Support NeoGAF

[Halo is Back]

I will admit I got back into chess because of The Queen's Gambit. I use to play with my buddies at the house I lived at previously and found the game to be quite stimulating.

It's the type of game that goes as deep as you want it to. I have been learning about opening moves, general theory on controlling the center of the board, and other tips. Im currently playing against training bots to get better before I play online with people. It's also pretty amazing how quick a game can end against unexperienced players.

Case in point...





* For those that don't know how black won, the bishop and queen are in direct threat to White's King. No matter White's move to get out of check, either the queen or the bishop can take the King. No escape.

 

[bender]

While I understand the basic mechanics, I have no idea on strategy. The last game I played was against a buddy who talked all kinds of shit about his prowess and I somehow worked my way into a win. He was pretty livid and even more so after I refused a rematch.

 

[Halo is Back]

While I understand the basic mechanics, I have no idea on strategy. The last game I played was against a buddy who talked all kinds of shit about his prowess and I somehow worked my way into a win. He was pretty livid and even more so after I refused a rematch.

Classic overconfidence lol.

 

[bender]

Classic overconfidence lol.

The unpredictability of neophytes can also be problematic for people who are merely "good".

Four moves is insane. That video is weird though. I'm not sure who any of those people are but not a huge fan of the commentary.

 

[Halo is Back]

The unpredictability of neophytes can also be problematic for people who are merely "good".

Four moves is insane. That video is weird though. I'm not sure who any of those people are but not a huge fan of the commentary.

The two on the right are high ranking Chess players. They play in national tournaments and international. The guy who plays black is a popular Youtube commentator and he is quite funny imo, I usually like his videos. The guy who lost I have no clue.

 

[Jill Valentine]

Just for fun online. After quite a few games it gets boring because the starting moves are heavily explored and revolves around effective pawn placement to have the advantageous exchanges(?) with your opponent. By the time the real game actually arrives towards the end up might have already fucked yourself. There are moments where a simple mistake at that point can turn the game around completely. Just overall, the game is so fucking boring. Shogi might be more interesting because there's more variables but still the same problem. Go takes another leap but honestly I can't even begin to read what's happening with the pieces being identical and placing on lines, but I guess it would improve concentration. They're all shit bruv. This is why games with a imprecise/"random"~ element are popular.

 

[bender]

The two on the right are high ranking Chess players. They play in national tournaments and international. The guy who plays black is a popular Youtube commentator and he is quite funny imo, I usually like his videos. The guy who lost I have no clue.

Maybe chess commentary is too meta for me. There is humor potential in Chess Master analyzing inexperience players but it comes off as dry as high level play replicated and dissected by a solo commentary looking at a digital chess board.

 

[jufonuk]

You better be careful OP soon you will start listening to classical music or opera. Then it’s a slippery slope to sacrificing people to you whims. You want to be a movie villain ?!? That’s how it starts.

I will not be a Prawn in your game.

horsey to Bishops’ queen five....touch down

As you can tell why yes, i do not play chess. Want to learn though.

I do play checkers rather badly.

 

[Halo is Back]

Just for fun online. After quite a few games it gets boring because the starting moves are heavily explored and revolves around effective pawn placement to have the advantageous exchanges(?) with your opponent. By the time the real game actually arrives towards the end up might have already fucked yourself. There are moments where a simple mistake at that point can turn the game around completely. Just overall, the game is so fucking boring. Shogi might be more interesting because there's more variables but still the same problem. Go takes another leap but honestly I can't even begin to read what's happening with the pieces being identical and placing on lines, but I guess it would improve concentration. They're all shit bruv. This is why games with a imprecise/"random"~ element are popular.

What? Chess has survived for centuries and was played for big money.

 

[Halo is Back]

Maybe chess commentary is too meta for me. There is humor potential in Chess Master analyzing inexperience players but it comes off as dry as high level play replicated and dissected by a solo commentary looking at a digital chess board.

This was for fun mate. Don't look too deep in it, but don't expect chess masters to be the life of the party. The girl however is pretty entertaining to watch sometimes. She is defiantly what you would not imagine as a chess master.

 

[Paasei]

Yes, I love chess. I'm not a master tactician, though.

 

[bender]

This was for fun mate. Don't look too deep in it, but don't expect chess masters to be the life of the party. The girl however is pretty entertaining to watch sometimes. She is defiantly what you would not imagine as a chess master.

Maybe I'm overanalyzing.

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[Halo is Back]

Maybe I'm overanalyzing.

It's all good, thanks for sharing your story

 

[DKehoe]

I used to play with my Dad and Grandad when I was little. But similar to Bender I wouldn't say I have a great grasp on the strategy involved, just the basics of how the game works. A friend asked me to play with him a while back and I surprised myself by winning.

 

[hariseldon]

I enjoy a game from time to time. I'm not particularly good sadly, but it's a good crack.

 

[Elpidio Valdés]

I have an active account on Chess.com but I rarely play nowadays. My current blitz rating is 1292 but in my hay day I made it all the way to 1434

 

[Cutty Flam]

Make an account on chess.com, played a little over 600 games since I made the account in 2009

My endgame is horrendous though, I need to read a book or two and figure out what I can do better

 

[Birdo]

Most of my life with friends. I still suck at it though.

I used to watch Chess.com before it turned into a youtube comments section. Kind of hoping that crowd will lose interest soon.

 

[greyshark]

I used to play in high school. Got back into it about 6 years ago and it’s crazy how many resources are available online. You can get better so much faster today with endless access to openings and databases of past games to analyze.

Chess is fun, I’ve never been able to consistently get into online play as I still prefer a real board.

 

[Mistake]

I have always been afraid to get into competitive chess, just because it might ruin the fun. Occasionally I pick up a game and get in too deep, just to realize I don’t enjoy it anymore. Maybe it’s the kid in me talking

 

[InterMusketeer]

My sister was obsessed with it for a while when we were kids. She taught me the basic rules. I don't know any strategies or opening moves.

 

[borborygmus]

I can't deal with the timer. The pressure makes me do stupid things.

 

[bad guy]

I'm not any good at it, but I made a game called "Catacomb Chess" for people like me.

The game "You loose Chess" is pretty funny and also 100% free.

 

[Leyasu]

I used to play a lot when I was younger. Now though, I haven’t played in about 15 years minimum.


Great game chess.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Yes a nice sit back and chill game there’s no shame in losing a chess match either it’s that legit

 

[teezzy]

How does Chess compare to Resident Evil 4?

 

[greyshark]

How does Chess compare to Resident Evil 4?

Less zombies.

 

[Tesseract]

i started playing very young, 7 or so against my dad

kept playing until i was 19, got bored and more interested in shooters

still own a magnetic grandmaster set from toys r us, prolly the only thing from my childhood that remains intact

 

[Ionian]

Played from childhood myself, used to beat adults in the library.

Secondary school lunch breaks, timer was used. Made sloppy mistakes and lost but learned as I always picked the best player.

Adult life, crushed anyone who tried me but most had never played much before.

I'm very rusty now though, it's something you need to keep up with.

The 'Chessbrah' Twitch streamer is amazingly good for anyone interested. Games are short. Had a tournament a while ago of GMs.

 

[lock2k]

I have. I kinda suck. I should try to play again. I think it's interesting as fuck.

 

[Magenta Mage]

On paper chess seems like exactly the kind of thing I'd be really into. But I just never had much interest in sticking with it. I know how the pieces work and I understand some basic strategies but I just don't find the game itself all that interesting to play or watch.

 

[DrJohnGalt]

I love chess, but I'm only decent. I can beat most new players and people that don't think but usually lose to the advanced players. Seems like no matter how much I play, I've kinda hit that peak and can't get any better.

Back in the day we'd have a chess board set up at an empty desk at work and we'd take turns going back and forth through the work day(s).

EDIT: Also might explain why I'm so into RTS games. By far my favorite genre (especially Total War).

 

[Husky]

I used to play with humans constantly, even had a friend who was a state champion who couldn't hold his own against me. Unfortunately for the past few years I've mostly been playing Chess Titans, so at this point I feel like I'm playing more pattern recognition than strategy.

 

[MastAndo]

I learned a bit when I was in elementary school, but it was all very basic knowledge that never went anywhere. I've always been fascinated by it though, and tried picking it up again as an adult, but that was fruitless. My brain is mush at this point, so learning anything that requires such advanced strategies/foresight like chess feels futile.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Magnus Carlsen is one sexy beast!

 

[Halo is Back]

Magnus Carlsen is one sexy beast!

The dude had a draw with the most feared Chess player in the world at age 13. Mad respect yo

 

[Rival]

I have an app on my phone I play all the time.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I enjoy a game here and there, kids and I tend to play when we car travel or chill camping etc. I'm a casual but enjoy the game for how often we play. Hella interesting to see your kids challenge themselves and learn the the game. My son gets competitive, daughter gets a little frustrated. I used to play against my old man growing up.

The OP video is a classic. Man I had to watch that twice.

 

[Ikutachi]

I was randomly taught from my peers in high school. Never played competitivity.

This is why games with a imprecise/"random"~ element are popular.

Chess960 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Halo is Back]

this guy looks familiar

 

[Jill Valentine]

I was randomly taught from my peers in high school. Never played competitivity.

Chess960 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Interesting. I was gonna mention Fischer himself in my bitching, I swear. I'm awful at chess but I feel the same way I think I read he did some years ago. There is no way to express yourself in a game that is basically explored so much as it is where the game doesn't really begin for a long time, especially with the computer assistance we have these days.

Even the chess world knows it's a problem which is why they have blitz chess to try and ultimately force mistakes or weaker moves. Compare it to something like shogi where you can't get fucked 100 ways at any given moment when you sacrifice any pieces to your opponent, and go has so many combinations it's crazy, but obviously has less "structure" than the other games.

Sounds interesting though. If the 2019 tournament videos are on youtube I'll take a look at some point.

 

[xiskza]

Haven't played in many many years. Wasn't too bad at it, but it wasn't a game I fell in love with, despite finding it very interesting to strategize.

 

[Paltheos]

The unpredictability of neophytes can also be problematic for people who are merely "good".

Four moves is insane. That video is weird though. I'm not sure who any of those people are but not a huge fan of the commentary.

Indeed. I'm an experienced player and I've almost lost to people much weaker and less experienced than me. The situation arises from long-time players having discounted variations in their head that they know are bad but haven't explored the ramifications of for that very reason. That's why you play safe against newbies and only take risks in tough matches. Conventional chess wisdom usually wins the day. The reason why the move is bad will reveal itself assuming you're not a dumbass and tried to style on them by playing something you don't know how to work with (I've seen it happen with good players).

 

[slugbahr]

Played casually against family or friends when I was younger.
The game I remember the most was when I lost in two moves

I also remember playing a game against a friend a couple years ago. I made a move which I only thought better of a half second later. We reset the pieces after he won that, and I made the much better move. Easily won as a result.
A real game changer.

 

[QSD]

I know the basics but advanced strategy I never got into. I remember playing a cool little game called "battle chess" on the Amiga, where every piece had it's own set of (often humorous) animations for taking down every other piece. So I spent most of my time maneuvering pieces into unlikely positions just so I could see the animations (e.g. the king takes the queen, he does so by hugging and caressing her, and then sneakily stabbing her in the back). It was a great game for teaching a kid the basics.

 

[Kayoba]

It was encouraged to play in elementary school, so I played a little bit. But I'm terrible as I never gave strategies any second thought.

 

[eddie4]

dat netflix effect.....

To date, 62 million households have watched the show.
As an effect, inquiries for "chess sets" are up 250% on eBay.
Google search queries for "how to play chess" has hit an all-time high in 9 years.
The original novel "The Queens Gambit" is now The New York Times bestseller 37 years after its release.
The number of new players on chess.com has skyrocketed 5 times.

crazy....

 

[The New Guy]

I never really 'got' it'. I'd probably have to spend a bunch of time learning it obviously. There was a big Twitch craze recently with a lot of streamers playing Chess, and I tried watching it and picked up a couple of things but not much. I must admit it always makes me feel dumb watching people play Chess, it seems so confusing to me.

 

[cormack12]

I used to play years ago when kasparovchess was a thing. So mamy good players on there that helpedme develop. I maxed out at 1750-1800ish ELO in blitz though it was all online so I remain skeptical that was ny real world rating.