Took me 22 years of life, most of which was spent playing chess, and something like a year and a half on lichess.....
There's time, trust me.
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Hobbies The Chess Thread
- Thread starter ButteredToast
- Start date
There's time, trust me.
Ah! I finally get to unveil a ton of opening lnes that I probably shouldn't know but know!
I think the line e4 c6 d4 d5 e5 Bf5 (...c5 is also possible but it's rareish) g4 Bg6 h4 h6 h5 Bh7 e6! is pretty good. The pawn sacrifice just.. it completely paralyzes black.
If black goes for h5 over h6, then e6! is very strong, sacrificing a pawn for a completely busted position on black's end if the pawn is accepted - Trust me, I've been on the black side.
Black can insert Be4 if wished, which can be replied to with f3.
It's worth noting that black doesn't have to take the pawn in either line, and in fact should not. Qd6 is a better move, but after exf7+ Kxf7 it's.. an interesting position that I don't think most black players would enjoy. Note that most players will take the pawn however.
Another similar line is 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. g4 Be4 6. f3 Bh7 7. e6
Again, totally busted if fxe6, but Qd6 again saves the day and leads to an interesting position.
h5 is more common than h6 according to lichess's opening explorer, and apparently the best white has is Bd3 with a trade.
e6 is a common motif in these sorts of lines, and you should look for it at every corner.
Blargh that was a lot of writing..
If you want a quieter approach, rather than these lines, which are all very swashbuckling and attacking, the Short variation of the Advance Caro-Kann (e4 c6 d4 d5 e5 Bf5 Nf3) is probably your best bet.
I recommend Hanging Pawns as a good youtube channel with great videos on opening theory, particularly the caro-kann.
tl;dr: pulsar512b is a huge theory nerd that knows too many lines, just go for the immediate g4 and h4 lines and try to mate black. Or if you don't want chaos, short variation.
The line e4 c5 Ne2 actually is a line- it's the Keres Attack. As I recall, it's pretty decent, but I never really looked into it (since I don't play either side of the sicilian). You basically were playing it a tempo down.
Probably d5 was objectively better.
I haven't ever seen 2. Ne2 in the caro-kann. I think it's probably not good but playable.
And let's be real- It'd be hard to find someone that wasn't super excited after winning their first game vs a titled player.
Vienna (White), French and Sicilian (Black)
What’s your fav thing about chess? Opening Theory, Endgames, Structures or something?
Opening Theory
Opening Theory
Opening theory ofc.
It is totally up to you
As a Slav player, if you want to learn a slav variation, I recommend the a6 slav. Hanging Pawns has a good video on it, and it's a pretty intuitive, calm, and very nice response to the queen's gambit.
Well...I think we have to find time to play some games between us. I think it would be interesting and funny!
Favorite chess yt?
Indeed. I wonder how many pieces i'd hang.
I hung at least two queens in bullet within the last half hour alone. I think it's pretty clear that I hang too many pieces.
You don't have an excuse when you have a huge lead on the clock in bullet and still hang a queen.
Got myself into a very interesting position in a blitz game tonight. Here's the PGN if anyone's interested in loading it up in an engine/online and exploring:
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rn3k1r/2p1q1pB/p3p3/1p2P2Q/5N2/2P5/P4P1P/R3K2b b Q - 1 16"]
{Black would easily win if they had played Be4 or even Rxh7, but instead} 16...
Qf7 17. Qg5 Rxh7 {what was played, which eventually lost} ({g6 would have been
an interesting, ultimately drawing option} 17... g6 18. O-O-O {the best move,
but will draw after Black plays Nc6} ({Not this line, which loses because it
lets Black put his knight on d7 instead of c6} 18. Nxg6+ Ke8 19. Nxh8 Qxh7 20.
O-O-O Nd7 21. Rxh1 Qxh8) 18... Nc6 (18... Nd7 {if black tries to transpose back
into the \"good\" line where he ends up with the knight on d7 instead of c6,
he's in for a rude surprise.} 19. Rxd7 Qxd7 20. Qf6+ Qf7 21. Nxe6+ Ke8 22. Bxg6
Qxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kd7 (23... Ke7 24. Qf6+ Kd7 25. Nc5+ Ke8 26. Qxh8+) 24. Qf7+ Kc6
25. Qxc7+ Kd5 26. Qd6+ Ke4 27. Ng5+ Kf4 28. Qf6+ Kg4 29. h3+ Rxh3 30. Nxh3 Kxh3
31. Qg5) 19. Nxg6+ (19. Bxg6 Qe7 20. Nxe6+ Qxe6 21. Qf4+ Ke7 22. Qg5+ Kf8 23.
Qf4+ {drawing by perpetual check. Black loses if Kg7 due to Rg1}) 19... Ke8 20.
Nxh8 Qxh7 21. Rxh1 Qxh8 22. Qg2 {The unfortunate knight placement on c6 allows
White to pick the knight back up and equalize. Kd7 is stopped by Rd1+} 22...
Qxe5 23. Qxc6+ Ke7 24. Qxa8 Qxc3+ 25. Kd1 Qd3+ 26. Ke1 Qc3+ 27. Ke2 Qc2+ 28. Kf3
Qf5+ 29. Kg3 Qg5+ 30. Kf3 Qf5+ 31. Ke3 Qc5+ 32. Kd3 Qc4+ {drawing again by
perpetual check}) ({the best option for black is immediately playing Nc6, which
leads to an imbalanced position that is likely drawish} 17... Nc6 18. Ng6+ Ke8
19. Nxh8 Qf3 20. Rc1 Qg2 (20... Kd7 21. Rd1+ Kc8 22. Rd3 Qf8 (22... Qg2 23. Qxg2
Bxg2 24. Rg3 Bd5 25. Rxg7 Nxe5 26. Ng6) 23. Ng6 Qc5 24. Qe3 Qxe3+ 25. Rxe3) 21.
Qf4 Kd7 22. Rd1+ Kc8 23. Nf7) 18. Qd8+ {now it's strange windmill time!} 18...
Qe8 19. Nxe6+ Kf7 20. Ng5+ Kf8 ({trying to leave the windmill early does not
work and loses quickly} 20... Kg6 21. Qxe8+ Kxg5 22. O-O-O Rxh2 23. Qf7 Nc6 24.
Qxg7+ Kf4 25. Qg3+ Kf5 26. Qxh2) 21. Nxh7+ Kf7 22. Ng5+ Kf8 23. Ne6+ Kf7 24.
Qxe8+ Kxe8 25. Nxc7+ Kf7 26. Nxa8 Bxa8 27. f4 Bd5 28. a4 Nc6 29. axb5 axb5 30.
Kf2 *
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rn3k1r/2p1q1pB/p3p3/1p2P2Q/5N2/2P5/P4P1P/R3K2b b Q - 1 16"]
{Black would easily win if they had played Be4 or even Rxh7, but instead} 16...
Qf7 17. Qg5 Rxh7 {what was played, which eventually lost} ({g6 would have been
an interesting, ultimately drawing option} 17... g6 18. O-O-O {the best move,
but will draw after Black plays Nc6} ({Not this line, which loses because it
lets Black put his knight on d7 instead of c6} 18. Nxg6+ Ke8 19. Nxh8 Qxh7 20.
O-O-O Nd7 21. Rxh1 Qxh8) 18... Nc6 (18... Nd7 {if black tries to transpose back
into the \"good\" line where he ends up with the knight on d7 instead of c6,
he's in for a rude surprise.} 19. Rxd7 Qxd7 20. Qf6+ Qf7 21. Nxe6+ Ke8 22. Bxg6
Qxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kd7 (23... Ke7 24. Qf6+ Kd7 25. Nc5+ Ke8 26. Qxh8+) 24. Qf7+ Kc6
25. Qxc7+ Kd5 26. Qd6+ Ke4 27. Ng5+ Kf4 28. Qf6+ Kg4 29. h3+ Rxh3 30. Nxh3 Kxh3
31. Qg5) 19. Nxg6+ (19. Bxg6 Qe7 20. Nxe6+ Qxe6 21. Qf4+ Ke7 22. Qg5+ Kf8 23.
Qf4+ {drawing by perpetual check. Black loses if Kg7 due to Rg1}) 19... Ke8 20.
Nxh8 Qxh7 21. Rxh1 Qxh8 22. Qg2 {The unfortunate knight placement on c6 allows
White to pick the knight back up and equalize. Kd7 is stopped by Rd1+} 22...
Qxe5 23. Qxc6+ Ke7 24. Qxa8 Qxc3+ 25. Kd1 Qd3+ 26. Ke1 Qc3+ 27. Ke2 Qc2+ 28. Kf3
Qf5+ 29. Kg3 Qg5+ 30. Kf3 Qf5+ 31. Ke3 Qc5+ 32. Kd3 Qc4+ {drawing again by
perpetual check}) ({the best option for black is immediately playing Nc6, which
leads to an imbalanced position that is likely drawish} 17... Nc6 18. Ng6+ Ke8
19. Nxh8 Qf3 20. Rc1 Qg2 (20... Kd7 21. Rd1+ Kc8 22. Rd3 Qf8 (22... Qg2 23. Qxg2
Bxg2 24. Rg3 Bd5 25. Rxg7 Nxe5 26. Ng6) 23. Ng6 Qc5 24. Qe3 Qxe3+ 25. Rxe3) 21.
Qf4 Kd7 22. Rd1+ Kc8 23. Nf7) 18. Qd8+ {now it's strange windmill time!} 18...
Qe8 19. Nxe6+ Kf7 20. Ng5+ Kf8 ({trying to leave the windmill early does not
work and loses quickly} 20... Kg6 21. Qxe8+ Kxg5 22. O-O-O Rxh2 23. Qf7 Nc6 24.
Qxg7+ Kf4 25. Qg3+ Kf5 26. Qxh2) 21. Nxh7+ Kf7 22. Ng5+ Kf8 23. Ne6+ Kf7 24.
Qxe8+ Kxe8 25. Nxc7+ Kf7 26. Nxa8 Bxa8 27. f4 Bd5 28. a4 Nc6 29. axb5 axb5 30.
Kf2 *
The final position's actually very interesting to me, and I think it's probably slightly better for white but it's going to take a long long conversion to prove that. Maybe I'll analyze that.
Hikaru the goat
Always a joy when I run an engine analysis on games like these and see the computer screaming at me with a wall of "??".
There was one time where I was playing someone way better than me at chess, and I thought that a good way to counteract their superior knowledge of opening theory would be to play 1. f4 2. c4 to get the opening out of the books quickly. The problem with this was that they had an even more vastly superior knowledge of positional play and the middlegame, and I got destroyed.
Guys is the Sicilian Najdorf an aggressive opening?
Anyway, back to posting here. Haven't dropped in here in a while. Got to 2000 lichess (multiple times) then lost and tilted it away and just got back. Seems like I hover between low 1900s and 2000s and just switch back and forth. Odd. In other news, I beat an NM and an FM in 3+0 so that's cool.