Actually I think it is a Model Mate. But neither has any practical meaning that make them a better mate.

2nd worst move

Magnus Carlsen is a genius, he is the Jungleman of chess in my opinion. Sorry guys but Chess is the better game and I respect Magnus more than any poker legend. I started playing chess at 4 years old and I was beating adults very quickly at age 7. The problem with Chess is there is no money in it really unless you stream or do coaching. In Chess the people are kinder and for sure more intelligent than your average gambler. There is not many scammers and scumbags in Chess compared to poker. Chess is a battle of wits and when uC lose it hurts a lot more than i ever hurt losing in poker. There is actually class and respect in Chess unlike poker where people talk smack to me when they are smaller than me and can't beat me up. I love both Chess, poker, Startego and magic the gathering. Poker is the lowest of the class for me but the most money involved. Look at all the scandals and cheating in poker compared to Chess and that tells the story easy. You guys can't discredit me either because I been playing poker for 20 years so I know a thing or two.

KEVMODE

Indeed. Carlsen shops at Bed, Bath, and Way Beyond. I quit playing seriously when I realized I would never beat Kasparov. I will say though that when my strongest bracelet run got snapped by the dude on acid who flopped quad aces against my sevens full, that hurt more than any chess match I can remember.

Where do you place your spy?

Nf3 or e4 is my guess. Carlsen plays mostly e4 (Ruy), some c4 (English) and a bit of Nf3 (King's Indian). I started out preferring d4, but by the time I got to class a I was solidly in the e4/Nf3 camp. One similarity to poker is that this can be player dependent. Against inferior opponents I loved to play b3 just to completely screw with them. I suspect that Carlsen uses c4 for this purpose. It is a real ***** to understand and play well.

Do you need to be able to beat the best in the world to enjoy something? I'm a so called "weak master" at chess. I make decent money teaching and my playing pays for itself.

For the Stratego player, how do you counter someone who just shuffles around and does nothing? I never played again after someone did that to me. I lost too many pieces trying to probe for an entry.

I heard that Alpha Zero thinks its best to stop black from playing ...e5, by either 1.d4 or 1.Nf3, and that this is more important than white playing 1.e4 himself.

Qa8 >>> Ra8

Now try the same for possible Go positions.

This is very true.

I think he was joking. Giri was known to draw most games.
There are 4 moves leading to mate in one. Ra8, Qa8, Qb8 and Qd7.

I still enjoy it when I can find a game. I play online sometimes, but it's hard to summon the concentration to win consistently above 1600 or so. I can still play up over the board. I just stopped studying endgames and burning weekends travelling to tournaments. These days I prefer burning them in poker rooms.

I've read more than one call 1.Nf3 the perfect first move. I stopped playing 1.d4 because I just got bored with it. Give me a good Sicilian from either side. If you insist on the Ruy as black, that's ok too, but I will try and get you out of the book at first opportunity. It's a fun discussion, but we'll probably never know.

Funny that you've said that Dan. I only play d4 so not to face the numerous Sicilian/Ruy variations and when playing with black i only play c6 and steer most games into my known and studied territories. Unless one's at the top, it makes sense to narrow down opponents' choices.