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1500 questions
170
votes
31 answers

What are examples of very aggressive openings?

One of my favorite openings is the King's Gambit. It is extremely aggressive, and makes for a sharp tactical game without sacrificing too much material. It isn't played much at the highest level at standard time controls, but even today it is…
EPN
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100
votes
12 answers

Why is it illegal to castle with both hands?

I was watching the match between Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Hikaru Nakamura and Nakamura used both hands to castle. Why is it illegal to castle using both hands? What's wrong with that?
tah
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92
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17 answers

Can I improve my chess? Or am I too old?

I am 25 years old. I have been interested in playing chess since my school days but I never played seriously. One year back I realized that I want to become good chess player and I started. Most of the time I play online games on chess.com. I am a…
Venkatesh Goud
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89
votes
7 answers

When is castling possible?

Is castling possible if any of the squares involved in the castling are under attack, or is this a problem only if the squares moved through by the king are under attack and not the ones moved through by the rook?
Binoj Antony
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79
votes
12 answers

How do I analyze my game after playing?

What techniques do you use to analyze your games or other people's games? How much time do you spend on analyzing the game? Are there any tools (electronic or manual, such as a piece of paper) you use during analysis?
xaisoft
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69
votes
22 answers

What is the earliest possible age to start teaching children how to play chess?

My daughter is 4 years old, and she plays checkers very well for her age. She asked me if she can learn how to play chess too. So I am interested in what is the best age to start teaching her. Is it too early to do this? Does anyone have any…
garik
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69
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2 answers

When (if ever) was it a rule that pawn promotion was optional?

I'm reading a very old chess book ("The Chess Pocket Manual" by G.H.D. Gossip, copyright 1894), and I find this passage in it's section on "The Laws of Chess": When a Pawn has reached the eighth square, the player has the option Of selecting a…
patbarron
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69
votes
12 answers

Why is stalemate a draw?

It is so difficult to force stalemate and sometimes unintentional too, so why is stalemate a draw? As the opponent doesn't have a further move, why is it not considered a win?
iMeMyself
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63
votes
15 answers

A purely self-trained chess AI

Insofar as I understand, it appears that, before moving, all strong chess software examines thousands or millions of possible, future positions; evaluates each future position according to some heuristic, called an evaluation function; separately…
thb
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62
votes
14 answers

How should I make a 6 year old think more?

I have been teaching my 6 year old daughter chess for past 2 years. She plays reasonably well. She often defeats level 25 in Chess Lv 100 app and sometimes Level 6 in Chess.com app. So I am guessing her ELO rating might be around 1200. I am trying…
user3467434
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57
votes
8 answers

How would you determine that the player is cheating in online chess?

There are a lot of online websites, where players can play chess in real time with each other. Most of the games are 5-10 minutes long. With the availability of chess software one can take an advantage by using Fritz or Rybka to suggest a move for…
Salvador Dali
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56
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3 answers

Can a piece pinned to my king put the opponent's king in check?

I was playing a game with a friend online. A situation came up where he put me in check with his bishop, and I moved my rook to block it. His king was on the g file and my rook was on g2. The website said he was in check. [fen…
ken
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55
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10 answers

Is there a good online opening training software?

There are a lot of websites to train your tactics, but I can't find any for opening repertoire. I am looking for something similar to 'Chess Position Trainer' but online, where I can import a pgn file with my repertoire, indicate that I want to…
Joe
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53
votes
10 answers

How do I learn to understand the middlegame?

I am trying to train tactics as well as my general understanding of the beginning/middlegame. I spent a good bit of time understanding endgames, per chessmaster recommendations and those I can understand. As far as tactics, I have been able to…
Jeff Davis
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51
votes
3 answers

How fast can checkmate occur by just moving the king?

How short can a game be in which (after the first move) one player moves only their king, and yet checkmates their opponent? This is assuming that the players cooperate, i.e. this is a kind of "helpmate." This generalizes a problem by Stanley…
Laska
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