I want to play a4 instead of Nf2 in this position. Am I stoopid??

This would be the position...

Old chess programme "The Master Game" broadcast in the UK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XfjaDNidrU

A pretty funny position, again from one of my old games:



Black clearly has an advantage and there are probably several good moves, but which move offers the most clear-cut advantage for black?

ha nice video.

@ykw:

Yeah sorry bout that, it is black to move in that diagram

If I ran a randomizer to play both sides of a chess game where every legal move was randomized each with an equal chance of being picked.

1)How many moves would the average game go?

2)What % of games would be draws?


50 move rule, 3 fold rep all still apply. My guess is maybe 96% draws? 250 moves? Questions are pointless, just curious

Someone should have those statistics -- it's easy to get to for anyone who's done the first step towards writing a chess engine.*

*Well, and still has that code handy.

I dunno about how many moves, but I'm betting well over 99% of games are drawn by 50-move rule.

For those of you who play online chess at chess.com (or any other forum of correspondence that doesn't allow engines), do you use the analysis board and/or databases? I use both, and I wonder if I'm only hurting my live chess by doing so.

Analysis board, yes. Anything external, no.

Yes, I play on gameknot.com and I use the analysis board and online databases. I do this to maximize my correspondence chess. As for its impact on my live/blitz chess, I try to use CC as more of a training tool. Using databases helps me better understand the opening I'm in. In the game, I only get to explore one line, but it helps to see what goes on in the other branches.

The analysis board also helps in that it allows me to see deeper into the position. This in turn allows me to better evaluate the current position, and so I think this gives me a better idea of how to evaluate positions and maybe also helps give me better ideas of what to look for in positions.

Well at least technically, analysis board is as "external" as anything else

I use the databases but I try to avoid the analysis board if I can.

i put all my chess.com games in chessbase and analyse there (of course without using an engine, and i have deactivated one-click move and "show threats" and everything else that is based on computer evaluation). This enables me to save my analysis. Earlier i used the analysis board, made my move, and 2 days later when he moved i had forgotten all my analysis . Another advantage is that at the end of my game, i have the thought-process and some variations already in my game file (if my opponent deviates from my analysis, i keep it as sub-variations).

I love the fact that i can analyse my games more in-depth than in otb chess, i don't use chess.com to emulate otb.

can anyone recommend any good downloadable chess videos? I'm an ICC member and like their stuff but I can't download it for use in the gym. I got a couple of chessvideos videos and liked them but their charging scheme is confusing and I don't really want to get into it. The other sites that have this kind of stuff all have their content almost totally behind paywalls so I can't really evaluate if I'd like the stuff.

I play gameknot and use the database and analysis board pretty regularly -

one great advantage of the DB is I can play an opening I may not be 100% familiar with and see if I like how the position turns out - but a lot of times I'll try to make my best guestimate of the move and then just look at the DB and make sure it's not a total loser move

good idea on the Chessbase DB for corrospondence games, Noir - if I can reduce my total number of games I will totally start doing that

RB

Ortho, at least the older ICC videos are in wmv and downloadable from the link you can see in video properties once you open the video in the viewer.

Not as far as I can see, though you will have to play Nf2 eventually anyway

That's basically what I was hoping to achieve with using the analysis board. I realized while analyzing a game a few weeks ago that I was way off in evaluating the position at the time. Part of that is probably tactics, but even in positions where there aren't any, I seem to have problems evaluating correctly. Have you found it actually helps your evaluation, or is that something you're still trying to figure out?

I use SCID in a similar way. Right now I'm using SCID to record the variations I've analyzed, but I don't do anything but leave the notation there, no writing of my own thoughts. Now that I read about it, writing thoughts down seems like a good idea. I can see it really helping after the game when I can't quite remember what I was thinking. I'll have to start doing that ASAP.

Do you write down your thoughts after each move? Like if you were surprised by something your opponent did, or the plans your making? How about evaluations after analyzing? Do you you write down those as well, or is that something you'll remember?

I've been using the database to basically play the opening, but I suspect that's not be much help to my chess as I'm not aiming to learn openings, just get better elsewhere in my games. Think I'll start doing it your way.



To all: Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated and helpful. I actually didn't expect to hear that others use the analysis board. Thought maybe people would feel it would hurt their calculation skills or something along those lines.

chess.com has a notes tab where you can enter analysis for reference later.

i don't really verbalize my thought-process in annotations (although it might be good to do so) but i keep variations i've been looking at and moves i checked but didn't play.

Using databases seems like a bad idea if you're looking to improve from your games. The whole point of the opening is to begin to develop your ideas and goals for the rest of the game. If you come up with a bad idea, you come up with a bad idea - learn why it is, try to prove you can make it work anyhow, and improve next game.

I think people are really overly concerned about the opening anyhow. If you are so concerned about opening issues then just play the london as white and the petroff and nimzo/queens indians as black. Its almost impossible to get into opening issues playing those openings so long as you avoid provocative variations.

Yea White will often play Nf2 anyways, but not always.

The Qd1 is staying put for awhile, so maybe the Rf1 is a little funny, but it may come into the game in suprising ways later. Maybe blacks possible g4 sacs with the idea of f3 are slowed too.

Obviously you have to be very aware of e4 in alot of variations. Also maybe White is getting mated somehow, or otherwise boned on the Kside, that I don't see.

My notion is the White's Qside play does not go away, and it is not necessary to own those files yet.

Also various white pieces may use e1 in funny ways, and of course the a rook may use the third rank, (or even defend e4 from a4) in some positions.

As the a pawn goes farther, black (I think) has to react in some fashion on the Qside, and some of those things may slow him from his Kside ideas. (particularly if the Bc8 gets distracted) Seems like black will be in trouble if he does not get through on the K side

Of course I am a fish, so .....

Is the Grischuk-Gashimov matchup in the Amber tournament some kind of record? Their 2-game mini match lasted 279 moves