Author Topic: Chess.com  (Read 3852 times)

Pedal Castro

  • so talented I can run with scissors - ouch!
    • Two beers or not two beers...
Chess.com
« on: 27 December, 2020, 02:24:42 pm »
Anyone else play on this chess server?

One of the things I said I'd do once retired but not quite got round to was picking up chess again. I used to teach it as a Junior school winter activity club but am not actually that good a player myself.

My new son in law suggested chess.com which I recently joined and it's really good. I did check but couldn't find a yacf club on the site.

My chess name is Juzilex
https://www.chess.com/stats/daily/chess/juzilex

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #1 on: 27 December, 2020, 02:47:34 pm »
I'm on it all the time. Mostly the 10 minute games with people. Think I started about 3 weeks ago.  Its funny how time of day affects my ability to play.

Pedal Castro

  • so talented I can run with scissors - ouch!
    • Two beers or not two beers...
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #2 on: 27 December, 2020, 03:41:20 pm »
I've done a few 10' games but that's not helping improve because there is no time to think things through.

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #3 on: 27 December, 2020, 03:51:04 pm »
I've done a few 10' games but that's not helping improve because there is no time to think things through.

It's not helping me improve either  ;D

But actually I quite like the psychological warfare of moving really fast (and trying to think quickly) and force others to make mistakes. Different kind of thing, more akin to a video game, for my generation who like instant gratification (except when I lose)

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #4 on: 28 December, 2020, 05:21:06 pm »
By the way, my profile name is Dwight Rortugal

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #5 on: 29 December, 2020, 12:20:21 am »
I did some coaching on that site a fortnight or so ago - the early teenage son of a friend. We played a game and then analysed it.. it’s a very long time since I had been on that site. It remembered who I was and I found my password. There seems to be some kind of analysis engine to help you rate your games which there never was about 15 years ago when I used it a lot.  There were several moves in the game in which it suggested improvements for me.

I won the game, but I was extremely rusty. It’s 16 years since I played a competitive game.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #6 on: 07 March, 2021, 05:22:40 pm »
It's annoying when you lose because of internect breakdowns and unsatisfying to win in the same way.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #7 on: 07 March, 2021, 05:34:22 pm »
I played another game against the same teenage opponent a couple of weeks back. He caught me in an opening trap which I knew about once as after the game I recall that I caught a strong player out with it in a British Championship game nearly 20 years ago. Both games went pretty much the same way: white took a big advantage in the opening, then faffed about unable to finish black off, until black came back in the endgame and won.

I'm rather hoping that pal Rebecca NOTP, but I've mentioned her a few times in despatches, doesn't ask me to play him again. I find it very stressful and tiring - but I don't want to say no. I'd rather just coach him some endgame studies or mates-in-2 problems. At some point her lad will beat me and then probably lose interest in playing me, but I feel that my generation owes a huge amount to a couple of generations down the line - a debt that we can never repay - so what little I can do, I'll try to.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #8 on: 08 March, 2021, 02:48:46 am »
I know how to play basic chess but find it too pedestrian.  Consequently I've hardly ever played it and last time I won without either of us losing a piece. My opponent was not amused and wouldn't play again.

Cards are more my thing.
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #9 on: 08 March, 2021, 09:21:01 pm »
Lynn and I are playing each other regularly at home and enjoying it. I think we could do with playing different opponents but we both would need to find a level not too far above our self-taught ones.

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #10 on: 08 March, 2021, 09:36:37 pm »
Social chess is good at matching you with similar level players.

Pedal Castro

  • so talented I can run with scissors - ouch!
    • Two beers or not two beers...
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #11 on: 08 March, 2021, 09:40:45 pm »
Lynn and I are playing each other regularly at home and enjoying it. I think we could do with playing different opponents but we both would need to find a level not too far above our self-taught ones.

One good thing about chess.com is that it can match you up with random players of similar ability. I now have a "club" of 9 family members who regularly play tournaments against each other, from bullet games where you only get 1minute to play all you moves, to 3 days per move.

The bullet arena tournaments are great fun, where you slog it out with around 1000 other players, playing as many games as you can in a set time, usually 30 minutes total.

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #12 on: 08 March, 2021, 10:35:48 pm »
Phew, reads as way above our level.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #13 on: 27 April, 2021, 02:18:13 pm »
Looking at a game I played earlier against someone rated 200 higher than me, the analysis machine thing rated two of my moves as "Critical move! You found the only good move!" and considered one of them worthy of the double exclamation mark – but I still went on to make a number of blunders and lose the game!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #14 on: 27 April, 2021, 02:31:25 pm »
I last played a few years ago on holiday in Austria.  I was trying to teach SO to play but we were being stalked by one of those you-don't-want-to-do-it-like-that Germans, who was desperate to play me next.  I politely declined as I knew he'd absolutely kick my arse.  I know the rules of chess but that doesn't mean I can play well.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Chess.com
« Reply #15 on: 27 April, 2021, 03:34:37 pm »
I last played a few years ago on holiday in Austria.  I was trying to teach SO to play but we were being stalked by one of those you-don't-want-to-do-it-like-that Germans, who was desperate to play me next.  I politely declined as I knew he'd absolutely kick my arse.  I know the rules of chess but that doesn't mean I can play well.

That's the difference between our nations.

In England it's unsolicited advice on how to play the fruit machine in a pub you don't normally go in.

In Germany its chess.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #16 on: 12 May, 2021, 04:07:07 pm »
It seems to me that the British tend to shy away from games where calculating skill plays a major factor. You hardly ever see chess played in pubs and cafés, but dominoes and cribbage are rather more popular. They both require skill, but luck plays a bigger role. Casual café chess seems to be much more popular on the continent.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #17 on: 15 September, 2021, 02:50:56 pm »
Just had 9 points added to my rating because "one or more of your recent opponents has violated our Fair Play Policy." No indication as to who, what or how. I get the impression they're not great on communication.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #18 on: 24 November, 2022, 07:58:51 pm »
So after playing mostly 30-minute games, occasional 10-minute games and dabbling in the "blitz" and "bullet" sections, I've now played eight "daily" games, with from 24 hours to seven days to make each move and no overall time limit. In the shorter games, I've won about 50% and my rating goes up and down – pretty average and unremarkable. But out of the eight daily games I've played, my score is... eight won out of eight. That is a bit odd.

But what's really struck me is the different behaviour of my opponents. In shorter games, people do odd things like offer you a draw after the second move – what's that about  ??? . Or abort the game before making a move. I once had a game where I'd lost several pieces and got myself into a pretty bad position, whereupon my opponent started sending me messages: "Why don't you resign?" "Just give up now!" "Stop this and put an end to it for both of us." I played on and checkmated him, which felt most righteous.

But nothing like that has happened in a longer game.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #19 on: 02 January, 2023, 11:32:05 pm »
Just spotted your last post, Cudzo.

There's little that's more satisfying than a good swindle. I've had quite a few in my time, and also, of course, been victim. In my early days as a club/league player, I once lost a game in which I had totally outplayed my opponent for about 15 moves, had 2 queens and 2 rooks on the board to his 1 queen and 1 knight, and then ended up getting checkmated. That was in the spring of 1974 and I still get cross about it.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #20 on: 03 January, 2023, 11:51:27 am »
Ah, but had you been telling him to resign, or gloating in advance?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #21 on: 17 May, 2023, 10:48:04 pm »
Did Bach play chess?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/18/gza-chess-melbourne-event-wu-tang-clan-speed-chessboxing-competition-tournament-australia
Quote
Two clocks count down, not quite in sync, and there’s a collective intake of breath in the hall where more than 100 people stand transfixed by the projection of a chess game on the wall. Two hands dart across the board. White’s clock hits zero, black wins with one second left on theirs, and the tension in the room is released. The players smile at each other and raise their arms in a sort of acknowledgment of their captivating game.

On one side of the table is Stephen Lewinsky, a Melbourne doctor and former Australian junior chess champion; on the other side is the pre-eminent hip-hop artist and founding member of Wu-Tang Clan, GZA.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Chess.com
« Reply #22 on: 22 September, 2023, 07:58:12 am »
Chess in art – paintings depicting actual chess games: https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/chess-in-art/

with analysis of the positions: https://www.chess.com/blog/Gottfrid/chess-in-the-arts
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.