OT: Chess

[Harbour Dog]

Auf is right @Bogart , Harbour-Dog

 

[Harbour Dog]

I had a professor in college who was an International Master. All he kept talking about was chess and AI like Deep Thought, Deep Blue, and all others.

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

It's fascinating how much of a one-track mind some of the best players have.

There's a documentary on Carlsen on Netflix (Canada), and he is so clearly just in a constant state of analyzing games in his head, it's a wonder he can function in society at all.

 

[Kane One]

It's fascinating how much of a one-track mind some of the best players have.

There's a documentary on Carlsen on Netflix (Canada), and he is so clearly just in a constant state of analyzing games in his head, it's a wonder he can function in society at all.

Kopec was up there with one of the worst professors I ever had since the class was about algorithms and not chess, which he constantly made references towards. However, he was fairly easily the smartest professor I ever had. The problem solving skills these people (not just chess players, but Go, and others as well) have is on a completely other level.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Actually I think his is Harbour-Dog. He’s the one in Canada.

You can add me @ aufheben89

Although you’ll both probably destroy me lolz

I learn way more from the games I lose than the ones I win. When I win I kind of let it cover up some mistakes that I made, but when I lose I'm like "What the f*** did I do wrong there?"

I'm heading to a games afternoon at a friend's shortly, but I'll be on later. I'm far from a master (rated around 1600 right now), but if we did play a couple unrated games I could probably give you some very specific pointers.

NORiculous is probably right, in that you should focus hardest on tactics starting out. Puzzle Rush might be a big help for you!

 

[aufheben]

I learn way more from the games I lose than the ones I win. When I win I kind of let it cover up some mistakes that I made, but when I lose I'm like "What the f*** did I do wrong there?"

I'm heading to a games afternoon at a friend's shortly, but I'll be on later. I'm far from a master (rated around 1600 right now), but if we did play a couple unrated games I could probably give you some very specific pointers.

NORiculous is probably right, in that you should focus hardest on tactics starting out. Puzzle Rush might be a big help for you!

I've been practicing for about 3 months I think I can do rated. It's not like my livelihood depends on it.

I did tons of puzzles on Lichess before I even started playing games actually. Helped a LOT.

 

[Ben Grimm]

I had a professor in college who was an International Master. All he kept talking about was chess and AI like Deep Thought, Deep Blue, and all others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Kopec

I used to be fascinated by that stuff. Kasparov was the last champ to be better than AI and the first to lose to AI. His first loss was as Black against the c3 Sicilian.

I believe Harbour Dog is the highest rated Canadian GM or IM in the world.

I'm watching Stripes. I like it when Bill Murray tells the recruiter "I'm not gay, but I am willing to learn".

 

[aufheben]

I used to be fascinated by that stuff. Kasparov was the last champ to be better than AI and the first to lose to AI. His first loss was as Black against the c3 Sicilian.

I believe Harbour Dog is the highest rated Canadian GM or IM in the world.

I'm watching Stripes. I like it when Bill Murray tells the recruiter "I'm not gay, but I am willing to learn".

One thing I like about chess is you can appreciate it as something other than a game. Even if you don't care at all about the game, the theory and complexity of it—and how it relates to AI—is fascinating. Imagine explaining to some dude chess player in like the 1600s that one day we'd have these boxes that play chess by themselves, and not only that but they'd play it better than people lol.

 

[Ben Grimm]

One thing I like about chess is you can appreciate it as something other than a game. Even if you don't care at all about the game, the theory and complexity of it—and how it relates to AI—is fascinating. Imagine explaining to some dude chess player in like the 1600s that one day we'd have these boxes that play chess by themselves, and not only that but play it better than people lol.

Agreed. The history of it also. The different champs and their personalities. The way the game has evolved even since pre-Fischer days. e4 used to more popular and d4 used to be less popular.

 

[Kane One]

One thing I like about chess is you can appreciate it as something other than a game. Even if you don't care at all about the game, the theory and complexity of it—and how it relates to AI—is fascinating. Imagine explaining to some dude chess player in like the 1600s that one day we'd have these boxes that play chess by themselves, and not only that but they'd play it better than people lol.

The crazier thing is with Go. The scientists behind the AI did not teach the computer the rules. Instead, they fed the program game logs, which then taught itself how to play and beat the best person in the world.

 

[aufheben]

@Harbour Dog this is the Neon theme lirl

 

[aufheben]

Went 1-8 against Harbour Dog. I'll take it!

 

[Ben Grimm]

Went 1-8 against Harbour Dog. I'll take it!

Not too shabby considering I think he's GM Bareev irl:

1

Bareev, Evgeny

g

CAN

2638

0

1966

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

If anyone wants to play d4 and shove a pawn down Black's throat this is good: Benoni Defense: Taimanov Variation (A67)

1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3c54.d5exd55.cxd5d66.e4g67.f4

 

[Ben Grimm]

I have a question for Harbour Dog. I had a friend who would sacrifice a knight in the opening so his opponent would lose the ability to castle and then try to mate quickly before his opponent had time to recover. Is this an actual opening or just street chess?

 

[Harbour Dog]

@Harbour Dog this is the Neon theme lirl

Lmao, it would take me a long time before I could adjust to that. All that matters is that you get used to it and that's how the board looks in your mind. I remember a couple years ago, in an interview, Levon Aronian (a top 10 player) was asked if it would be harder to play a game if he had to sit on the opposite side of the board from his pieces or if the board was white and pink instead of what he was used to. He immediately said white and pink haha

Went 1-8 against Harbour Dog. I'll take it!

I won't then, haha! Can't let my guard down against the relentless attacking for a second.

Not too shabby considering I think he's GM Bareev irl:

1

Bareev, Evgeny

g

CAN

2638

0

1966

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

If anyone wants to play d4 and shove a pawn down Black's throat this is good: Benoni Defense: Taimanov Variation (A67)

1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3c54.d5exd55.cxd5d66.e4g67.f4

If my rating ever gets that high, it will be because they finally perfected cyborg implants.

I have a question for Harbour Dog. I had a friend who would sacrifice a knight in the opening so his opponent would lose the ability to castle and then try to mate quickly before his opponent had time to recover. Is this an actual opening or just street chess?

Sounds like street chess to me, but up until a point street chess works just fine. And putting inexperienced players in positions they aren't familiar with is never a bad thing.

But you'd definitely want to have a hard look at any opening that is unsound like that, so that you know to apply the pressure quickly and accurately.

 

[aufheben]

Lmao, it would take me a long time before I could adjust to that. All that matters is that you get used to it and that's how the board looks in your mind. I remember a couple years ago, in an interview, Levon Aronian (a top 10 player) was asked if it would be harder to play a game if he had to sit on the opposite side of the board from his pieces or if the board was white and pink instead of what he was used to. He immediately said white and pink haha



I won't then, haha! Can't let my guard down against the relentless attacking for a second.



If my rating ever gets that high, it will be because they finally perfected cyborg implants.



Sounds like street chess to me, but up until a point street chess works just fine. And putting inexperienced players in positions they aren't familiar with is never a bad thing.

But you'd definitely want to have a hard look at any opening that is unsound like that, so that you know to apply the pressure quickly and accurately.

What is a realistic rating to shoot for?

 

[Harbour Dog]

What is a realistic rating to shoot for?

I keep setting my goal as 50 points more each time I hit a new high. The higher you get the harder it gets though, and I'm sure I'll hit a wall soon.

Realistically, if I ever hit 1750 or so, that will probably be my peak, but I haven't looked that far ahead.

You will probably make a big jump quickly and then you will continue to slowly improve from there. As long as you keep playing a bunch, and analysing your mistakes and trying to get better, there's no reason you can't have the same ceiling as myself.

I just have a headstart by three years.

 

[Ben Grimm]

...Sounds like street chess to me, but up until a point street chess works just fine. And putting inexperienced players in positions they aren't familiar with is never a bad thing. ... But you'd definitely want to have a hard look at any opening that is unsound like that, so that you know to apply the pressure quickly and accurately.

Thanks! I should have given you the opening moves, but it's 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Ne5 Be7 4. N x f7 K x f7. He was a park street chess hustler, he would play tourists for $5 for a game of blitz, come out with a blazing mating attack after the first four moves, talk trash to throw people off, and had played this variation hundreds of times.

 

[aufheben]

I keep setting my goal as 50 points more each time I hit a new high. The higher you get the harder it gets though, and I'm sure I'll hit a wall soon.

Realistically, if I ever hit 1750 or so, that will probably be my peak, but I haven't looked that far ahead.

You will probably make a big jump quickly and then you will continue to slowly improve from there. As long as you keep playing a bunch, and analysing your mistakes and trying to get better, there's no reason you can't have the same ceiling as myself.

I just have a headstart by three years.

What are the general tiers? For example:

2500 - GM
2000 - Expert
1500 - Experienced
1000 - Novice
800 - Beginner
500 - Tanner Glass

I don’t really have a frame of reference besides seeing GMs well above 2000 and 800 being the starting point.

 

[Ben Grimm]

What are the general tiers? For example:

2500 - GM
2000 - Expert
1500 - Experienced
1000 - Novice
800 - Beginner
500 - Tanner Glass

I don’t really have a frame of reference besides seeing GMs well above 2000 and 800 being the starting point.

• Grandmaster (GM)
• International Master (IM)
• FIDE Master (FM)
• Candidate Master (CM)
• Arena titles.
• Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
• Woman International Master (WIM)
• Woman FIDE Master (WFM)
• 
  
• • Expert: 2000–2199.
  • Class A: 1800–1999.
  • Class B: 1600–1799.
  • Class C: 1400–1599.
  • Class D: 1200–1399.
  • Class E: 1000–1199.

 

[Harbour Dog]

What are the general tiers? For example:

2500 - GM
2000 - Expert
1500 - Experienced
1000 - Novice
800 - Beginner
500 - Tanner Glass

I don’t really have a frame of reference besides seeing GMs well above 2000 and 800 being the starting point.

I'm not entirely sure. What @Bogart listed is the exact breakdown (probably FIDE recognized?), but it more comes down to how I feel about the competition at each level.

Everything under 1400 kind of blurred together for me. Then I spent a lot of time trying to scrape my way out of the 1450-1500 range, had a quick development leap, thanks to changing my philosophy a little, and now I've hit a similar difficulty at the 1590-1640 range.

So those are tiers that feel significant to me. With a rating system so fluid, and with the effort it takes to move ahead, you will probably find similar rating levels that become milestones of sorts for you.

 

[bernmeister]

Anyone play? This guy has a sick channel: agadmator's Chess Channel

thanks for thread

it is an indulgence I do not have as much time for as in my youth

while I have creativity, my lack of study and commitment to recognize enough openings/positions is fatal to my game if I play vs good competition.

----------
Late great grandmaster William Lombardy, who used to live in Stuyvestant Town, btw, once played like 25 guys at once, including yours truly.
He'd respond to your move, and move on. I figured for sure he'll crush me slow this way, so like 4 moves or so in, I had several moves planned, and I did a spirited 6 or 7 moves in rapid succession with this elite level champ.
Unfortunately, while looking at me with a small grin indicating he appreciated my balls for going there, I was no match, my position was untenable, and I eventually lost.

btw, if anyone has extra $, I'm not sure with this pandemic he is still available for in person games and consultations, but I remember in recent years Garry Kasparov did make himself available for tutoring sessions.

That's like painting with Raphael or sculpting with Michelangelo.

 

[Neutrinos]

SparkChess: Play chess online vs the computer or in multiplayer

 

[aufheben]

@Harbour Dog you gonna be on later tonight?

 

[Harbour Dog]

@Harbour Dog you gonna be on later tonight?

Yes Sir!

I actually just played a few games, but my girlfriend is coming over for supper. I'll most likely be on afterwards.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Some GMs play blindfold chess (you can't see the board, but have to memorize it in your head) against multiple opponents. Idk how they do it.

Kasparov charges thousands for his lessons and doesn't work with players below IM.

Chess base and Chess games are very good websites.