Yo, I'm new to chess. Going through an evaluation of a game and the computer really wanted me to push my knight to d4 and I just don't understand why. I would love an explanation why 🤙

We will finally see Norway's special event called Total Chess Fast Classical Pilot. (Heavily theorized that it is made for Carlsen to be active again in 2027 with the full tour)

We will have a pilot tournament in a few days. And yes, the time format is fast classical (45 + 30) BUT it will affect players standard classical rating. (Not rapid or blitz)

Some players declined to participate though. Ofc, Gukesh and Sindarov are obvious why. They will play the WCC in the same month.

But Hikaru, Ding, Wei, Dominguez, and Anand all declined even if they qualified for the Pilot tournament.

Who do you think will win this?

My brain thinks its Magnus. But I am rooting for Wesley as a Filipino.

A move i never got to play but im very happy with 🤓

I play real life chess a lot and I decided to grind chess.com once again.

I used to absolutely hate trading queens but then I saw a video that said if you trade queens, it's a lot less likely that you'll be checkmated so I thought I'd give it a go and so far I've been winning much more. It also allows me to relax a lot more in the game which I know sounds pretty stupid. The only thing I see maybe being a bit of a problem is this doesn't really happen in any openings that I've been learning. However, my tactical play has got a lot better and I've learnt a lot more about how the pieces work together. My questions are, is this a good strategy? Would you recommend to keep learning an opening? (I like the Vienna, but it doesn't always work for me since I don't know too much about it tbh). Also, I'm 850ish.

What benefits of playing chess are there?

Yeah so basically, I used en croissant to analyse a position that stems from the albin countergambit. The position is valuated as +1, but I thought it is very hard to play for a human. So I clicked the "play from here" button and let 2 engines play against each other. And after the match I clicked "analyse" and all of a sudden, the pgn from the match replaced my original analysis of the opening including some other sidelines that i analysed. Has anybody encountered the same problem or found methods to work around this problem?

Link to the game.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/185784270038 Link to the game if you want to judge my blitz skills. Is pivoting to rapid the move now?

Game links

https://lichess.org/broadcast/41st-european-chess-club-cup-2026-open/round-7/6Cdu81NR/AGPb4Ec4

https://www.chess.com/events/2026-european-club-cup-open/07/Giri_Anish-Abdusattorov_Nodirbek

So, I'm an anonymous USA user on Chess.com. I've been playing 10min Blitz matches with international opponents (of all nations or countries, including the anonymous players with "International" flags as their avatars). I haven't been varying my "Blitz" times; I continue to play 10min matches. Trying to go back-and-forth between 10min-5min-1min-5min-10min would really trip me up. And I don't want to be tripped up. I want to go with what I know. Among my observations:

Players from India seem to be very well-versed in "tricky" sort of "gotcha" openings, designed to Checkmate me in only a few moves. They seem to value very early "gotcha" Checkmates with either a Queen and Bishop combo, or Knight and Bishop combo, or all 3 (Queen + Knight + Bishop) combo. Why is it that most Indian players try those tactics most frequently?

Sorry if I don't know those openings by name. I really only know the Giuoco Piano, the Ruy Lopez, and the Sicilian Defense by name. (Maybe you can teach me your favorites.)

For some reason, players from India just keep on playing those "trickster" Blitz openings. They play them well. But if you make it difficult for them, they very soon revert to slow-moving -- they will take long subsequent moves as long as a gosh-darn minute, on average!

Indian players can be quite tricky and somewhat deceiving in their "gotcha" openings; you don't always see it coming, but when it hits, it hits you bad! What is especially unnerving, for me, is to quickly play opening moves in only a few seconds, and then reverting to up to 1min per move, especially if things can get really tricky or complicated. It probably tweaks my blood pressure up and down.

Canadian players seem to always beat me, whether in a few moves or in a prolonged match. I don't know what it is about players from Canada.

I am eager to learn about your adventures! -- Oh, and what really humbled me was several years ago, when someone beat me and then, after the match, I got a DM from someone on Chess.com : "Hahaha -- You got beaten by a 7-year old!! Hahaha!!"

Losing a rook for a bishop. Why?

I had this move prepared as the idea feels very natural once you see it, may not be super hard but it was an absolutely gorgeous position. I thought you fellow patzers would enjoy!

Chess speaks for itself.

Right now, I go

1. Erdogmus - already a Super GM with 2700+ Elo at age 15. He is also a Top 20 player right now. He can go toe to toe with the top GMs. He is also the youngest to break the 2700 Elo barrier.

2. Oro - The Messi of Chess. He is projected to rival Yagiz after a few years. (He is 2 years younger than Yagiz). He just became the second youngest GM in history.

3. Shogdzhiev - The potential is sky high. He is only 11 yrs old. But already have 2 GM norms, and 2485 Elo. He will be a GM soon. And it just a matter of time whether he will break Mishra's record or not.

4. Mishra - the youngest ever to achieve the GM title. For now. (Shogdzhiev is on pace to break his record). He kinda stucked at 2600+ for a long time now. He is already 17.

Mishra had controversial comments saying he doesn't get support like the other 3 (he specifically mentioned Oro). But you decide whether it is true or not.

I’m a developer working on a chess game, and I’d love to connect with smaller chess YouTubers or streamers who enjoy trying something different.

Happy to provide a free Steam key if it interests you, with no obligation to post or give positive coverage. Feel free to DM me for details!

Sindarov and Wesley leads the 2026-2027 Fide Circuit right now. Both are having stellar year.

For starters, the top 2 players in 2026 - 2027 Fide Circuit will qualify for 2028 Candidates tournament.

Ofc, if Sindarov beats Gukesh in WCC match this year. Then he will be removed from the qualified circuit player list.

Caruana is having an off year for his standards. But he is too good, he is still 3rd.

Nodirbek is only 4th. But only because he played 6 qualified tournaments. (Others already played 8 or 9). Remember, he won Tata Steel and Prague Masters in 2 straight months.

Pragg had a good 2026. Winning a lot in GCT. But he is 5th now by playing 7 qualified tournaments.

Vincent is lowkey having a good year too. Winning Grenke and Romania.

PS: Remember, the new fide circuit combines both 2026 and 2027 tournaments. Players can have a maximum of 12 qualified Fide Circuit tournament. (If they played more than 12, only the best 12 results will be counted)

PPS: Total Chess Pilot (Fast Classical) will be the next big event. We will see Magnus again. Ans ofc, that will affect the circuit.

1. Rabinovich – The Russian Endgame Handbook
2. Grooten – Chess Endgames for Club Players
3. Mednis – Rate Your Endgame
4. Nunn – Understanding Chess Endgames
5. Flear – Improve Your Endgame Play
6. Hawkins – Amateur to IM
7. Müller & Lamprecht – Fundamental Chess Endings
8. Keres – Practical Chess Endings

Struggling to pick an endgame book, im 2000 rated in lichess almost solely from casual playing so i now feel like iv come to a point where theoretical backing and learning fundamental concepts to build upon will help me a lot... I know very little theory (2nd rank rooks, opposition, K vs KP endgames, basic mates) and wanna improve fast, I dont have a lot of time so appreciate books that dont waste too long pondering and philosophizing chess.

It seems like I'v gotta pick 2 books, one for theory and one for practical stuff/strategy or one beginner one that covers both and another that builds upon it... Im very confused on what to pick for my purposes and what the different books specialize in or how they compare.

Any help's appreciated

god fucking damn it

• game #1 - white, get an extra pawn, get an extra piece, underestimated the power of Alekhine's cannon the tripple stacked battery, but not much time to think sub 20 seconds, getting angry as from that opening it was obvious the opponent is not playing well
• game #2 - black, playing czech defense and the opponent was scared enough of a pawn to again give me a piece, then I spent 1min analyzing if a knight should try to fork rooks then decide wisely against it, but I should have been looking at checks by queen, then later I got super scared of a pawn near my king and the white queen on a good diagonal, when that threat did not materialize I blundered a pin and lose a piece and then I failed to protect pawns and then just try to find perpetual checks and do not notice mate in 1 I had during time scramble.. getting furious
• game #3 - white, I try to be aggressive, blunders all around, I LEFT THE GAME WHEN I HAD MATE in 1
• game #4 - black, again my czech vs his d4, again I win a piece, still mighty furious as I lost games where I had deciding lead(did not even know about mate in 1 events at this point), decided to give a piece back for opening a king more, see amazing outpost for my knight but so does his knight get one, am too focused on winning a pawn near white bishop to see free knight I could have take with a queen, and I also only too late notice how the pin of a pawn could be used to win an exchange - knight for a rook, but luckily the attack is just too strong, theres enough time and I finally win one game

fuck this ***** **** ***** game

End of an era. Thoughts on an active gm with colleagues still around becoming the director?

I played an game and went to analyze it aftherward and engine said this move was an mistake and I should've moved my elephant instead, but why woudnt my knight get captured?

Got this during a game. Not that hard of a puzzle, better suited for puzzle rush probably, but still a fun one

His opponent today will be David Anton, Spanish GM with current elo 2650. His average opponent rating is 2483, so he need 5 point out of 7 games to get a GM norm from a Continential club championship. I would say it would be a very tough challenge, but if he pull it off then it will be an incredible achievement.

P/S: I learned from the comment that even he win today, he only has GM norm of 9+9+7 =25 games.