running the search with the parameter nodes = 10 million (previously I tried nodes = 5 million but I found a way for white to win against Stockfish at that setting). From the command line:
go nodes 10000000
In order for Stockfish to be deterministic, it needs to be running on just 1 thread and from the command line that's the default. If for some reason Threads has a different value on your machine:
setoption name Threads value 1
I'm using the default size for the hash table, but if you run the search a second time without clearing the hash, you will get a different search result. So either close and restart Stockfish between searches or else clear the hash table:
setoption name Clear Hash
Lastly you need to be able to input the position before running the search. It is important that you enter the position via FEN string rather than by inputting the moves, because you might get different search results otherwise. Use only the first four fields of the FEN string, like this to get black's response after 1 e4:
position fen rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq -
From that position if you run Stockfish with nodes = 10 million, the last two lines of text output should say:
info depth 32 seldepth 46 multipv 1 score cp -26 lowerbound nodes 10000376 nps 462252 hashfull 999 tbhits 0 time 21634 pv c7c5
bestmove c7c5 ponder g1f3
I think only the values of "nps" and "time" will vary, everything else should be identical between runs / machines. So in this case Stockfish 17 recommends the Sicilian Defense and gives an evaluation of +0.26. (cp -26 is the evaluation in centipawns from the perspective of the side to move, but usually evals are given from white's POV).
Bahadir Ozen (2024-10-24 10:38:59)
Conditional Moves Method
Thank you Thibault. Its not that big deal, I like how FICGS running... Have a great day.:)
Regards
Thibault de Vassal (2024-07-06 15:53:42)
Poker Rating
You were unlucky in this one, but you played better. Just a statistical happening.
Ilmars Cirulis (2024-03-27 17:59:30)
Big Chess in NebiyuAlien engine
https://gist.github.com/IlmarsCirulis/aff106cc69be609b4e1e851aadf87409 - here is my try, will test it by running NebiyuAlien.exe in terminal
Ilmars Cirulis (2024-02-18 18:00:07)
Fried Liver analysis on rybkaforum.net?
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 Nb4 9. O-O c6 10. d4 Qf6 11. Qd1 Ke7 12. Re1 h6 13. Rxe5+ Kd8 14. Ne4 Qg6 15. a3 Bf5 16. Ng3 Bxc2 17. Qf3 Nd3 18. Rf5 Bd6 19. Bxd3 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Kc7 21. Bd2 Rhf8 22. Rd1 b6 - still don't know for sure if this is a draw or maybe white can win somehow...
When is thematic tournament(s) happening? :sweat_smile:
Scott Ligon (2024-01-12 22:51:02)
Fried Liver analysis on rybkaforum.net?
For the 6 lines I posted, those eval depths are, in order:
46, 47, 45, 46, 45, 43.
For the line with the highest eval of +0.80, the win percentage for white is given as 27.4%, so further analysis might be warranted but that's where I left it. My understanding is that Stockfish 16 changed the semantics of the numeric evaluations. An eval of +1.0 used to mean white had a one pawn advantage (in some very abstract sense), but now +1.0 is supposed to correlate with a 50% probability that white has an objectively winning position.
Thibault de Vassal (2023-12-15 01:51:10)
Referee Adjudication
Well, I thought that a one month limit for the game to finish could satisfy everyone...
IMO, that's quite strange to end a game when some players do NOT use 7-pieces tablebases and still could make mistakes in a winning or drawish position...
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-23 23:19:53)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
Now, a question has been raised about banning Israel from the Olympic Games:
"Should Israel’s Flag Be Raised at the Paris Olympics?" <be> How the IOC is penalizing Russia provides insight into how it could treat Israel at the 2024 Games.
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-russia-paris-olympics/
My position has not been changed because I have not received any reasonable arguments against my views.
I am of the opinion that:
1. Russia was banned from the Paris 2024 Olympics using demagogical arguments. The real reason for the ban was, of course, that in 2022, Russia started a war against Ukraine and annexed some Ukrainian territories starting in 2014.
2. The International Olympic Committee should publicly accept that it was a mistake to politicize sports and it should annul the sanctions imposed on Russia.
3. If the International Olympic Committee does not lift the sanctions imposed on Russia, it should impose the same sanctions on Israel because Israel is very explicitly committing genocide in the Gaza Sector since 07 October 2023.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-20 02:21:47)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
"Israeli Security Establishment: Hamas Likely Didn’t Have Advance Knowledge of Nova Festival"
Haaretz, 18 November 2023
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-11-18/ty-article/.premium/israeli-security-establishment-hamas-likely-didnt-have-prior-knowledge-of-nova-festival/0000018b-e2ee-d168-a3ef-f7fe8ca20000
"Hamas had not planned to attack music festival, Israeli report says"
Al Jazeera, 18 November 2023
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/18/hamas-had-not-planned-to-attack-israel-music-festival-israeli-report-says
'“An investigation into the incident revealed an [Israeli military] combat helicopter that arrived at the scene from the Ramat David base fired at the terrorists and apparently also hit some of the revelers there,” the Haaretz report cited an unnamed police official as saying.'
The funniest thing is that after Mr Herbert Kruse claimed that I should be in jail for not thinking that the official narrative on the 07 October attack was entirely true and proven - the very next day Israeli newspapers reported that some unspecified number of civilians were killed not by Hamas but by Israeli helicopter.
The sad thing is that the discussion of the 07 October events is absolutely irrelevant to my Public Appeal.
As I have explained above several times.
Suppose that all the 1200 people killed on 07 October were civilians. Suppose that Hamas is a terrorist organisation (I have not checked their background, I heard the name "Hamas" first time in my life on 07 October). Suppose that the 07 attack was a terrorist attack and all the civilians were killed intentionally.
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can be inferred concerning my Public Appeal.
I have explained already several times that Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip are in no way justified by 07 October events.
It follows from the international conventions, from the entrenched definitions of "war crime", "genocide", etc.
I have also explained, already in my Public Appeal, that there is no need to impose sports sanctions on Hamas, as Hamas has been announced to be a terrorist organisation by the European Union, shortly after the 07 October events.
Moreover, I have explained above, that one cannot expel Hamas from the chess organisations like FIDE or ICCF, because it has never been there.
I do not want to talk to such demagogues as Herbert Kruse and Thibault de Vassal.
Among other things, both have completely ignored my arguments and the actual text of my Public Appeal.
There is an ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Compared to the enormous crimes of Israel, the scale of killing unarmed civilians, the Russian Chess Federation has been sanctioned for small things, while the current racist, fascist Nazi-Israel has remained untouched, with impunity.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-19 00:58:48)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
ARGUMENTS CONCERNING THE RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR
None of the commentators explained why it was necessary and reasonable to politicise sports and to impose sanctions on Russia and Belarus. No one answered my corresponding arguments from my Public Appeal. No one explained why the sanctions were imposed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, while no sanctions were imposed on the US for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
HERBERT KRUSE PRESENTED THE FOLLOWING "ARGUMENT":
"like Ukraine Israel had its "Butcha" at the music festival, so who attacked?
and there were constant rockets on Israel from Gaza, should they just allow it?
and the hostiges should just given up?
if my state can not defend me, maybe u can help?!"
This emotional and psychological manipulation completely ignored all my relevant arguments and explanations.
Now, let us take only the first phrase of this mumbo-jumbo:
"like Ukraine Israel had its 'Butcha' at the music festival, so who attacked?"
My Public Appeal was about chess sanctions. Now, the data are as follows:
2022, February 24:
Russia started its invasion of Ukraine
2022, February 27:
An extraordinary meeting of the FIDE Council was held on the current situation and the urgent measures to be taken after the military action launched by Russia in Ukraine.
https://fide.com/news/1603
Thus, it seems that they waited for the beginning of the Russian invasion and had a plan for how to react, as they responded only a few days later.
Israel had occupied Palestinian territories for 55 years, but the chess federation FIDE had never reacted.
2022, March 16:
Russia and Belarus teams suspended from FIDE competitions.
https://fide.com/news/1638
2022, March 30:
Russian troops leave Bucha (near Kyiv).
2022, April 01:
The corpses in Bucha were discovered.
Now, the first obvious problem with Herbert Kruse's "argument" is that the timeline proves that the chess sanctions on Russia were imposed BEFORE the corpses in Bucha were discovered.
The second problem is that he does not know or pretends not to know the definitions of such terms as "war crime".
The third problem is that, as a matter of fact, we do NOT know WHEN these people were executed, and we do NOT know WHO executed them.
It is so because there were actually TWO massacres in Bucha.
The shelling killed some people, "The Guardian" reported. These people were lying on the streets. The satellite images proved that they were killed before the Russian Army left the town.
However, some people were executed in the cellars. Unfortunately, the satellite images cannot prove the time of the executions in the cellars.
There is one additional problem. Ukraine has not made public the names and personal data of the victims. Therefore, we do not even know what percentage of the victims were Ukrainians and what percentage were Russians.
THIBAULT THE VASSAL PRESENTED THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE OF ARGUMENTS:
"Ukraine is attacked mainly because Poutine (at least) argues it historically belongs to Russia with no consideration of its recent history & international treaties (and among other reasons because he obviously sees nazis in every people open on what a man/woman/family could look like, meaning many europeans & americans)."
Thibault has no evidence whatsoever for one's claim that Putin "obviously sees nazis in every people open on what a man/woman/family could look like, meaning many europeans & americans)." There is even no evidence to the claim that the Russian administration thinks that the majority of Ukrainians were Nazis. The evidence might be the public speeches of Russian leaders. But I have seen no such speech with such theses. Indeed, Putin has said something else.
I believe that Thibault presents one's prejudices as "obvious facts".
Besides, it has nothing to do with the arguments of my Public Appeal.
"There are few doubts that war crimes have been committed there."
In the Ukraine/Russia war, BOTH sides have committed a lot of war crimes, and it is well documented and proven.
However, the chess sanctions on Russia were not imposed because of the war crimes, as can be seen from the schedule above. The motivation to impose those sanctions was, initially, merely the fact that Russia started a war (not a war crime but a crime against peace).
Moreover, in the Ukraine/Donbas domestic war too, both sides committed war crimes. Ukraine committed crimes against humanity, and there were clear genocidal elements of the behaviour towards the Russian-speaking minority of Ukraine. It is also well-documented and proven. At the beginning of my Public Appeal, I mentioned that Karyakin argued from the premise that Ukrainian ultra-nationalists murdered a lot of Russians in Ukraine.
However, I see that the responses to my Public Appeal have altogether ignored all my arguments, and everyone has preferred to talk about something else.
Thibault de Vassal (2023-11-18 19:42:16)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
Juri, when you say << For example, I am not sure that Hamas "chose" to kill civilians. >>, I'm not sure if your topic is determinism or something else but obviously you cannot be sure of anything. Did you watch the videos? Anyway, any army killing or kidnapping civilians is a war crime for sure and that's most probably terrorism in this case.
On Israel response, many experts say different things, so it remains unclear yet to me. (it is important not to listen what one want to hear only)
About your text, you seem to neglict all contextual elements to compare Russia, Thaïland, Congo, North Korea, China or whatever situation in any country... No chess organization reacted much when Peng Shuai (chinese tennis star) disappeared, but tennis world reacted! For Rohingya, Karabakh or about war in Irak or Afghanisatan. How many chess players in these countries? That is not the same. Russia & Ukraine are among the most influential chess nations in the world. Russia is the biggest country, has the most nuclear weapons. That's why it seems pertinent that chess players and organizations take position towards not just peace (undermeaning "do what Russia wants"), but a fair and right peace.
You say : "Concerning your political views about the real intentions of Russia when starting a war against Ukraine, what you present dogmatically and without evidence"
The evidence is in Putin's speeches, "Russia defends its interests", obviously Ukraine (another country for a while) should not be free of his choices, in example to join an alliance to protect itself just like Finland or other countries... Obviously Ukraine is Russia's interest and should not join OTAN. Did ever OTAN attack Russia?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Dgy4vYTp_Jo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxS9YIBeJbY
Watching full speeches is even more instructive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akzr0K0CE0M
Putin's rhetoric remains both crude and manipulative, appealing to people's conservative reflexes. And it works on most people who get outraged at the slightest conspiracy theory, it's no coincidence.
Finally, the argument saying that there shouldn't be politics in chess or sports has no foundations other than a subjective point of view.
You say that these bans by FIDE were out of international laws and that the same restrictions should apply to israeli playesrs... well, so just prove it and make appeal I guess. Karjakin probably thought about that already!?
Meanwhile, these discussions are only point of views.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-18 03:57:22)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
to Thibault de Vassal:
"Recently, Hamas chose to attack civilians instead of Israel (this is a war crime, no ambiguity there), Israel now does everything to destroy Hamas, making many victims among civilians. But this may not be war crimes according to definition. Nothing obvious there, we'll see."
The 07 October attack is quite recent, and I would not say that all the circumstances are clear. For example, I am not sure that Hamas "chose" to kill civilians.
The only thing that is sure is that some number of civilians were killed by Hamas. It is sure, because Israel accuses Hamas of killing the civilians, and one of Hamas leaders has publicly admitted, that during that attack, Hamas killed some civilians "accidentally".
Killing civilians may make it a war crime. Intentionally killing civilians may make it an act of terrorism.
After the 07 October attack, Israel has killed awfully many civilians in the Gaza Strip. I totally agree with those experts who say that such a bombing of the sieged territory is not self-defence and it is a war crime - at the very least.
Note that during the 07 October attack, approximately 1200 people were killed, some of them were soldiers, and the others were civilians, many of them unarmed civilians.
Under Israel's bombs, in the Gaza Strip, during one month, more than 10,000 unarmed civilians were killed. Most of them were women and children. And it has not yet ended.
As of now, no one of the participants in the present discussion has said anything at all about the content of my Public Appeal. It seems that no one has even read it, despite I inserted the link into my initial post. I did not try to present the text directly here, on the Forum, as it was perhaps too lengthy for the Forum.
I shall provide the link to my Public Appeal again:
https://medium.com/@eintalu/a-public-appeal-to-chess-organisations-on-the-bombing-of-the-gaza-strip-be56afd3f5ca
Concerning civilian causalities of the Gaza bombing, and the comparison of the Ukraine war and the Israel war, I provided the following information in my Public Appeal:
<International organisations confirm that Israel has managed to kill more children in the Gaza Strip in one month in 2023 than were killed in all the war zones on the planet in the whole of 2022. In fact, significantly more children have been killed by Israeli bombs in one month than in two years of war in Ukraine. See also, e.g.:
“GAZA: 3,195 CHILDREN KILLED IN THREE WEEKS SURPASSES ANNUAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN KILLED IN CONFLICT ZONES SINCE 2019”
Save the Children, 29 October 2023
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/gaza-3195-children-killed-three-weeks-surpasses-annual-number-children-killed-conflict-zones# >
Now, while talking about the attacks on civilians, you (as other participants of the discussion) simply ignore my Public Appeal.
Concerning your political views about the real intentions of Russia when starting a war against Ukraine, what you present dogmatically and without evidence - the only sober reply is that dogmatically and without evidence, one could as well assert whatever about the Israeli real intentions concerning the Gaza war.
However, we have direct evidence from the public speeches of Israel's leadership, that the intentions of the Gaza war are genocidal.
I conclude that you are trying to whitewash Israeli large-scale war crimes and crimes against humanity while ignoring the text of my Public Appeal.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-18 03:24:26)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
to Thibault de Vassal:
It is beside the point whether the Russell Tribunal on Palestine was biased or not.
What is essential is that you have said nothing about the facts and statistic presented by that tribunal.
You are talking about the apartheid. But you ignore the context in which I mentioned the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. I was talking about that tribunal because it presented facts, that already in 2014, Israel's actions concerning the Gaza Strip were very close to genocide.
Thus, your remarks concerning the Russell Tribunal on Palestine are beside the point and avoiding the theme.
Moreover, independently of any Russel tribunals, it is evident and clear that there is an apartheid regime in Israel and occupied Palestine territories.
First of all, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are surrounded by a high wall with barbered wire.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-18 03:11:09)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
Ilmars Cirulis:
"Both Netanyahu and Hamas should be in prison. :(
Poor civilians on both sides."
I have approximately the same opinion.
However, concerning chess sanctions, we can sanction only Israel.
We cannot impose chess sanctions on Hamas, as Hamas is not a state and it is not represented in the FIDE or ICCF.
We cannot expel Hamas from the ICCF because it has never been there.
My essay was about chess sanctions, not about such things as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
However, if to speak on that issue, my view is that both Hamas and Israel should be prosecuted in the ICCF.
Vadrya Pokshtya (2023-11-17 21:36:46)
Battle of Kings
On average, a game lasts 70-80 moves. This is provided that the players understand what they are doing. Otherwise the game may end quickly.
Since, unlike ordinary chess, the board does not become empty as events develop on the board, but on the contrary, the evolution of chess pieces pushes towards the collapse of the entire system, its finitude is obvious. The spawning process cannot last forever - everything is limited by the 8x8 chessboard.
Thibault de Vassal (2023-11-17 20:03:54)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
Then, it would be difficult not to make differences between Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Hamas... the war between Israel & Hamas is very old, very complex & obviously has no reason to end, while the war between Ukraine & Russia is more recent and there is still some hope that it may come to an end (IMHO).
Several things are quite sure to me:
- Israel made bad things for a while in this region. Hamas is an islamist movement that made bad things as well. Most civilians are probably victims of these systems. Recently, Hamas chose to attack civilians instead of Israel (this is a war crime, no ambiguity there), Israel now does everything to destroy Hamas, making many victims among civilians. But this may not be war crimes according to definition. Nothing obvious there, we'll see.
- Ukraine is attacked mainly because Poutine (at least) argues it historically belongs to Russia with no consideration of its recent history & international treaties (and among other reasons because he obviously sees nazis in every people open on what a man/woman/family could look like, meaning many europeans & americans). There are few doubts that war crimes have been committed there.
No, definitely the comparison seems not valid and I see no reason why it should lead FIDE, ICCF or any chess/sport organization to consider it.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-16 23:40:31)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
Herbert Kruse:
"you ignore, who is victim and who startet it"
I do not ignore anything, but it is you who ignores everything relevant:
1) You ignore the text of my Public Appeal and the arguments presented there, and I have already said that above.
2) You ignore the definitions of "war crime" and "genocide". Above, I have even inserted some links to international conventions.
3) You ignore my replies. Above, I just explained to you that war crime is a war crime, and genocide is a genocide independently of the previous history. Who started the war or whether the opponent committed some war crimes earlier is irrelevant.
4) You also ignore the history. The Israel/Palestine wars started already in 1948. On 09 April 1948, one radical Zionist group committed a massacre of Palestinians in the village of Deir Yassin.
5) You also ignore the documents concerning the current background. In the United Nations documentation, it is stated that the Gaza Strip is a territory occupied by Israel. There are other such territories. The UN documentation uses the phrase "Israel and occupied Palestinian territories".
"inhumnan war crimes by Hamas caused this"
It is more precise to say that Hamas's attack PROVOKED Israel's reaction.
"Hamas strategy is to hide after civiliens, thats so obvious and you fall for it"
I cannot speak with someone who arbitrarily ascribes to me some thoughts or attitudes I do not have.
The use of human shields by Hamas in no way justifies Israel's current massacres in the Gaza Strip.
Your argument is based on not knowing what is and what is not a war crime and what exactly is written in, e.g., the Genova Convention. It is also based on ignoring the text of my Public Appeal.
I cannot continue the discussion with you because you violate the most basic principles of meaningful discussion.
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-05 06:03:45)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
A PUBLIC APPEAL TO CHESS ORGANISATIONS ON THE BOMBING OF THE GAZA STRIP
Israel’s bombing of the civilians trapped in the Gaza Strip has resulted in a catastrophic number of causalities in a very short time. It may amount to crimes against humanity, war crimes, mass murder, collective punishment or genocide, as noted by the UN and several international independent organisations.
I suggest that international chess organisations like FIDE and ICCF should revoke their sanctions on Russia and Belarus concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or they should impose the same sanctions on Israel.
Independently of the decisions of these international chess organisations, I call individual chess players to refuse to play chess with those players who are using Israel’s flag, etc.
The full text of my appeal can be read here:
https://medium.com/@eintalu/a-public-appeal-to-chess-organisations-on-the-bombing-of-the-gaza-strip-be56afd3f5ca
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2023-08-18 14:32:53)
Next thematic tournament
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 d6 6. Nbd2 g5
Two knights defence, pianissimo invitation, declined. Played by some top gm's like Caruana. Seems to give white an edge, but is it winning?
Thibault de Vassal (2023-08-10 00:10:24)
FIDE BANS KARJAKIN
Unfortunately, and I find it quite sad myself, everything is politics (at some point at least).
In my opinion, deciding to attack a country, collaterally killing thousands of russian & ukrainian people (to "save" how many? [if it was really the purpose]), while hoping there will not be any other collateral consequences by arguing that sport, trading, culture & so on should not be politicized is surely not realistic. Of course this war was about culture, trading & even sport long time before to bring russian tanks in Ukraine.
The fact that Karjakin is supporting this russian invasion (consequently banning himself) seems very secondary here...
Farewell (or not).
Juri Eintalu (2023-08-09 22:29:42)
FIDE BANS KARJAKIN
I have not made any political posts on the Forum.
Quite to the contrary: I have criticized politicizing sports.
I am shocked by the answers I received from Garvin Gray and Thibault de Vassal. I do not think their comments exemplify a civilized discussion. The problem is that they are not arbitrary chess players but chess organizers. I conclude that rational discussion with those who support politicizing chess is impossible.
I had already forgotten the FICGS server, but now I have received a notification that someone has commented on my old post.
Bogoljub Teverovski announces on 09 August 2023:
"A self-ban of karjakin continues"
No hints have been made about what event he is talking about—no references, links, or explanations.
I can only understand that Bogoljub regards the FIDE ban on Karjakin as a Karjakin's SELF-ban.
Let me add that 1 e2-e4 is the initial move of the Queen's gambit, and 1 Ng1-f3 is the most popular opening in checkers.
I am logging out from the FICGS not to receive any notifications anymore.
Thibault de Vassal (2023-05-27 03:36:48)
Problem players.
Hello Pavel, please send a private message to me mentioning the tournaments you think about... I'll have a look at it. Many thanks in advance.
Juri Eintalu (2023-03-31 21:13:22)
RUSSIA AND BELARUS NOT SUSPENDED?
You are quoting me wrongly. And you are doing it intentionally.
Moreover, I was talking about whether FIDE and ICCF decisions were justified. My argument was that these decisions applied some important principles discriminatively, selectively.
Suddenly, you started to talk about whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine was justified. You also started to talk about war crimes.
Let me remind that the ICCF started a process of banning the Russian team just a few days after the Russian invasion began.Thus, your arguments about what happened months later might be pretty irrelevant.
Let me also remind you that you decided to talk ONLY about Russian war crimes in Ukraine. You dismissed the US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, the war crimes committed during the Donbas civil war (both Ukraine and the separatists committed war crimes there), and, finally, you also dismissed the war crimes committed by Ukraine in the present war.
And now, before I answered to your mess, you managed to attack me personally.
My answer to your provocative questions is that if the political regime will go absolutely crazy, then I will not defend that regime against anyone. But I still hope that it will not go absolutely crazy.
Anyway, I will not discuss with you anymore, because you are systematically ignoring important relevant facts and you regularly change the context of discussion.
Juri Eintalu (2023-03-31 09:09:17)
RUSSIA AND BELARUS NOT SUSPENDED?
To Thibault de Vassal:
Thank you for taking a look at my open letter on Medium.
“... isn’t it a bit short to compare Russia’s war in Ukraine to what happened in Afghanistan, Iraq or Serbia? (that are quite different cases by the way, involving different groups of countries)”
If country A starts a war against country B, the relevant question is whether that war is justified or unjustified, whether it is a war of aggression or, instead, the attacker has the right to do so.
By now, it is a piece of common knowledge that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were wars of aggression.
Chess organisations FIDE and ICCF have punished Russian chess organisations for the Russian invasion of Ukraine while not punishing the US chess organisations for the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. FIDE and ICCF have not presented any comprehensive analyses about how justified or unjustified some of those wars are. You are turning the burden of proof around and accusing me of not delivering the arguments that FIDE and ICCF had to present.
“It seems that most russians in Russia still support this war (“special op”) while everyone ignored the truth about those weapons in Irak (in example). Any context should be analysed in depth IMHO.”
Excuse me, but I cannot follow what you are trying to say.
You argue that any context should be analysed in-depth, but you fail to hint at why Russia should be punished and the US should not. Your only fact mentioned, “everyone ignored the truth about those weapons in Irak”, remains mysterious. I do not understand in what context you are saying this.
We know already for ten years that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
Concerning your other remarks, I make only one reply. We know that there are saliently some Nazis in Ukraine.
Here, on the chess forum, I technically cannot answer in detail to your several remarks that, in my mind, are all somewhat inexact or vague.
Herbert Kruse (2023-01-02 03:02:55)
poker reflection time
2016.11.04 began the Poker World Championship number 12 but I don't know what the price for winning is, just that I won it now
Stanislas Gounant (2022-11-30 23:08:17)
I did not win a game since 3 years
I think the meanning of this topic is now to find some positions where theory is unclear I think it's the case of the bishop's gambit, and for the traxler, i think there is not a lot of games because it is refuted
Stanislas Gounant (2022-11-30 20:00:22)
I did not win a game since 3 years
In my openning tree of 200 000 games with games played since 2019 and players rated 2400 and more in big datatbase 2023 + games played since 2019 and players rated 2300 and more in correspondence datatbase 2022 + games played in 2022 and players rated 2300 and more on FICGS :
Bishop's Gambit : 27 Games
Traxler Counterattack : 29 Games
Stanislas Gounant (2022-11-30 19:55:08)
I did not win a game since 3 years
In my openning tree of 11 700 000 games with games of big database 2023 + correspondence database 2022 + games play on FICGS in 2022 :
Bishop's Gambit : 6123 Games
Traxler Counterattack : 4293 Games
Thibault de Vassal (2022-11-30 00:59:29)
I did not win a game since 3 years
Did anyone "calculate" what opening leads to the lowest rate of draws in engines tournaments? (or Stockfish vs. Stockfish)
Scott Ligon (2022-11-27 22:06:35)
I did not win a game since 3 years
If you mean John Shaw's book on the King's Gambit, I have that book and he did say that the Bishop's Gambit is refuted. But he qualifies what he means: "In this context I define the term 'refutation' as Black being better in all variations, not winning by force." Not much of a refutation. If you search my game history, I have played the Bishop's Gambit several times and I haven't lost. That's why I'm confident white can hold the draw.
I'd be willing to play in that thematic tournament, and I'd be very well prepared.
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2022-11-25 16:48:19)
I did not win a game since 3 years
In case of the openings I mentioned earlier, I think there is a possibility for white to hold on to an advantage. The problem is that with the superhuman playing strength of engines nowadays, one will have to study harder than before to keep up with the engine. But now, after I studied these variations in detail, it has become clear. In practice one nowadays will have to have the right approach before the game to the played opening, otherwise I think it is not doable anymore to find the way to any white advantage during the game. This can be frustrating, but also in OTB chess more and more engine designed defences are played, so it is prudent to study these "unbeatable" defences.
Scott Ligon (2022-11-25 16:20:13)
I did not win a game since 3 years
The problem with the two opening you suggested is that they're too good. Neither side made a mistake, so the engines will hold the draw every time (barring human error). The King's Gambit is a step in the right direction for a thematic tournament (with engines), and as long as everyone has an equal number of whites and blacks that's fair enough. I still think it's too easy for white to draw in the KGA with Nf3. The KGA with Bc4 is a bit more treacherous though I've explored it enough to be confident that white holds the draw. Anyway, I do think the openings need to be somewhat dubious or it's too easy for engines to draw.
Scott Ligon (2022-11-22 16:00:33)
I did not win a game since 3 years
Even the idea of having preset pools of starting positions isn't necessary. Going off my previous post, the first player selects any starting position they like (has to be a position that can be reached in an actual game of chess, so let's say the first player gives a sequence of opening moves that results in the position). First player wants to pick a position right on the border between win and draw, but they don't even need to stipulate which side is playing for the win, because a chess engine can run a quick search and determine that automatically. So the first player submits an opening sequence of moves, the FICGS server runs a quick evaluation with Stockfish or whatever just to decide which side has advantage, and the second player chooses between playing the advantaged side for a win or the disadvantaged side for a draw.
Scott Ligon (2022-11-22 15:22:57)
I did not win a game since 3 years
Here's another idea. We start with two pools of starting positions. One pool where white has an advantage that may or may not be winning. Another pool where black has the advantage. First player picks a position from either pool. Let's say the first player picks from the white advantage pool (on the border between winning advantage for white and draw). Second player gets to choose which side of that position they want to play. They can either play white but then they have to win, or black but then all they need to do is draw. So no matter the outcome, each match will be decisive. We'd just have to populate the pool of opening positions first.
Ilmars Cirulis (2022-10-09 14:31:17)
Repeated draw offers
What if the warning message (about draw offers too often) told one when the last draw offer were made? That would be much more useful, imho.
Cheers
Patrycja Zerowska (2022-10-06 09:54:59)
Threefold repetition
It seems that there is no way to claim a draw by threefold repetition on this site. In the game 136386, where I have Black, the position that occurred after my 50th move, is the same as that after my 58th move, and will be the same after my intended 60th move, namely 60... Bf7. I therefore claim a draw in this game.
Since apparently there is no "automatic arbiter" to process the claim, I called the "referee" on 1 October 2022 (5 days ago), explaining that I made a draw claim as described above (and mentioning my intended move), but I haven't received a reaction yet.
This particular game has been a dead draw at least since move 35. I offered a draw after my 35th move and on my 59th move. Both offers were declined.
1. Why is there no automatic arbiter which processes draw claims? If I am not mistaken, this site exists more than 15 years already, and yet the Laws of Chess are not yet fully implemented.
2. Why can't I stop my clock when I make such a claim? See art. 9.5 of FIDE's Laws of Chess.
3. Why doesn't the arbiter or the referee stop my clock? Without this, a player making a claim can timeout, or, when she is short on time, may be reluctant to make a draw claim.
4. Why doesn't the referee take action? Is there a referee at all?
In the rules section of this site I read: "Also, there is no way to stop the clocks, players cannot claim that they stopped to play after they called the referee for any reason..." This is a violation of the rules of chess; it implies that on this site it is not chess that is being played, but a weird chess variant. Of course I disagree with this corruption of the playing rules, and so should everyone who call themselves chess players!
Your strange rules also state that the referee will "act as soon as possible", but so far, after five days, no referee has shown up. So you are not even acting in agreement to your own rules.
Finally, I find in your rules the following statement: "All games are played until a player resign, accept draw, or lose on time." This is the most ridiculous "rule" I have ever encountered. Not only renders this farcical rule a win by checkmate illegitimate, it is a blatant ignoring of the Laws of Chess, which allow games to be ended by accepted draw claims, or for any other reason at the discretion of an arbiter.
Herbert Kruse (2022-08-18 22:25:46)
poker reflection time
if you want meaningful, u go with 12 hours per move, but Thib doesnt want this, because of wins by time
Yeturu Aahlad (2022-08-18 22:12:06)
poker reflection time
Am I misunderstanding the math? I don't think that would make a meaningful difference. Against an opponent playing as slowly as possible, the new rule with 30-day max accumulated time would end the game 30 days sooner.
Yeturu Aahlad (2022-08-16 21:32:54)
respectful legacy
Today, an esteemed opponent, Aleksey Payzansky, a Ukrainian player, resigned all his Poker games against me. I've been wanting to start a discussion here on a FICGS policy of respectful legacy for some time now. What follows is a straw-man to start the discussion.
1. It is reasonable to require a minimum degree of prior participation before this policy applies.
2. Under appropriate circumstances, this policy may be applied retroactively.
3. If we know that a participant has died, it will trigger this policy.
4. If a participant announces that they will no longer participate or suspend their participation for an unknown length of time, it will trigger this policy. (Controversial - this is regardless of their reasons for doing so.)
5. If a participant stops participating for a prescribed length of time without any announcement, it will trigger this policy retroactively from the time the participation stopped. (Controversial - the intent is to give the participant the benefit of doubt.)
When the policy applies,
1. All of the participant's pending games (retroactively if applicable) will be adjudged. A player with a clear lead will be declared the winner. Games which are too close will be either declared a tie or removed from the record with no adjustment of ELO. (Controversial - time on the clock will not be a consideration in the adjudication.)
2. Returning participants will be welcomed. They will retain their ELO, and their degree of prior participation will be reset to zero.
I would be happy to see this policy applied retroactively to Aleksey if that is appropriate.
Juri Eintalu (2022-07-17 06:30:46)
FIDE BANS KARJAKIN
Interesting. Russian defence minister Shoigu ordered the Russian army to do everything possible to prevent Ukraine from shelling Donetsk and Luhansk republics.
The next day, Sergey Karyakin appeared in Donetsk's chess club. Karyakin gave a simultaneous chess exhibition in the Donetsk chess club.
Karyakin announces that under the shelling, he understood the following. It is unimportant to have expensive cars, but it is of the utmost importance to stay alive and to have good friends.
On the same day, in the evening, Russia started the heaviest attack on Marinka - the town west of Donetsk, from where Ukraine was shelling Donetsk.
Karyakin invites all chess players to visit Donetsk's wonderful chess club.
No comments.
Juri Eintalu (2022-07-13 09:45:36)
RUSSIA AND BELARUS NOT SUSPENDED?
The ICCF Statutes webpage provides a new Statute, valid from 9th May 2022.
www.iccf.com/message?message=449
Article 17 contains a new sentence now:
"The Executive Board is empowered by Congress to propose suspension or dismissal of member federations for non-financial reasons."
Thus, the ICCF has also made a decision to suspend Russia and Belarus.
Thus, it seems that the ICCF Congress has calculated as follows:
34/(34 + 13) = 34/47 = 0.72 = 72%
It means that the "abstained" 13 voters have not been taken into account.
But who voted how, who remained neutral, who was missing, etc.?
Article 12 says the following:
"Amendments to the statutes require a vote of the general assembly, called the Congress, and a majority of two thirds of the members present or represented."
However, that Extraordinary Congress was online.
Finally, the downloadable table has other pages providing more detailed information. Thus, there is information that Estonian representative Jüri Kuusik did not "attend" the online congress.
The meanings of the terms "present", "represented", "attended", and "abstained" have remained unclear, which makes the manipulations possible.
Clarity is missing around that issue and on the ICCF homepage.
Juri Eintalu (2022-03-21 21:28:38)
FICGS support to Ukraine
I am also against wars, particularly against unjustified wars, and absolutely against war crimes.
Concerning the Ukraine war, I have noticed that the sports regulators, including chess regulators, are inconsistent.
When did they protest against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, sanctioned the sportsmen from the occupying countries?
I suggest punishing those who explicitly approve the war crimes or make hate speeches.
Juri Eintalu (2022-03-21 21:23:10)
FIDE BANS KARJAKIN
FIDE bans Karjakin for 6 months because of his announcements concerning the Ukraine war.
https://www.fide.com/news/1650
Thibault de Vassal (2022-03-07 21:08:28)
HTTPS not available on March 7th
There was a huge issue on FICGS server today, I'm glad to have been able to fix this as it was really tough and unlikely ^^ This is what happens when running an old system with recent modules...
No time was added to clocks as it lasted less than 24 hours (sorry :)), and a few players connect to HTTP (not really secure, particularly if you used the right login field).
I started to work with the most recent Linux system a few weeks ago so I should be ready to migrate FICGS to this new server at some time... There is no urge though, it will be a long and difficult operation.
Thibault de Vassal (2022-03-02 19:54:37)
FICGS support to Ukraine
Clocks for ukrainian players in activity have been stopped yesterday (45 days of special "vacation", can be renewed if necessary).
I don't hold any of this against russian players as well. As I said in the other post:
"(...) At tennis, in example, Elina Svitolina (UKR) didn't want to play Anastasia Potapova (RUS) yesterday, but federation of tennis "removed" russian flag for individual players... the match finally happened (Svitolina won 6-2 6-1 by the way). All russians I know do not support this war, so I think it is a good sign of support from them to join this idea, kind of support for peace.
If any russian player is pro-Poutine or supports this war, of course he can talk to me and ask for his flag (not meaning he'll get it)."
Thibault de Vassal (2022-03-02 19:50:53)
Russian flag replaced
I understand your point but it seems to be more complicated... At tennis, in example, Elina Svitolina (UKR) didn't want to play Anastasia Potapova (RUS) yesterday, but federation of tennis "removed" russian flag for individual players... the match finally happened (Svitolina won 6-2 6-1 by the way). All russians I know do not support this war, so I think it is a good sign of support from them to join this idea, kind of support for peace.
If any russian player is pro-Poutine or supports this war, of course he can talk to me and ask for his flag (not meaning he'll get it).
Thibault de Vassal (2022-02-28 21:33:03)
FICGS support to Ukraine
That is a nice idea from LSS server. Though I'm still not sure about what to do on this point.
The idea of a beneficiary tournament remains interesting but is it time for chess games during these trouble times (that might extend to Europe) while there may be other ways to help... I'll think about it further.
I'm also thinking about postponing WCH tournaments, any opinion is welcome.
Thibault de Vassal (2022-02-28 21:22:28)
Ukrainian players clocks during war
Let's do this.
Ukrainian players in activity are now in vacation for 45 days. Of course they still have 45 days of vacation remaining. Even if the war ends shortly, I think this is the least time to recover from such dramatic events. If war should last, then this special vacation could be renewed.
Consequently this topic is closed.
There are 100 results for Ning in wikichess.
William Taylor (2110)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O b5 Bb3 Bb7 c3 Nxe4 d4
The only try for an opening advantage.
============
Contributors : William Taylor
William Taylor (2110)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O b5 Bb3 Bb7 Re1 Bc5 c3
Simply planning to expand in the centre with d4, which will come with a tempo because the black bishop on c5 will be attacked.
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Contributors : William Taylor
Mark Styler (1800)
d4 Nf6 Nc3 d5 Bf4
Mark's Opening
(see FICGS encyclopaedia); also see www.Marksopening.blogspot.com
============
Contributors : Mark Styler
Luc-Olivier Leclerc (1800)
f4 d5 Nf3 c5 c4 d4 b4 Nf6 bxc5 e6 Ba3 Nc6 g3 Qa5 Qb3 Bxc5 Qb5 Qxb5 cxb5 Nb4 Bxb4 Bxb4 Nxd4 O-O Nc3 Rd8 e3 e5 fxe5 Ng4 Rc1 Nxe5 Be2 Bh3 Kf2 Rd6 Ne4
gaining time.
============
Contributors : Luc-Olivier Leclerc
Luc-Olivier Leclerc (1800)
f4 d5 Nf3 c5 c4 d4 b4 Nf6 bxc5
A logical move, now white will continue his plan of undermining the black's centre, who is now, only made of the d4-pawn.
============
Contributors : Luc-Olivier Leclerc
Luc-Olivier Leclerc (1800)
f4 d5 Nf3 c5 c4 d4 b4
Curions opening, a curious gambit, in which white attack black's centre,
Black has no reason to accept it, but he can just take b4 and not on a3.
This^ opening should called the AudreySophie gambit. Or by my name, if your prefer to be not imaginative...
For now, black does not seem to have any way to bust it. And white trie for a big play everyside of the board.
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Contributors : Luc-Olivier Leclerc
Alex Savu (1350)
d4 e5 d5 Nf6
Pressures the d-pawn, also aims to castle early. Looks less threatening than ...Bc5.
============
Contributors : Alex Savu
Sophie Leclerc (1573)
f4 d6 Nf3 Nc6 c4 Nf6 Nc3
This opening can be call the phantom system, as it can not virtually die and if black is not carefull, white will be tired and can build faster then you can think a big pawn center.
No joke, the pawn center must not happen.
If white continue in a hyper-modern style, he will want to fianchetto his bishops.
From Yugi_inving.
============
Contributors : Sophie Leclerc
Telmo Escobar (1929)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 a6 Bg5 e6 f4 Qb6 Qd2 Qxb2 Rb1 Qa3 f5 Nc6 fxe6 fxe6 Nxc6 bxc6 e5 dxe5 Bxf6 gxf6 Ne4 Qxa2 Rd1 Be7 Be2 O-O O-O Ra7 Rf3 Rd7 Bd3 f5 Qh6 Kh8 Ng5 Bc5+ Kh1 Qa5 Rh3 Qc7 Nxe6 Qd6 Nxf8 Qxf8 Qxc6
White is winning.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Normajean Yates (1975)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Nc3 Nf6 Nxe5 Nxe5 d4 Nc6 d5 Bb4 dxc6 Nxe4 Qd4 Qe7 Qxg7 Nxc3+ Be3 Nd5+ c3 Rf8 cxb4 Nxe3 fxe3 Qxb4+
black is winning.
============
Contributors : Normajean Yates
Sandor Porkolab (1476)
e4 e6 d4 d5 e5 b6 c3 Qd7 Nf3 Ne7 Bd3 Ba6
6...Ba6 Here is the meaning of the earlier 4...b6 move - giving way to the c8 Bishop to a6 to go for the Bishop exchange. It is a good plan for black to remove the light square Bishops from the table - deactivating an active white bishop for a passive black bishop.
Options for white:
A, 7.0-0 castling
B, 7.Bxa6 go for the Bishop exchange
============
Contributors : Sandor Porkolab
Sebastian Boehme (2062)
e4 f5 exf5 Nf6 Be2
Threatening some nasty things and developing a piece naturally.
============
Contributors : Sebastian Boehme
Sophie Leclerc (1525)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 Be3 Bg7 f3 O-O Qd2 Nc6 Bc4 Bd7 O-O-O Rc8 Bb3 Ne5 Kb1 Nc4 Bxc4 Rxc4 g4 b5 b3 b4
We should keep going with this move now, that we are on it.
The dragon is an opening so violent that we must not be scared of sacrifices.
============
Contributors : Sophie Leclerc
Normajean Yates (1975)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 a6 Bg5 e6 f4 Qb6 Qd2 Qxb2 Rb1 Qa3 e5 h6 Bh4 dxe5 fxe5 Nd5
Rybka 3 opening book line. According to the author Jeroen Noomen:
"In 2007 the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf was experiencing a crisis. White players found out that after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 the old move 10.e5!? was not so easy for black and they scored a few impressive victories. The Poisoned Pawn finally refuted? Not really! After 10.e5!? h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 black has a move that gives him full equality: 12... Nd5!
"
============
Contributors : Normajean Yates
Normajean Yates (1946)
e4 e5 Nf3 f6 Nxe5 fxe5 Qh5 Ke7 Qxe5 Kf7 Bc4 d5 Bxd5+ Kg6 h4 h5 Bxb7 Bd6 Qa5 Nc6 Bxc6 Rb8 Qxa7
and white is five pawns up. +-. Alternatively, white can continue development, remaining four pawns ahead.
============
Contributors : Normajean Yates
Sophie Leclerc (1200)
e4 e5 Nf3 f6 Nxe5 Ne7 Qh5+ g6 Bc4 Bg7 Bf7+ Kf8 Qf3 fxe5 Bxg6+ Nf5 Bxf5
Treatning another discovery check, on d7 then exange the white bishop for black's. White lack developpement, But Nc3, d3, and Be3 are played faster then excepted. White is up two pawn now.
============
Contributors : Sophie Leclerc
Sophie Leclerc (1200)
e4 e5 Nf3 f6 Nxe5 Ne7
This move is simple too. Ne7 take control of both d5 and f5 sqaure, it also control g6 square which just save from a little Qh5+
As for, Qh5+ g6, The queen is attacked, and you lose the knight
Refuting this is not an easy task. And blakc does have well hidden compensation for the pawn. this opening is gived the rating as the halloween gambit.
Black can not come up with many plans, depending where the knight woulg go, Nf3 just mean you have lost a tempo, Nd3 prevent d4, and Nc4 will cause black to play d5 right away, since they don't want a knight on e3.
the f6 pawn can serve later, in attack, with the moves, g5, -h5 g4- h4.
Black has a little initiative, he must not lose to win the game.
============
Contributors : Sophie Leclerc
Yugi Inving (1280)
e4 f5 exf5 Kf7 Qh5+ g6 fxg6+ Kg7 Bd3 Nf6 Qg5
preparing gxh7 and prevening black from taking the g6 pawn.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving
Terry Godat (2088)
e4 f5 exf5 Kf7
The real inving gambit or the Inving gambit of the king, can also be called the drunked king opening, Kf7 does somewhat something to prevent White plan
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving, Terry Godat
This has been dubbed (allegedly by some Russian players) the Mao Zedong Attack, as it sacrifices pawns for no reason. Black is already completely lost.
Wilhelm Schuett (1800)
Nh3
1/Played by French amateur chess player Charles Amar in the 1930s, this opening is also known as the Drunken Knight Opening, or the Ammonia Opening (NH3 is the chemical formula of the ammonia).
There is no particular interest in choosing to play NH3, and it is therefore considered as an irregular opening. It prepares for kingside castling, but so would NF3...
2/Here is the "Sodium Attack", an very rarely opening played in profssional tournaments,the interest of this
Non-orthodoxe opening,is to control cells g5
and f4 in One also move... to prépare the attack on column f, with bishop on c1 at thé 3th.move, and to prépare the casting, so of course!
Paul,Emma& Sandra Brand-Lyard. 2021/07/24th.
============
Contributors : Benjamin Block, Normajean Yates, Florian Cafiero, PaulSandra Brand-Lyard
aka "The Sandra Lyard13061975-03081997 Inventor
Chess variants Annapurna' séries., Wilhelm Schuett
Benjamin Block (1397)
f3 e5 g4 Qh4+
Grob's Opening, Fool's first Mate variation - the finish.
============
Contributors : Normajean Yates
Riani Kiiari (1800)
e4 h5
foolish, but dangerous if not stopped, h5 is an amateurs opening.
============
Contributors : Benjamin Block, Riani Kiiari
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 Be3 Bg7 Bc4 Ng4 Bb5+ Kf8 O-O Nxe3 fxe3 Nc6 Nxc6 bxc6 Bxc6 Rb8 Bd5 e6 Bb3 Be5 Qf3 Qe7
Again, Black has more than enough compensation for the pawn minus. Indeed he's "threatening" Kf8-g7 and White has to play very carefully in order to hold a draw.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 Be3 Bg7 Bc4 Ng4 Bb5+ Kf8 O-O Nxe3 fxe3 Nc6 Nxc6 bxc6 Bxc6 Ba6 Bxa8 Bxf1 Qxf1 Qxa8
Black is a pawn down but this is of no importance in this position. Indeed, Black has "threatening" 15...Bxc3 16.bxc3 Qxe4 or (even!) 16...Kg7 when White, if any, has to play accurately not to going into serious trouble. Remember that pawn weaknesses are particularly serious when there are rooks.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 Be3 Bg7 Bc4 Ng4 Bb5+ Kf8 O-O Nxe3 fxe3 e6 Bc4
Threatening 12.Nxe6+ (or 12.Bxe6) but it's easy to parry the threat.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 Be3 Bg7 Bc4
This move has little independent meaning, as Black can enter the main lines if he so wants, yet some White players may have some spetial in mind as we shall see.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 Be3 Ng4 Bb5 Nc6 Nxc6 bxc6 Bxc6+ Bd7 Bxa8 Nxe3 fxe3 Qxa8
A critical position. In order to understand why a single tempo will be decisive for the evaluation of the position, it's advisable to remember that Siegbert Tarrasch postulated that "two bishops plus a rook are better than two rooks plus a knight". According my oddly uneven experience of near forty years of tournament play, during which I lost to many patzers but beat many masters -and a few grandmasters- as well, I think Tarrasch's axiom is correct most of the time. Indeed, *as most players seem to not know about Tarrasch's axiom*, one of my dirty tricks has been to look for these positions, when my adversary think he -one exchange up- is better, but I -one exchange down- usually know better.
In this position, both Black bishops seem to have excellent prospects and, should my dark bishop be already at g7, I'd be sure that Black has winning prospects.
But it's White turn to move, and...
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 f3 Qb6 Be3 Qxb2 Ndb5 Qb4 Nc7+ Kd8 Bd2
Winning as 10...Kxc7? 11.Nb5+ loses the queen.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 f3 Qb6 Be3 Qxb2 Ndb5
Threatening both 9.Rb1 winning a queen and -eventually- Nc7+ winning an exchange. So Black's reply is forced.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 g6 f3 Qb6
Achtung! This move is recommended in one of the editions of the Yugoslav Enciclopedia of Chess Openings, even evaluating this position as favouring Black (!). The idea is, apparently, that White is deprived of the natural reply 7.Be3, so Black has (apparently!) the initiative. Let us see why this is wrong.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2043)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O Be7 Re1 O-O Bxc6
Winning a pawn
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Yugi Inving (0914)
e4 d5 exd5 Qxd5 b3 Qe5+ Ne2 Qxa1 Nec3 Be6 d4 Nf6 Bd3 Nbd7 Qe2 c6 Bd2 O-O-O O-O Nb6 Na3 Qxf1+ Kxf1 g6
intending Bg7 to finish black developpement and then Rd7 and Rhd8
Black should have near 90% chances of winning in thses cases.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving
Telmo Escobar (2076)
d4 d5 c4 c6 Nf3 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Bg5 h6 Bh4 dxc4 e4 g5 Bg3 b5 Be2 Bb7 O-O Nbd7 Ne5 Bg7 Nxf7 Kxf7 e5 Nd5 Ne4
As played in Topalov-Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2008. White probably has a reasonable compensation for the sacrifice- and indeed Topalov won that game. Yet the definitive evaluation of this idea is still unclear. Notice that White is threatening 15.Nd6+ winning the bishop, otherwise Black would advantageously play c6-c5.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Yugi Inving (0914)
e4 c5 Nc3 Nc6 Nf3 Nf6 d3 d5 e5 d4 Nb5 Qa5+ Bd2 Qxb5 Rb1 Ng4 c4 Qa6 Be2 Ngxe5 O-O Nxf3+ Bxf3 Qa3 bxa3 Kd7 Re1 f6 h3 Kd6 Bf4+ e5 Bd2 g5 Qe2 Bg7 Qe4 Ne7 a4 Rb8 a5 h6 a6 b6 Bh5
Planing to move B on cases, f7 and then d5. like I would take that bishop.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving
Julien Coll (1672)
c4 e5 Nc3 Nf6 Nf3 Nc6 g3 Bb4
A popular move, and not only an inversed Sicilian Rossolimo. Because of the reversed colours and the tempo up for White, it leads to particular and typical positions of the English Opening, some of its most important tabyias.
To permit Bxc3 or not to permit Bxc3, that is the big question for White here.
============
Contributors : Julien Coll
Terry Godat (2088)
e4 f5
This is Inving gambit. this gambit is the most dengerous weapon to use for black, as it can turn on the face because of Qh5+ the inving Gambit accepted have only four variant possible, After Fxe5. 2... g6, 2... h5 2... Nf6 and 2.. Kf7
the gambit can also be refused with , Nc3, Nf3, d3, f3, g3... or white can play the Advence Inving Gambit Variant (AIGV).
This gambit is not a bad move tough it's is -0.37 for Rybka. ( This opening has no name, i just name it like that for fun) it can also be an inversed From gambit.
============
This gambit, the Fred, is completely unjustified, except as a joke.
Contributors : Yugi Inving, Terry Godat
Telmo Escobar (2076)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 a6 Ba4 Nf6 O-O Be7 Re1 b5 Bb3 d6 c3 O-O h3 Na5 Bc2 d5 exd5 e4 Bxe4 Nxe4 Rxe4 Bb7 d4 Re8 Bf4 Nc4 Re2 Bxd5 Qd3 Qd7 b3 Bd6 Ne5 Nxe5 dxe5 Bc5 Rd2
Threatening c3-c4
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2076)
d4 d5 c4 c6 Nf3 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Bg5 h6 Bh4 dxc4 e4 g5 Bg3 b5 Ne5 h5 h4 g4 Be2 Bb7 O-O Nbd7 Qc2 Nxe5 Bxe5 Bg7 Bg3 Qxd4 Rad1 Qb6 b3 cxb3 axb3 a6 Rd2 c5 Rd6 Qa5 e5 Nd5 Nxd5 Bxd5 Rxd5 exd5 Qxc5 Rh6 Qxd5 Rd8 Qe4 Kf8
Black has winning prospects.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Lauri Lahnasalo (1600)
d4 Nf6 c4 c5 d5 b5 Nf3
Benko Gambit Declinded
If white isn't happy about accepting the gambit he can always decline it and hope to capture the pawn under better cicumstances. (Yasser Seirawan: Winning Chess Openings p.161)
============
Contributors : Lauri Lahnasalo
Telmo Escobar (2076)
e4 c5 Nf3 Nc6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e5 Ndb5 d6 Bg5 a6 Na3 b5 Bxf6 gxf6 Nd5 f5 Bd3 Be6 Qh5 Rg8 g3 Nd4 c3 fxe4 Bxe4 Bg4 Qxh7 Rg7 Qh6 Nf3+ Ke2 Ng5+ f3 Nxe4 fxg4 Qc8 Qe3
From the game Beliavsky-Salov, Groningen 1993. White has a minimal positional advantage.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
d4 Nf6 c4 c5 Nf3
{after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5} Now it's an English opening {another move order to reach this position is 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4}.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Be2 a6 O-O Nbd7 f4 b5 Bf3 Bb7 e5 Bxf3 Nxf3 b4 exf6 bxc3 f5 Qb6+ Kh1 cxb2 Bxb2 Qxb2 fxe6 fxe6 f7+ Kd8 Nd4 Nc5 Rb1 Qxa2 Qf3 d5 c4 Qxc4 Qe3 Rc8 Rbc1 Qb4 Nxe6+ Kd7 Nf4 Qe4 Qh3+ Kc7 Ne6+ Kb8 Rb1+ Nb7 Qb3 d4 Rf4 Qc6 Rxd4 Be7 Rc4 Qd7 Qg3+ Ka7 Qe3+ Kb8 Qf4+ Ka7 Qf2+ Kb8 Rxc8+ Rxc8 f8 Bf8 Nf8 Qd3 Qb2 Qb5 Qa1 Qd3 Ne6 Qc3
Black has no real winning chances because his king is still facing risk, so he is wll adviced to swap queens and accept a draw.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Be2 a6 O-O Nbd7 f4 b5 Bf3 Bb7 e5 Bxf3 Nxf3 b4 exf6 bxc3 f5 Qb6+ Kh1 cxb2 Bxb2 Qxb2 fxe6 fxe6 f7+ Kd8 Nd4 Nc5 Rb1 Qxa2 Qf3 d5 c4 Qxc4 Rb4 Qd3 Nxe6+ Kc8 Qxd3 Nxd3 Rd4 Nb4 Nxf8 Rxf8 Rxb4 Ra7
Black has good winning prospects.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Be2 a6 O-O Nbd7 f4 b5 Bf3 Bb7 e5 Bxf3 Nxf3 b4 exf6 bxc3 f5 Qb6+ Kh1 cxb2 Bxb2 Qxb2 fxe6 fxe6 f7+ Kd8 Nd4 Nc5 Nxe6+
Not so briliant because this move only draws, while White has winning prospects with 19.Rb1!
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Be2 a6 O-O Nbd7 f4 b5 Bf3 Bb7 e5 Bxf3 Nxf3 b4 exf6 bxc3 f5 Qb6+ Kh1 cxb2 Bxb2 Qxb2 fxe6 fxe6 f7+ Kd8 Nd4 Nc5 Rb1
Simagin regarded this position as winning for White. What follows is a try to support that claim.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Be2 a6 O-O Nbd7 f4 b5 Bf3 Bb7 e5 Bxf3 Nxf3 b4 exf6 bxc3 f5 Qb6+ Kh1 cxb2 Bxb2 Qxb2 fxe6 Nxf6 exf7+ Kd7 Rb1 Qc3 Nd4
This is Walker-Bowen, England 1967 (see Chess Informant 4/544). More than merely having compensation for the piece, White is winning because he has four good attacking pieces with plenty of files, rows and diagonals to enjoy, while Black king has no pawn wall to hide behind and his pieces have trouble to play because of the much disturbing f7 pawn.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Mike Hoogland (1760)
d4 f5 g3 Nf6 Bg2 g6 c3
White, having not played c4 as in a typical Dutch opening, choses to put the pawn on c3. This has two advantages:
-It reinforces the d4 pawn, so that Bg7 is not putting real pressure on the d4 pawn. Subsequently, the chance of a succesful counterattack by black in the centre has become significantly lower.
-It opens the d1-a4 diagonal for the queen. From b3 the queen can attack the b7 pawn, together with the bishop on g2. Also, because f5 has weakened the black's king position, the queen can give a check on b3 or make castling for black more difficult.
============
Contributors : Mike Hoogland
Mike Hoogland (1760)
d4 f5 g3 Nf6 Bg2 g6
Black opts for the Leningrad variation. A sharp opening in which black counterattacks the centre with his pieces.
============
Contributors : Mike Hoogland
Sandor Porkolab (2269)
e4 d5 exd5 Qxd5 Nc3 Qa5 d4 Nf6 Nf3 Bg4 h3 Bh5 g4
Chase away the Bishop from the pinning position.
============
Contributors : Sandor Porkolab
Sandor Porkolab (2269)
e4 d5 exd5 Qxd5 Nc3 Qa5 d4 Nf6 Nf3 Bg4
pinning Nf3
============
Contributors : Sandor Porkolab
Telmo Escobar (2048)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 d6 d4 Nge7 dxe5 a6 Bc4 b5 Bb3 Bg4 exd6 cxd6 Bxf7+
Winning.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Mike Hoogland (1764)
d3
I have seen this move twince. it is a very good move for people that want to play whit black but dont have them.
I play this opening a lot when I want to get an initial passive game.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving, Jose Fernndez Bueno, Mike Hoogland
Telmo Escobar (2048)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Ng5 Bc5 Bxf7 Ke7 Bb3 Qe8 O-O Rf8 Nc3 d6 Nd5+ Kd8 c3 h6 d4 exd4 Nxf6 Rxf6 e5 Rf5 Nf3 Nxe5 Nh4 Rxf2 Kxf2
Best! Now the king is "threatening" to go to g3 (don't laugh about).
In this position I guess White has better prospects, but as White's king seems to be in danger, I wait for other players to provide analysis demonstrating Black's prospects.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2048)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Ng5 Bc5 Bxf7 Ke7 Bb3 Qe8 O-O Rf8 Nc3 d6 Nd5+ Kd8 c3 h6 d4 exd4 Nxf6 Rxf6 e5 Rf5 Nf3 Nxe5 Nh4 Rxf2 Rxf2 dxc3
Winning, as the threats of Ng4, or Nd3, are hard to cope with
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2048)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Ng5 Bc5 Bxf7 Ke7 Bb3 Qe8 O-O Rf8 Nc3 d6 Nd5+ Kd8 c3 h6 d4 exd4 Nxf6 Rxf6 e5 Rf5 Nf3 Nxe5 Nh4 Rh5 cxd4 Rxh4 dxc5 Qh5 cxd6 Rxh2 Qxh5 Rxh5 dxc7+ Kxc7 Re1 Kc6 Be3
White is winning, due to the inability of Black's king to find shelter
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2048)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Ng5 Bc5 Bxf7 Ke7 Bb3 Qe8 O-O Rf8 Nc3 d6 Nd5+ Kd8 c3 h6 d4 exd4 Nxf6 Rxf6 e5 Rf5 Nf3 Nxe5 Nh4 Rh5 cxd4 Rxh4 dxc5 Qh5 cxd6 Rxh2 Qxh5 Rxh5 dxc7+ Kxc7 Re1 Kc6
Ugly, but white was threatening Bc1-f4
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2048)
e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Ng5 Bc5 Bxf7 Ke7 Bb3 Qe8 O-O Rf8 Nc3 d6 Nd5+ Kd8 c3 h6 d4 exd4 Nxf6 Rxf6 e5 Rf5 Nf3 Nxe5 Nxd4 Rf6 Be3 Ng4 Re1 Nxe3 Rxe3 Qf8 Qe2 c6 Re1 Bd7 Be6 Bxd4 cxd4 Bxe6 Rxe6
White is going to have a winning endgame advantage.
============
Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2055)
e3
Yugi Inving:
wow there this is an so-so oppening.
white want to be black... but they dont want to decide in which sort of game we go in.
Telmo Escobar:
this move is to be -eventually- followed by b2-b3, so Black has to be careful despite the slow appearance of the initial move.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving, Telmo Escobar
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Bg5 c5 dxc5 Qa5+ c3 Qxc5
Black must take the c5-pawn immediately, also threatening e5.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Bg5 c5 dxc5 Qa5+ c3
Threatening b4.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Nc3 a6 Nf3 c5 Bg5 cxd4 Nxd4 Qa5 Bd2 Qxe5+ Nde2 N8c6 g3 b5 Bg2 Bb7 O-O Ng6 Re1 Qc7 Nf4 Bc5 Nxg6
White may think he is scuppering Black's plans to castle kingside, but really he's just opening the h-file for the black rook against the white king. Black's kingside attack will play itself now.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Collin Bleak (1700)
e4 d6 d4 Nf6 Nc3 e5 dxe5 dxe5 Qxd8+ Kxd8 Bg5 Be6 O-O-O+ Nbd7 Nf3 Bd6 Nb5 Ke7
This position is +/=. In many lines, computers suggest Bxa2, winning three pawns for the bishop, with an unclear postion, but Black needs exceptional care to see those lines through. Working on the center typically leads to equality.
============
Contributors : Collin Bleak
Yugi Inving (0980)
h4 c5
alright. so its now an short of english oppening. let's see what happen next.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving
Yugi Inving (0980)
h4 h5
The reall move to fight agaisn't an irregular beginning is an irregular beginning also.
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving
Yugi Inving (0980)
h4 e5 a4 d5
Let's talk about the crab oppening. so where do you will attack now? B7 or G7
============
Contributors : Yugi Inving
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Nh3
Slightly mysterious, but does create the option of putting the knight on f4, which might put useful pressure on g6 if the White queen comes out to h5+.
One reason why we are advised not to develop knights onto rook-3 is in case they are captured by an enemy bishop and you have to re-capture with the pawn. But in this opening, there are currently three of the opponent's own pawns preventing this capture.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 exf5 exf5 Bd3 Nc6 Ne2 d5 c4 Nb4 O-O Nf6 Bg5 Nxd3 Qxd3 h6
..c6 looks naturally better, and less loosening, but Fritz rates the resulting position as +0.91, whereas ..h6 leads to +0.41.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 exf5 exf5 Bd3 Nc6 Ne2 d5
White has decided this is not going to be a highly tactical opening, so Black needs to decide what formation he will settle for, and where his minor pieces will go.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Nf3 c5 c3 Nbc6 Bd3 Ng6 Be3 cxd4 cxd4 Bb4+ Nc3 O-O O-O a6 a3 Bxc3 bxc3 b5 Ng5 h6
Looks weakening, but it commences Black's counterattack.
============
Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Nf3 c5 c3 Nbc6 Bd3 Ng6 Be3 cxd4 cxd4 Bb4+
Fritz prefers ..d6 to this, but I like this simple move's adherence to basic opening principles.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Nf3 c5 c3 Nbc6 Bd3 Ng6 Be3 cxd4
Clarifying the centre, but weakening the White pawn chain a little, and preparing b4 for the dark-squared Bishop, if required.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 exf5 exf5 Bc4 Nf6 Nf3 d5 Bb3 Qe7+ Ne5
White should avoid exchanging Queens (i.e. by Qe2), because the White Queen tends to be more powerful in this opening than the Black Queen!
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Nf3 c5 c3 Nbc6 Bc4 cxd4 cxd4 Ng6 O-O a6 a3 b5 Be2 Bb7 Be3 Be7 Nc3 Rc8 d5 Ncxe5 Nxe5 Nxe5 Bf4 Ng6 Be3 f4 Bd4 e5
Strengthening the Black cnetre.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Thibault de Vassal (2514)
h4 e5 a4
Hypermodern.. crab opening :)
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Contributors : Thibault de Vassal
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 exf5 exf5 Nf3 Be7 c4 c6 Ne5 Nf6 Nc3 O-O Bd3 d6 Nf3 Na6 a3 Nc7 O-O d5 Ne5 c5 dxc5 Bxc5 cxd5
Further opening up.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 exf5 exf5 Nf3 Be7 c4 c6 Ne5 Nf6 Nc3 O-O Bd3 d6 Nf3 Na6 a3 Nc7 O-O d5 Ne5 c5 dxc5
Opening up the position shouldn't harm White.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Bc4 a6 Nf3 b5 Bb3 Bb7 Bg5 c5 dxc5
Abandoning the support of the e-pawn.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Gavin Wilson (1400)
e4 e6 d4 f5 e5 Ne7 Bc4 c5 dxc5 Ng6 Nf3 Bxc5 O-O Nc6 Bg5 Qc7 Re1
White decides that if Black is going to take the e-pawn, the Bishop may be able to pin the Knight against the Queen. But 9.Nc3, threatening 10.Nb5 might have been more active.
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Contributors : Gavin Wilson
Kieran Child (1600)
e4 e5 d4 Qh4 Nc3 Bb4
Pinning the knight making the attack on e4 valid again. the possibility of exd4 could also come in useful now with the pin.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
Nf3 Nf6 b4 e5
I'll call this idea the "Rebaudo variation" because, in all my time playing this opening, he's the first person to play it against me, and I actually think it looks quite good. Black threatens to stop any hope white had of queenside space by capturing the pawn on b4. This move is also more forceful than the common e6 as b5 now falls foul to e4 and black has the advantage.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Roberto Migliorini (2058)
c4 b5
Jaenisch gamnbit
Never been an especially popular opening, the Jaenisch gambit is a theoretically unsound attempt at getting an interesting game out of the English. Black aims to quickly develop the bishop to b7 and gain central control, though he is not without some tactical traps on the queenside. White can easily fight for a solid centre, and start some counterplay while black is trying to regain the pawn.
Chessbase considers this a 34% win for black, 32% if white accepts the pawn.
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Contributors : Kieran Child, Roberto Migliorini
Thibault de Vassal (2514)
Na3 d5 g4 Bxg4
Now the question : Did Black win the game already ? :) .. Such strange openings have at least the merit to create real challenges IMO.
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Contributors : Thibault de Vassal
Paul Brand Lyard (1777)
f3
This is known as the Barne's or Gedult's opening. I don't even think there is even think there is anything achieved in this opening except for the fact that the g1 knight will either have to come out on h3 or e2, which gives white a cramped position.
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Contributors : Lucien Boissier, Malik Mohandoussaid, Benjamin Block, Peter Marriott, PaulSandra Brand-Lyard.
Toon Pepermans (1992)
d4 e5
Englund gambit (/Charlick gambit)
Black's aim is to avoid closed systems and castle early, though nowadays this move is rarely seen without the follow up trap. In case the multiple follow up traps appeal to anyone reading this, remember that this opening is never seen at grandmaster level, emphasising its hideous unsoundness.
-K.Child
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1. d4 e5
{The Seccond best first move gambit in Chess. The authority is GM Stefan Bcker, who wrote one of the bibles of unorthodox openings, with his book "Englund Gambit" (1988). He has touched upon the opening in later collumns both at chesscafe.com and in his magazine; Kaissiber. The conclusion seems to be that White is better with acurate play, but OTB White usually avoids those main lines.}
2. dxe5 Nc6
(2... d6 "Hartlaub-Gambit")
3. Nf3 Qe7
(3... f6 "Soller Gambit")
(3... Nge7 "Zilbermints Gambit")
{Now White can chose between several playable lines:}
A) 4. Bf4 {Grob Variation}
B) 4. Qd5 {Stockholm Variation}
C) 4. Nc3
D) 4. e4
-P.Valle, 5th Nov 2010
============
Contributors : Kieran Child, Paul Valle, Toon Pepermans
Kieran Child (1600)
Nf3 d5 e4 dxe4 Ng5 Nf6 Nc3 Bf5 Bc4 e6 f3 exf3
Probably not the best option, white will soon damage black's position by taking on f7, thus pinning the e6 pawn, and taking on f5.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
h4 d5 h5 e5 h6 gxh6 d4 exd4 Qxd4 f6
The most common move, and yet another blunder. Often played by those who were confused by white's opening, and think they can hog the pawn advantage.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Lazaro Munoz (1785)
h4 d5
Kadas opening.
Black prevents the rook from developing. White's only plan has been destroyed. The type of player who would play h4 is the same player who would follow up with h5, trying to develop the rook again to h4 this time.
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Contributors : Kieran Child, Lazaro Munoz
Terry Godat (2137)
h4 e5 Rh3 d5 Re3 Nc6 d4 e4 c4
More attention than it deserves? pah!
With c4, white continues to attack the centre by attempting to undermine the defence of e4. This is a tactic typical in grob openings.
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Contributors : Kieran Child, Terry Godat
Thanks for your compliment to my invention, but it really is quite silly.
Kieran Child (1600)
e4 e5 f4 Qf6 d4
Norwald variation - Electric eel attack
Possibly the least played opening to still have a name. On bigbase9, only 4 games played d4 in response to the Norwald and thus it is hard to analyse. Black doesn't have any immediete wins though, and after the pawn takes on d or e, white will play e5 and Nf3 for an OK game.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 Nc3
Less common than Nf3, but just as good. This move gives white total central domination, and hits the b5 square, weakening the c4 pawn for the inevitable bishop re-capture.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
Nf3 Nf6 b4
Santasiere's folly
A move so named because, when it was first played by Anthony Santasiere, he commented "oh dear, I meant to play it to b3!" Like the Sokolsky though, it is seen by many as more than a Basmanesque joke. White will aim to play a further b5, Bb2 and a4, gaining much queenside space and restricting the development of black's queenside rook and knight. Black will aim to prevent this queenside space with quick counter attacks on the queenside.
ChessBase considers this 55% win for white
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
Nf3 Nf6 Nc3
Reti - Van Geet
A hypermodern move and one that refuses to confirm central pawn structure. However, after blocking the f pawn, this block of the c pawn can be considered weak and restrictive. If black plays d5 and c5, he can often get a good game.
ChessBase considers this a 49% win for white - lower than the average opening.
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
Nf3 d5 e4 dxe4 Ng5 f5 Bc4 Nh6 Nxh7
White takes out the last defender of the g6 square, and prepares the potentially game-winning move of Qh5+
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Contributors : Kieran Child
Kieran Child (1600)
Nf3 d5 e4 dxe4
Zucketort gambit accepted.
Black's usual reply to an unorthodox opening. It is sound, but only if black recognises he shouldn't try and hold on to the pawn forever.
Chessbase considers this 54% win for white
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Contributors : Kieran Child
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