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1500 questions
10
votes
2 answers
KN vs. KN: can I force my opponent to take my knight?
Position with KN vs KN aren't automatically drawn because checkmate is possible, even though it can't be forced; however, KN vs K is automatically drawn because checkmate isn't even possible with the lone king's co-operation.
If my opponent won't…
David Richerby
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1 answer
Why are games more likely to last 60, 80 and 120 moves?
I've downloaded and parsed the king-base chess database (about 1.5 million games) and am looking at distribution of moves for games. When plotting the distribution for different outcomes, I see spikes at 80, 100 and 120 moves (and smaller spikes for…
Peter Jones
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10
votes
7 answers
Losing on time constantly
I'm playing lots of online chess. I find one thing in particular really hard: time. I lose on time a lot. Yesterday and today I lost 3 times pure on time - games where I would've destroyed the other if it wasn't for the time - but since I keep on…
Joshua Bakker
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1 answer
When did the light-on-the-right convention ascend to dominance?
I came upon the following wonderful painting by Sofonisba Anguissola, ‘The first great woman artist of the renaissance,’ of her sisters playing chess (painted 1555).
The painting is truly sublime. Chess players will notice, however, that the color…
JDH
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10
votes
6 answers
Deep Rybka vs Deep Fritz vs Houdini vs (other), which one to buy?
I want to invest my hard-earned money to buy a chess engine which can help me to:
analyze games easily
experiment with different opening repertoire
strategical analysis
positional play
I don't expect an answer like, all are good enough to beat a…
RajSanpui
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10
votes
3 answers
How can I identify Zugzwang opportunities?
How can I identify Zugzwang opportunities, not only for myself, but for my opponent. Often times, I run into Zugzwang, whether it is for my benefit or not, by accident. Is this just a matter of looking at all the possible moves my opponent and I…
xaisoft
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10
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2 answers
Differences between FEN and EPD?
I just read the description of FEN (Forsyth–Edwards Notation) and EPD (Extended Position Description), I have a basic idea of what they are, but I still have some points that are not entirely clear:
What are the main differences between those…
ajax333221
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10
votes
1 answer
A free chess opening database?
I'm looking for a chess opening database that is reasonably complete and computer-readable. It should be available either under a liberal free license (like, say, CC-BY, no GPL), or under reasonable commercial license.
Are there any?
Alexander Gladysh
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10
votes
2 answers
Get Fide-rated without revealing your birthday?
I noticed the Fide rating list is always published with the date of birth of the player. Is registering one's actual birthdate with Fide a requirement for a Fide rating? It is a major concern for me given the rise in cases of identity theft.
Spinor8
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10
votes
5 answers
Which chess opening to learn?
I decided to start learning some opening theory, so far I have only played online and studied a couple of end games. Seems that a correct approach might be to chose one opening for white and two for black (answers to e4 and d4), and stick to those…
Smurf
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10
votes
1 answer
Seconds of Magnus Carlsen
Has it been revealed who helped Magnus Carlsen in preparing and during the World Chess Championship against Karjakin?
user1583209
- 20,735
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10
votes
1 answer
Returning scores for all possible moves from a chess engine
I am looking for a way to return scores for all possible moves from a chess engine (preferably, Stockfish).
The UCI protocol does not seem to require it, but is seems like a useful feature to include.
Are there any chess engines/extensions of UCI…
QuarterlyQuotaOfQuotes
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10
votes
4 answers
Knight constrained in advance Caro-Kann
Recently, I've been playing the Caro-Kann exclusively against 1. e4, with good results. The one line that I find somewhat confusing is the advance Caro - specifically, where does the kingside knight go?
[FEN…
Daniel Hogg
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10
votes
5 answers
What is the longest known stalemate your opponent in x-moves problem?
What is the longest known stalemate your opponent in x-moves problem where the given stalemate is the fastest one from the initial position? A win is not possible, but stalemating your opponent so they can't move is, and any other draw takes at…
user11382
10
votes
3 answers
Have there really been more books published on chess than any other sport?
In the history of sport — and publishing — it’s not even close: one sport has had more books (and for that matter, magazines, tracts, pamphlets and handbills) published about it far more than any other: Chess.
Source: publishingperspectives.com
I…
user1108