r/chess Weekly Discussion Thread

Tbh kinda stock answers and short interview but this confirms that he is indeed living in Bulgaria now

(6 photos including queen placement errors and setting up colors on the wrong side of the board)

I stopped at University of California Riverside September 3, which was a dumb move because most students are not there today.

Several physics grad students eating lunch noticed my chess set and one of them challenged me. We played 5+0. He was confident but his friends chuckled when I captured his queen. He got flagged and we shook hands. Fun game.

Then I drove to California Baptist University to watch a soccer game.

A mother talked his son into playing me. He's an engineering student and a sharp dude. We played untimed and I beat him. I politely told him that I had to work to beat him. He laughed and asked what kind of work? He was politely admitting that it was an easy victory. His mom was very friendly and we had a good conversation.

Then a soccer goalkeeper shows up. He's from Norway and got a CBU scholarship. His teammates supported him. He resigned and I told him I hope he does pro.

EDIT: Had one more opponent at CBU. Music production student. Super nice guy and terrific player. I lost my queen. Then he lost his. then I won. During our game, 20 of his friends sporadically showed up to root for him.

Two other students could not play today and asked me if I will be back . They were disappointed when I said probably not

Might visit another college tomorrow

By Kalandadze

I will get to play against Magnus🥹

I feel like most simuls I watch with 3, 5, 10, even 20 players the masters tend to handle the games with ease. I don’t think I’ve really ever seen one where the masters loses a game, though I don’t doubt it has happened.

Does that mean the practice is more of a party trick or is it a legit step harder than they make it look when competing in one? I guess it varies based on the skill level of the people playing but at what level does it present an actual challenge?

I'm around 1550 on chess.com rapid, I want to join my very first irl classical (45 minute) chess tournament. I don't know if I want to select for my entery the under 1400 section, or under 900 section. (The "Open" is for titled players right? I want to avoid that). I'm totally unranked and this is my first in person match ever. I don't want to get crushed by people out of my league, but I also think I may be too good for the 900 section unless I'm mistaken. Curious to feedback and advice, appreciate it!

I'm 34 years old but I've been playing online for years and years. So any general thoughts on my first in person tournament I'm also open to. Thanks everyone.

Now that 17 year-old Rose Atwell is officially an IM (link to recent interview with her, Aiming Higher, with IM Rose Atwell), which players do you think will earn the $100k awarded to American female GMs, and who will get it first?

Looks like there are four American women IMs that are still active:

- Atwell is young and has momentum, new IM going to her first Olympiad but with no GM norms yet
- Alice Lee, even younger at 16, with momentum having just earned her first GM norm
- Carissa Yip, also young at 23, has been an IM for five years, and has two GM norms
- Tatev Abrahamyan, 38 years old, IM secured in 2025, no GM norms

The Cairns award can be awarded up to five time so all these women could theoretically earn it (it's already been awarded once, to GM Irina Krush).

I'm a lover of women's chess so I'm going to be overly optimistic and say that they'll ALL get there and in the following order:
- Yip
- Lee
- Atwell
- Abrahamyan

Tweet link: https://x.com/chesscom_in/status/2095217694651912238

The position was already winning and then my opposition let this happen.

Just happened to my game.

Hello all!

I am very new to chess and have been playing for about 15 days.

Please can I have suggestions on what you think would be the best way to improve at this game, I just don't want to be wasting my time doing stuff that won't help me improve at a steady rate.

I'm around a 500 rating on chess.com if that helps with advice.

Any advice would be great and taken on board.

Thank you :)

By Pasman

I’ve been playing chess for a long time. Around 2 years on chess.com and around 5 on Lichess. My peak rapid on chess.com is around 2370, but as we’ve gone further and further into 2026 I’m now sitting at 1989. I feel like I’m missing obvious things and just not playing well, I just didn’t think such a drastic change was possible. Is it because I’ve been playing daily for years? Is it because I’ve been playing a lot more ultrabullet recently and I play too fast? Is it really due to burnout? I’ve heard in times like these one should just take a break from chess, yet I feel like I need to earn that elo back. I used to consider myself an amazing chess player but now I’m not sure. (For reference my bullet is around 2100, blitz is around 2250 atm).

Bishop to b4 was the move. Ruined my streak though

Hans: “FIDE must punish players for public accusations and insinuations, especially regarding a 14 year old. Nepo made similar comments regarding Faustino Oro(12).

FIDE must set a precedent to prevent this from happening in the future. NBA fines players for complaining about the refs, this is far more extreme in comparison.”

Hans said this in response to Ian who said,

Nepo: “14-year-old boy, right? Well, the boy who deliberately does not make a check move —hats off to him. That is very respectable.

I would have zero suspicions about this game, but his en passant instead of a check — it leaves a bad taste. Like, why? How? For what?

Aaron, my friend… Well, fortunately, we will not play against Aaron again in the tournament, because we already learned our lesson from him.”

Source:
https://x.com/hansmokeniemann/status/2095205801933570392?s=46
https://x.com/rookreviewcom/status/2095188195327525270?s=46

Edit, the game they played:

https://www.chess.com/games/view/18753515

I'm also curious to hear from people about what helped them break through their plateaus

By Vasilchikov

I have always sort of given into the will of my subconscious when playing chess and I am wondering if this is how others play. For example, (as white) e4 e5, Nf3 Nc6… I will alternate between the Scotch, Italian, and Ruy Lopez seemingly at random. I don’t know why I don’t stick to one opening and why I choose to play one in the moment I just do! And even down the line, sometimes I will feel like playing the Scotch Gambit or Evan’s Gambit or some variation. Of course I am guided by how my opponent responds, but still I’m fascinated by why I switch it up so frequently and without thought. Novelty perhaps?

In sum I’m curious if anyone does the same thing, and how much creativity / spontaneity playing by the book permits in this regard? Even though opening lines are confining, and both players are responsible for where the game leads, there is still so much intrigue in why a player chooses to take the game a certain direction. Especially on chess.com when you are not sitting face-to-face across from your opponent, thus removing any psychological variables. Furthermore, even if someone has a strong bias toward one opening, why does it stand out to them? I imagine it’s not purely statistical. My favorite openings are not the ones I am most successful with! They are the ones that just feel fun or ‘right’ per se. What makes me feel an affinity with a random 6-move sequence?!

Ha maybe this question is crossing more into psychology or neuroscience. Perhaps I shall champion a new domain of study: reductionism in the realm of chess!! Hell, I could take it one further and get metaphysical/existential: chess as a vehicle for exhibiting stochastic causal behaviors.. a deterministic spectacle! Now I’m getting too existential and must post my question before I get too sidetracked😅

A few years ago, Aimchess founder Anton Gora introduced an early version of the site here on Reddit. It was still rough: it analyzed only a limited number of games, some conclusions were confusing, and users quickly found bugs and questionable metrics.

But something productive happened. People suggested comparing players with their actual opponents, improving the reports and requested many important features. Gora responded directly, invited users to speak with him, and returned with updates shaped by that feedback.

Aimchess eventually grew into a personalized training platform, reached more than 100,000 and kept growing.

What I find most interesting is the win-win relationship that helped shape Aimchess. The community received a tool shaped around real player problems, while the founder received honest feedback.

Do you think that could still happen on Reddit today?

Could the next Aimchess be built with meaningful community input, or has everyone become too skeptical of new tools and self-promotion?

What would a developer need to build or how would they need to approach the community for you to genuinely want to help shape it?

I ordered complete guide to the queens pawn opening vol 1 and 2 by Anatoly Karpov from ebay and the book never arrived.

I was very disappointed when I opened my mailbox and there was no book. I attribute this to bad work ethic from USPS. (3 weeks ago I ordered something on ebay it said arrived I never received it, that same night neighbor knocked on my door and told me mailman delivered it to her instead of me).

Not all my neighbors are nice so im giving it up for lost.

Anyways, where can I get the ebook?

I don’t want to order hard copy anymore as I don’t trust the mailman with anything anymore.

TIA