Chess
 

I'd been thinking about getting seriously into chess for a while now but after watching the Queen's Gambit recently, which was obviously a pretty excellent show with lots of interesting chess discussion, I've begun really deeply investing into the hobby. And it's a remarkably cheap hobby to get into considering it yields basically a lifetime of entertainment and its infinite skill ceiling. I could study every day for the rest of my life and still not get even close to being the best. And that kind of thing is what excites me, it's a hobby that's easy to get into and could theoretically never leave me bored.

All you have to do to start playing is make an account at chess.com. You can play infinitely for free against either bots or real players. Personally I've invested the small fee required to gain access to all the analytical tools and lessons. Particularly the lessons have been amazing, I've learned a lot in a short period of time.

Hopefully someone else here is as interested in the game as I am. Currently I am complete garbage at the game but I'm learning more every day. I'll always be looking for more friendly practice partners.

It startled me that you thought that even needs to pointed out.

But yeah, it’s fun and crazy how endless and humbling it is. It’s good for your mind even if you suck. Sometimes when I’m losing I’ll consider the same ****ty move over and over even though it won’t work. You can learn something about how your mind works by getting your ass handed to you in chess. Also for me, sacrificing pieces to implement a plan goes against the grain. It makes me think, is this the kind of thinking that holds me back in real life.

1200 as in the rating?

i knew a dude in the program whose rating was ~1800

I once met a guy who made a point of mentioning his rating of 2000 every time he introduced himself to someone. One of the worst first impressions I've ever had

Then you knew a good chess player.

I’d probably tattoo that **** on my forehead.

He was a pagan too. believed in norse mythology.

I usually play my phone on about 1500.

A friend of the family said their 10 year old daughter was really good at chess. I played her and she was trash. Didn't even know what castling is.

Ew
The guy was curious looking enough without that. I drew a cartoon of him once, good times

Yeah if you wanna call a tracphone that was prolly made in NK a computer

I just thought it was important to emphasize how truly limitless the game's depth is in case someone who knows next to nothing about chess wanders into the thread. I think just about everybody knows some of the absolute barebones basics about the game but many people are unaware of the fact that it is still taken very seriously and played worldwide to this day.

In most cases this probably translates to: my 10 year old daughter can beat me but she's never played anybody else lol

Oh great now there's gonna be a smarmy white guy chess fad that's gonna ruin it for a generation.

tbf chess has always been a smarmy white guy game

anyone here play go? harder than chess imo.

I don't play it, but it's a game I'd like to learn. Do you play mahjong (the traditional Chinese way)?

I'm not sure. I play it as an app on my phone.

The concept is very simple but the game itself is very complex with a lot of options. Basically there are black stones and white stones, and a grid. each intersection on the grid counts as territory. If you surround an intersection or series of contiguous intersections with stones then that is your territory. if you surround a stone or a contiguous series of stones with your own stones then you capture those stones. each intersection of territory is a point and each stone you capture is a point. diagonal doesn't count, you have to surround them vertically and horizontally so you cut off any lines going into that territory.

Here's a decent youtube series to get you started if you're interested.

But you used the word “best”

Sorry for being persnickety but “best”?

interesting, thanks.
the kind of mahjong found on computers (and I assume phones) is often not the 'real' kind, but who knows, maybe you found a good app

This looks like a more digestible form of Go. Official Go boards are ****ing enormous:

https://senseis.xmp.net/diagrams/33/...8b198c0f9b.png

Too much **** to keep track of

like i said I don't know if it's mahjong or whatever, it's just called Go. but its the same rules as described in the video.

there are options for board size. I start on the 9x9 to learn it. I play at 3 kyu difficulty and can barely beat the computer on a 9x9 board.

yeah I googled and mahjong is a completely different game from go. Doesn't involve white and black stones, it's tiles that look like dominoes with chinese symbols on them. I've never played that game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

^if you like poker it's worth checking out I think
apparently you can use it to your advantage, like you can have multiple 'fronts' accross the board and if you're not doing well in one area you can switch to a different part. But the idea of managing all that seems daunting to me too

They'll get over it like they did with their tiger training phases.

My tiger is so well trained at this point that he hunts for me. I just take him out to the woods and he brings me some rabbits and ****. What can YOUR tiger do?!?

tbh i'm not that fond of poker

Won my first game against a player over 1,000. Obviously not the craziest milestone but it's progress. I can beat the ~1,000 rated computers most of the time at this point

fair enough :beer:

I can’t ever figure out how to finish unless I have both rooks and my queen.

Definitely one of the most difficult parts for me too. Chess.com has some killer exercises that have helped.

And definitely a majority of what I've learned is thanks to some of the brilliant teachers on Youtube, this guy being a favorite:

I watched that guy talk one of his students through a game. He’s a good teacher.

In those examples he trades queens to pick up an advantage. Sometimes I see that but I don’t do it because I can’t stand losing my queen. I guess you just gotta grow a sac. It’s not about keeping your queen. It’s about wining the game. In that movie Fresh that guy says, “your queen is just a pawn with a bunch of fancy moves”. But I need more endgame education.

That's like beating up a toddler if it's the youtuber roommate.

Idk about memorizing things move for move

I don’t even have the brain space left for that

But I would like to learn how to use my knights and bishops more strategically to force checkmate

I know what you mean. I don't need all 3 but I usually need at least 2.

Chess.com has free lessons. They have a weekly limit though so you can only do so many lessons for free per week. But the 1800 guy recommended it to me. I've been so busy I couldn't really be bothered, but supposedly it's a good way to learn.

I think I'm gonna create a new account on chess.com

God damn I am so bad at this game, just had one of the more heartbreaking results I've had in a while:

https://i.imgur.com/raicjL3.png

I was in a pretty nice spot here, playing pretty well and had a 6-7 point lead according to the algorithm. I just completely missed white's one-move checkmate. I was planning on attacking his right-side pawn structure to start marching my own pawns for a promotion and pretty much tunnel vision'd completely.

It’s a good lesson that you gotta take the time to scan your opponents possible moves even when you’re balls are tingling. He must’ve been hard as a rock after escaping that one.

:d

I'm on chess.com. PM me if you wanna play

I wanna start playing Fischer random

I played in a couple of VA tournaments but lost, all the older vets are way better. They gave me a pin and I love it. Played in a Saint Cloud, Minnesota tournament, then was in a chess group on Fridays in New Haven, CT. Only went like 3 Fridays, it's too long of a drive.

good luck memorizing every possible scenario in chess lol