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(Ich spiele seit ca. 12 Jahren regelmäßig online Schach und habe eine durchschnittliche Spielstärke.)

Gegen KIs zu spielen macht generell keinen Spaß. Auch auf einer niedrigen Spielstufe entspricht ihre Spielweise überhaupt nicht der eines menschlichen Spielers mit ähnlicher Spielstärke. KIs auf niedriger Stufe spielen normalerweise recht stark, wobei einige grobe Fehler eingestreut werden, die der Mensch dann ausnutzen kann.

• Spiele daher am besten online. Ich empfehle dafür lichess, ein anfängerfreundlicher Schachserver mit schönem Frontend. Die Benutzung von lichess ist natürlich komplett frei.

• Am Anfang wirst du jedoch selbst auf lichess nicht viel zu lachen haben. Die mit Abstand schnellste Methode, um deine Spielstärke zu steigern, besteht im Lösen von Taktikaufgaben. Dazu eignet sich chesstempo sehr gut. Die Benutzung ist ebenfalls kostenlos, auch wenn es eine Premium-Mitgliedschaft gibt (braucht man aber nicht).

Das beste am Online-Schach ist: Es wird im Gegensatz zu sämtlichen Computerspielen niemals langweilig. Außerdem kostet es nichts und man kann es mit grottiger Hardware spielen.

http://lichess.org/@/NapoliGM was investigated by lichess moderators. They tried to justify their performance with their ICC account. So they contacted me through ICC with the account "multicast", proving that they own it. They thought that it would be proof enough of their innocence; but we trust our algorithms better than ICC's, and so we banned him.

So we had a great Summer Marathon a few months ago, and we're back at it!

Autumn 2015 Marathon is about 3+0. If you can't handle the tension for 24h straight, just sit back and relax: there will be a great stream coverage of the event.

Just please, if you play the tournament, please take frequent breaks, have naps and water and food. Be careful, be healthy. lichess declines all responsibility in case of death by chess overdose.

It starts the 24th of October, right there: http://lichess.org/tournament/autumn15. Have fun!

The lichess app (http://lichess.org/ or "lichess" on the play/app store) is super amazing for being free, by the way. It has:

• Standard
• 960
• Crazyhouse
• King of the Hill
• Three-check
• Antichess
• Atomic
• Horde
• Racing Kings

(Some are more serious than others)

Play against other players or against the computer in any time controls, solve tactics, watch live games, use lots of free analysis or learning tools. It's also an open-source project (https://github.com/ornicar/lila) and I've seen its main creator be pretty active in this subreddit, even respond to feedback.

So I clicked source to retrieve the PGN so I could put this game into lichess, and I noticed that under the site header, there already was a URL: http://lichess.org/hysPXToC.

Interestingly enough, if you go to this URL, you'll find that, in that game at least, White did not play 36. e5, but actually blundered mate in one with 36. Rd3?? I don't know what to make of this. Did OP alter the game in an attempt to deceive the members of /r/chess? OP, pls respond.

In case you haven't checked it out yet, and assuming your girlfriend is okay with playing on desktop or laptop, I suggest lichess.org

It has a correspondence mode that lets you and your girlfriend start a game without the use of a clock - you can log in whenever you want and make a move or look at the position, additionally you can personalize settings like at least one move every 24 hours, or not more than one move per day etc.

​

I think you don't even need to register, you can just access the running game via the link it gives you once started.

​

Is this what you're looking for?

Sorry, Anton - have to post it :) It was too instructive to pass up!

[pgn][Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/OYvGmCLQ"] [Date "2015.06.03"] [White "Fins"] [Black "AntonSquaredMe"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1773"] [BlackElo "1277"] [PlyCount "25"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "1800+30"] [ECO "D15"] [Opening "Slav Defence, Three Knights Variation"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 { Slav Defence, Three Knights Variation } Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 b6? { (0,50 → 1,52) Mistake. The best move was Qb6. } (6... Qb6 7. Qxb6 axb6 8. Bd2 Nc6 9. e3 e6 10. Nh4 Bg6 11. Bb5 Bb4 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. f3 Bd6 14. h3 Bg3+ 15. Ke2 Ke7 16. a3) 7. e4 dxe4 8. Ne5 Be6 9. Bb5+ Nbd7?! { (1,20 → 2,08) Inaccuracy. The best move was Nfd7. } (9... Nfd7 10. d5 Bf5 11. Be3 a6 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bc6 Rb8 14. O-O Qc7 15. Qa4 e6 16. Qxa6 exd5 17. Qa4 Rc8 18. Bxd5 Bd6 19. Nxe4) 10. d5 Nxd5?? { (1,93 → 11,18) Blunder. The best move was Bf5. } (10... Bf5 11. h3 h6 12. Be3 Qb8 13. Bf4 Qc8 14. O-O g5 15. Bg3 Bg7 16. d6 Be6 17. Qd1 Qc5 18. Nc6 g4 19. dxe7 gxh3) 11. Nxd5 a6 12. Bxd7+ Bxd7?! { (17,66 → Mate in 2) Checkmate is now unavoidable. The best move was Qxd7. } (12... Qxd7 13. Nxd7 Bxd5 14. Qxd5 Rd8 15. Bg5 f6 16. O-O-O Rxd7 17. Qa8+ Kf7 18. Rxd7 g6 19. Be3 Kg7 20. Qxe4 Rg8 21. Qe6 Kh8 22. Qxb6) 13. Nf6+ { Black resigns } 1-0 [/pgn]

[EDIT] IT STARTED!

Two weeks ago we tried a 24h blitz marathon. Server crashed, it was an epic fail.

Since then I've recoded the tournaments entirely, and now I'm quite sure it can handle such a massive chess event.

But to be sure, we'll first have a 4h marathon of bullet chess (1+0). We expect hundreds of participants and thousands of games played, so that should make for a decent crash test before we try the 24h marathon again.

So here we are: first (experimental) bullet marathon, starting at 4PM GMT. Top ten players will receive a unique trophy!

Check out the tournament page for the hour in your timezone.

Since everyone seems determined to avoid telling you a place where you can play easily without registering: lichess.org makes this as simple as giving your friend a url to click on. Then, you're playing!

[pgn] [Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.01.06"] [White "Hikaru"] [Black "Dmitriy_From_Russia"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2491"] [BlackElo "2272"] [TimeControl "3|0"] [Termination "Dmitriy_From_Russia won by resignation"]

1.g3 d6 2.Bg2 e6 3.d4 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.c4 Ne7 6.Nc3 Nd7 7.Nge2 b6 8.h4 Bb7 9.h5 O-O 10.Be3 Nf5 11.hxg6 hxg6 12.Qd2 Nxe3 13.Qxe3 Nf6 14.O-O-O Rc8 15.Rh4 c5 16.d5 exd5 17.cxd5 Re8 18.Rdh1 Nxd5 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.Nc3 Bc4 21.Rh7?! Qf6 22.f4 Qd4 23.Qd2 b5 24.b3?! Bd3 25.e5 dxe5 26.f5 e4 27.Rxg7+ Kxg7 28.Qh6+?! Kf6 29.Qh4+ g5 30.Qh6+ Ke5 31.Qg7+ f6 32.Nb1 Qa1 0-1 [/pgn]

Computer analysis and advantage graph courtesy of lichess.org

I'm almost certain chess has not been solved. What are your sources? Also chess can literally run on a computer (see lichess.org). Are you telling me if chess was invented today on a PC instead of as a board game, it'd be solves by definition? Since if it hadn't it couldn't run on a computer

Many people think this "life hack" is smart/clever, when in reality its just cheating, many people do this in chess.com or lichess.org and they are immediately caught and banned.

Some people try to hide the fact that they're cheating by mixing in their own moves, but eventually gets caught anyway. Dont do this yall

IM Fins is superb. He is no.1 on bullet right now on lichess and I do respect that a lot!. Competition may be arriving though - GM Erik Hansen maybe even stronger at bullet but a lot of it I think depends on technical factors, because it is like the Formula 1 of Chess ! A great driver needs a great car. Bullet is about speed!

In the tournament link you mention yesterday, I took the game off chessbrah - one of the GMs (Erik Hansen or his friend apparently) - not sure which ?! Here is the pgn:

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/SuLqS3cj"] [Date "2015.05.13"] [White "chessbrahs"] [Black "Kingscrusher-YouTube"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2629"] [BlackElo "2247"] [PlyCount "102"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "60+0"] [ECO "A45"] [Opening "Indian Game, General"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 Nf6 { Indian Game, General } 2. c3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 d6 5. Nd2 O-O 6. Ngf3 Nbd7 7. Be2 b6 8. h3 Bb7 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 e5 11. Bh2 e4 12. Nh4 h6 13. g3 Nf8 14. Ng2 Ne6 15. Nf4 Ng5 16. h4 Ne6 17. Nxe6 Rxe6 18. c4 d5 19. Rc1 h5 20. Qc2 c6 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Qc7 Re7 23. Qxd8+ Rxd8 24. Nb3 Ng4 25. Kg2 Red7 26. Bg1 a5 27. f3 exf3+ 28. Bxf3 f5 29. Nd2 Re7 30. Rc3 Rde8 31. Nf1 Bh6 32. Re2 Ba6 33. Bxd5+ Kh8 34. Re1 Bxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Bxe3 36. Bf3 Bxg1 37. Rxe7 Rxe7 38. Kxg1 Re1+ 39. Kg2 Rb1 40. Rc2 Ne3+ 41. Kf2 Nxc2 42. d5 Rxb2 43. d6 Nb4+ 44. Ke3 Rxa2 45. d7 Ra3+ 46. Kf4 Rd3 47. Be2 Rxd7 48. Bb5 Rd6 49. Kg5 Kg7 50. Bc4 Rd4 51. Bb5 Rg4# { White is checkmated } 0-1 [/pgn]

I can do some annotations for it if there is interest. My video commentary for the whole tournament is here though which has basically commentary for the game as I was playing it:

http://youtu.be/6dUEowy1m8o

Cheers, K

After the match, click on the microscope (4th in the bottom row I think) button or go to options (bottom left) and select analysis Or go to lichess analysis and play around. You can also go to board editor to analyse custom board positions.

Fascinating. Note that a link to lichess analysis might be more useful than to the editor. Just replace the FEN spaces with underscores to build the URL. Example:

http://lichess.org/analysis/rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/2PP4/2N2NP1/PP2PP1P/R1BQKB1R_b_KQkq_-

Only programs that do the thinking for you are prohibited (i.e. chess engines). You can consult databases, and watch videos about the opening in progress. It's a good learning opportunity.

Ha, you beat me to it!

The Winter Marathon Tournament kicks off at 12:00AM (GMT) on Monday the 28th of December. Join it here.

As always during long events, don't forget to take breaks!

Knights:

[countably infinitely many are needed. Place them as in the following board (king is placed on only legal square) and move any knight to check the king. knight solution](#sp)

> But this is assuming we've started from a position where all the pieces are far apart and the enemy king can't capture any of the rooks, and isn't in a position that might end in stalemate. It might take extra time if those are the case.

I believe it's still doable in three even in those special cases, if you start with this configuration.

Not to download anything? lichess.

If you ever decide you'd rather download a program to play, I personally use BabasChess and play on the Free Internet Chess Server.

Here it is: http://lichess.org/tournament. Pick the official 1, 3, 5, or 10 minutes, there's always one of each in progress.

It's exactly like a matchmaking pool, and as a bonus there's a podium every hour!

Here's the PGN of the full game :

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/O0hZ7mIX"] [Date "2015.07.31"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "93"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "1200+5"] [ECO "B10"] [Opening "Caro-Kann Defence, General"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 c6 { Caro-Kann Defence, General } 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1 Nf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Nc3 h6 9. Bh4 Bc5 10. Kd2 O-O 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Raf1 Nd7 13. g4 Ne5 14. Nxe5 fxe5 15. Rhg1 b5 16. g5 Kh7 17. gxh6 Rg8 18. Rg3 Rxg3 19. fxg3 Kg6 20. h4 Bd7 21. g4 a5 22. g5 Rf8 23. Rf6+ Kh7 24. Be2 Be7 25. Rf1 f5 26. exf5 exf5 27. Bd3 e4

28. Nxe4 fxe4 29. Bxe4+ Kh8 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. h7 Bg7 32. b3 Be8 33. Ke3 c5 34. Kf4 Bd7 35. h5 c4 36. h6 Bf8 37. Ke5 cxb3 38. cxb3 a4 39. Kf6 Be8 40. Bg6 Bxg6 41. Kxg6 axb3 42. axb3 b4 43. Kf7 Bc5 44. g6 Bd4 45. g7+ Bxg7 46. hxg7+ Kxh7 47. g8=Q+ { Black resigns } 1-0

chesscademy

lichess

chess.com

are all pretty good resources. i personally have been going with chesscademy lately, i like that the computer has beatable (for non-GM) settings.

/u/Bob_Droll and /u/Julie0402 -- may I recommend http://lichess.org for online chess? I hardly play anymore but would love to get back into the game, and that used to be where I'd primarily play online.

To your knowledge is there a publicly available solution to recognizing handwritten digits? As a chess player I would like to apply this to scoresheets so I don't need to manually type the letters and numbers into http://lichess.org/paste .

http://lichess.org/lag will show you the server lantency and your network's. Of course, at the moment the site is down...

You can also see the server and your latency by moving your mouse over your username.

You upload the PGN to LiChess's servers. Spits games right out for you and all your mistakes.

Like so. And thanks in advance PGN bot..

And for OP, if he looked at the source, { } denotes "This is text between moves" and ( ) denotes "This is alternate lines". so something like 1. e4 { I never play e4 what the fuck was I thinking. } (1. d4) e5. would look something like this:

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/4HHncwgN"] [Date "2015.10.13"] [White "rainymood"] [Black "roler52"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1514"] [PlyCount "35"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+0"] [ECO "E27"] [Opening "Nimzo-Indian Defence, Sämisch Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 {I never play e4 wtf was I thinking.} (1. d4) e5 1-0 [/pgn]

as an amateur, I tend to copy the pgn format into lichess.org/paste and have it do a tactical check. I used to just jump to the spikes in the graph and see what the computer says I should have done. HOWEVER, these are the points where tactical analysis comes in. Try to figure out what you did wrong before you look at the answer.

Next, assuming there arent any horrible spikes, just a general decline in my position, I go back to the positions that I thought about for a bit and had no clue what to do. Lichess may or may not give you a move there, but usually, there are a few improvements it will offer (maybe shortly before or after the position you are staring at).

edit: try to keep a log (real or mental) of the errors that you make (missed pins, bad calculations, missed in between check, etc.) It should help you to whittle away the mistakes you are making.

You exchange the pawn and maintain the opposition. 5...Kd3 6. axb5 axb5 (forced) 7. Kd1 Kc3 8. Kxb4 Kb2. All you need to know is that this position is a trivial draw if it's black's move.

If you're looking for casuak games: You could play wordfeud, which is basically scrabble over the internet. Chess is also a good option, with multiple sites/apps. Personally, I recommend Lichess.

If you're not already using it, snapchat can be a fun option. Because the pictures disappear, you don't have to worry about how good a picture is and can instead focus on capturing random moments of your day.

1. I am curious, does the Lichess mobile app provide one-click access from the Editor to the Analysis board (like the web site provides)? If so it seems redundant to provide the Analysis board URL. Also, can Reddit create embedded content from http://lichess.org/developers (see "Embed a chess game in your site")?
2. Is the precision really 99.999%? Could the A+ (or ASCII art or emoticon) rank be moved to the start of the description without causing confusion?
3. Karma seems to strongly indicate that people find the bot either helpful or amusing. Do you intend to support Chess960? If not then why does the bot comment on Chess960 posts?
4. I'd like to see r/chessvariants but I don't you're intending to support that at this time!

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/EXUViIa8"] [Date "2016.04.12"] [White "NonMasterAlex"] [Black "Craftytype108"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1786"] [BlackElo "1660"] [PlyCount "33"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "2700+0"] [ECO "C34"] [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, Fischer Defense"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 d6 3. Nf3 exf4 { C34 King's Gambit Accepted, Fischer Defense } 4. d4 Nf6 {The normal move is 4...g5 to defend the pawn} 5. Nc3 {Now black can only defend the extra pawn with 5...Nh5} Nbd7 6. Bxf4 {When white gets this pawn back on his terms it's usually a good sign for his position} Be7 7. Bd3 {I also considered 7. Bc4, but the pressure on f7 isn't as useful as it is on h7 after he castles.} O-O 8. h4 {An idea I've used before in KGAs where Black castles early. I want my knight to be protected on g5 after a possible bishop sac on h7} c6 {The computer likes 8...c5 better since it doesn't believe in my attack yet} 9. e5 dxe5 10. dxe5 Nd5 {Stocky says Black is better after 10...Nh5 pressures the loose bishop. I can sac the bishop on h7 still but black doesn't have to take it.} 11. Nxd5 cxd5 {Now White is winning} 12. Bxh7+ Kxh7 {Still was better not to take} 13. Ng5+ Bxg5 {Black can defend the mates after 13...Kg8 but they will involve sacrificing a piece at least} 14. hxg5+ Kg8 15. Qh5 f6 16. g6 Rf7 17. Qh8# 1-0 [/pgn]

This was a 30|0 game where my opponent used less than 3 minutes. But that's not my fault.

P.S. in the future wrap up your games in [ pgn ] [ \/pgn ] tags

[pgn] [Event "Import"] [Site "http://lichess.org/DYyC5zzY"] [Date "2016.02.16"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "113"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "-"] [ECO "C41"] [Opening "Philidor Defence, General"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 { Philidor Defence, General } 3. c3 c6 4. d4 Bg4 5. dxe5 Bxf3 6. gxf3 c5 7. exd6 Bxd6 8. Nd2 Nf6 9. Nc4 Bc7 10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. Bh3 O-O 12. O-O Re8 13. Rd1 Nh5 14. Bxd7 Nf4 15. Bxf4 Bxf4 16. Bxe8 Qg5+ 17. Kf1 Rxe8 18. Na5 h5 19. Nxb7 h4 20. Rd5 Re5 21. Rd8+ Kh7 22. Qa6 f6 23. Qxa7 h3 24. Nxc5 Qg2+ 25. Ke2 Bxh2 26. Qb8 Rxe4+ 27. Nxe4 Bxb8 28. Re1 Ba7 29. b4 h2 30. Rdd1 Bb8 31. b5 Qg6 32. Rh1 f5 33. Ng3 Qe6+ 34. Kf1 Qc4+ 35. Kg2 Qh4 36. Rxh2 Qxh2+ 37. Kxh2 f4 38. Nh5 g6 39. Nxf4 Bxf4+ 40. Kg2 Kh6 41. a4 Kh5 42. Rd4 Be5 43. Rd5 Kh4 44. Rxe5 g5 45. b6 g4 46. fxg4 Kxg4 47. b7 Kf4 48. Re8 Kf5 49. b8=Q Kg4 50. a5 Kf5 51. a6 Kg5 52. a7 Kh4 53. a8=Q Kg4 54. Rh8 Kf5 55. Qb5+ Kf4 56. Qf8+ Kg4 57. f3# { Black is checkmated } 1-0 [/pgn]

He didn't offer me any resistance, if guess he's in the 16-1700 range. Here's my game against him:

[pgn] [Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org"] [Date "2016.01.16"] [White "Hennns"] [Black "Gustavo Fring (Garbochess level 7)"] [Result "1-0"] [Variant "Standard"] [Fen "7k/5N1P/7K/p1p2B2/2p5/P7/1P3P2/8 b - - 1 40"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4
2. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nc3 Bb4
3. Nb5 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Qxg2
4. Bf3 Qxh1+ 9. Bxh1 Kd8
5. Qg4 d5 11. Qxg7 Bf5
6. Qxh8 Kd7 13. Bf4 Bxc2
7. a3 Re8+ 15. Kd2 Nh6
8. Qf6 Re6 17. Qh4 Nf5
9. Qxh7 Ne3 19. Qxf7+ Re7
10. Qxe7+ Bxe7 21. Bxe3 d4
11. Nxd4 Bh7 23. Nxc6 bxc6
12. Rg1 Bf6 25. Rg4 a5
13. Bd4 Bf5 27. Bxf6 Bxg4
14. h4 Bf5 29. h5 Bg4
15. h6 Bf5 31. Be4 Ke6
16. Bxf5+ Kxf6 33. h7 Kg7
17. Ke3 Kh8 35. Kf4 Kg7
18. Kg5 Kh8 37. Kh6 c5
19. Ne4 c4 39. Ng5 c5 40. Nf7# 1-0

[/pgn]

(Heisenberg goes down fairly easily as well, but he's noticeably stronger. )

Gotta wrap it in [ pgn ].

[pgn][Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/sMIMMVWa"[1] ] [Date "2015.11.06"] [White "C4_ExplosiveMove"] [Black "JTate"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1815"] [BlackElo "1832"] [PlyCount "56"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "2700+45"] [ECO "C15"] [Opening "French Defence, Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 { French Defence, Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation } Ne7 5. e5 Nbc6 6. Qg4 O-O 7. h4 f6 8. exf6 Rxf6 9. Bg5 Rf7 10. Bd3 e5 11. Qg3 e4 12. Bb5 Nxd4 13. Ba4 c6 14. a3 Bd6 15. Qe3 Ndf5 16. Qd2 Qb6 17. Bb3 Nd4 18. Be3 Nef5 19. Na4 Nxb3 20. Nxb6 Nxd2 21. Nxa8 Nxe3 22. fxe3 Rf1+ 23. Kxd2 Rxa1 24. Ke2 b6 25. Kf2 Bb7 26. Nxb6 axb6 27. h5 Ba6 28. Rh4 Rf1# { White is checkmated } 0-1[/pgn]

[Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/sMIMMVWa"] [Date "2015.11.06"] [White "C4_ExplosiveMove"] [Black "JTate"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1815"] [BlackElo "1832"] [PlyCount "56"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "2700+45"] [ECO "C15"] [Opening "French Defence, Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 { French Defence, Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation } Ne7 5. e5 Nbc6 6. Qg4 O-O 7. h4 f6 8. exf6 Rxf6 9. Bg5 Rf7 10. Bd3 e5 11. Qg3 e4 12. Bb5 Nxd4 13. Ba4 c6 14. a3 Bd6 15. Qe3 Ndf5 16. Qd2 Qb6 17. Bb3 Nd4 18. Be3 Nef5 19. Na4 Nxb3 20. Nxb6 Nxd2 21. Nxa8 Nxe3 22. fxe3 Rf1+ 23. Kxd2 Rxa1 24. Ke2 b6 25. Kf2 Bb7 26. Nxb6 axb6 27. h5 Ba6 28. Rh4 Rf1# { White is checkmated } 0-1

There are many active places to play other people of all skill levels online. The FAQ has a list under "Where to play". Lichess.org is completely free and you don't even have to register if you don't want to (although I recommend you do so you can get a rating and find people around your level to play with). Chess.com is also free (with ads) and has more players.

Instead of email, you can use lichess.org or chess.com. For lichess you don't even have to make an account, just start a correspondence game and send your father in law the link. Make sure to set the time limit to it's maximum in case any of you might not respond for a while. I definitely recommend checking out that website! (www.lichess.org) (use Play with a Friend option)

edit: hmm I do not see the option to automatically send you an email when your opponent has made a move, I do know chess.com does that. Maybe someone else knows if lichess can do that?

The FAQ describes this book as suitable for people 1800-2000 in rating. Of course you don't need to be 1800 to appreciate it (I've read some of it and liked it, and I'm certainly not that high), but the book is aimed at people who know the coordinates.

Do some coordinate training: http://lichess.org/training/coordinate

I'd remove all the pawns, and invest enough points to get 3 Queens. I'd go for a three-move checkmate with the brute-force opening. LOL

edit : Something like this

Hm. I use Chess.com (link to profile) and LiChess (link to profile) as they're the go-to sites for online play so if you want to register at one of those, I'd be happy to play.

I'd imagine you play correspondence as opposed to standard, blitz, and bullet?

I find that I just typically assume there's a tactic in the position, especially when everything in the position seems to be hanging. I also usually tell myself things like "if my opponent had a knight on g5 and it were their turn to move, they have a mate in 2" so I'm-- more often times than not --aware of the tactical resources that my opponent might have if I play carelessly.

If you're missing hanging pieces and blundering pieces through simple captures (not by some tactical motif), it seems that you might be being a little too neurotic about the positional factors of your games and need to reevaluate how you evaluate positions. The first thought that should come to your mind is "what hangs" before you bother with forcing variations, tactical shots, positional maneuvers, etc.

Follow me on LiChess and we can play some games and/or I can help you with some analysis..

Is http://lichess.org big enough? It's the only site I can think of in either of those languages (it's written in scala). It uses 1 server* but it does get more than 3000+ users concurrently online.

* It also uses other, donated, servers but just for engine analysis AFAIK so I didn't count them.

[pgn][Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/goO4Utfb"] [Date "2015.01.21"] [White "theo"] [Black "wafedo"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1756"] [BlackElo "1623"] [PlyCount "42"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+5"] [ECO "A45"] [Opening "Indian Game, General"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 Nf6 { Indian Game, General } 2. e3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. a3 d6 5. b4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Bb2 Nd5 8. Be2 b6 9. c4 Nf6 10. h3 Be6 11. O-O c5 12. d5 Bc8 13. b5 e6 14. e4 Re8 15. e5 Nh5 16. dxe6 Bxe6 17. Qc2? { (0.29 → -0.79) Mistake. The best move was Ne4. } (17. Ne4 dxe5 18. Nd6 Re7 19. Nxe5 Rd7 20. Nxd7 Bxb2 21. Bxh5 Bxa1 22. Qxa1 Nxd7) 17... Bf5 18. Qc1 Nf4 19. Re1 dxe5 20. Nb3?! { (-1.13 → -1.82) Inaccuracy. The best move was Bf1. } (20. Bf1 Nd7 21. a4 a6 22. bxa6 Rxa6 23. Ne4 Bxe4 24. Rxe4 Qa8 25. Re1 Nxh3+ 26. gxh3 Qxf3 27. Re3) 20... Bd3 21. Rd1?? { (-1.84 → -12.00) Blunder. The best move was Bd1. } (21. Bd1 Nd7 22. a4 Bf6 23. Nfd2 e4 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Bg4 Qd6 26. Bxd7 Qxd7 27. Qd1 Qe6 28. a5 f5) 21... Nxe2+ { White resigns } 0-1[/pgn]

ChessTempo
Chesscademy
Lichess

I typically cycle those along with Chess.com. They're all relatively user-friendly, however "high functioning" is a little ambiguous to me. Anyway, hope those help!

Agreed, and there's no guesswork required for the source of the analysis, as my original comment credits lichess.org by link.

The point of the sidebar rule regarding providing your own annotations is that if the OP doesn't feel that the game deserves their own analysis, they should not post it here and expect others to do that work. I try to enforce that in a friendly way, and rather than immediately deleting those posts I try to encourage such OP's to add their own thoughts in a tagged PGN, and if they need some help to consult an engine that gives a good advantage graph. lichess.org allows you to paste your PGN and request a computer analysis, which it generally delivers in less than a minute, all for free.

I've been playing Chess 960 against the level 8 AI off and on for several weeks now, and this is the first time I've beaten it. Just thought I'd share! Also, the PGN:

[pgn]

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/xdoulb0w"] [Date "2012-05-11"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Crafty level 8"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [Result "1-0"] [PlyCount "223"] [Variant "chess960"] [FEN "rqbbknrn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RQBBKNRN w KQkq - 0 1"] [SetUp "1"]

1. Ne3 c6 2. Ng3 Nhg6 3. O-O Bc7 4. c3 h5 5. Re1 h4 6. Ngf1 Nf4 7. d4 g5 8. Ng4 h3 9. Bxf4 gxf4 10. gxh3 d6 11. Kh1 Rh8 12. Qe4 f5 13. Qxf4 fxg4 14. e4 gxh3 15. Ng3 Kd8 16. d5 Nd7 17. Qg5 Nf6 18. Qg7 Rg8 19. Qf7 Bd7 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21. exf5 Re8 22. Bh5 Nxh5 23. Qxh5 cxd5 24. f6 e5 25. f7 Rf8 26. Rg1 Bb6 27. Rg8 Ke7 28. Rag1 Bc5 29. Qh4+ Kd7 30. Qxh3+ Ke7 31. Qh4+ Kd7 32. Rg1g6 Qd8 33. Qg4+ Kc7 34. Rxf8 Qxf8 35. Rg8 Qxf7 36. Rg7 Qxg7 37. Qxg7+ Kc6 38. Kg2 d4 39. cxd4 Bxd4 40. h4 Rc8 41. h5 Rc7 42. h6 b6 43. Qg6 Re7 44. Qe4+ d5 45. Qh4 Rf7 46. h7 e4 47. h8=Q Bxh8 48. Qxh8 Kd6 49. Qh6+ Kc5 50. Qe3+ Kd6 51. Qa3+ Kc6 52. Qa4+ Kd6 53. Qb4+ Ke5 54. Qc3+ Kd6 55. Kf1 Rf3 56. Qb4+ Ke6 57. Ke2 Rf7 58. a4 Rh7 59. b3 Rh3 60. Qb5 Kd6 61. b4 Rc3 62. Qa6 Rc4 63. b5 Rc2+ 64. Kf1 Rc1+ 65. Kg2 Rc7 66. a5 Kc5 67. axb6 axb6 68. Qa4 Rg7+ 69. Kf1 Rh7 70. Ke2 Rd7 71. Qb3 Rh7 72. Qb2 Rh3 73. Kf1 Rd3 74. Ke2 Kc4 75. Qa2+ Kxb5 76. f4 Kc5 77. f5 d4 78. Qe6 Re3+ 79. Kd2 Rd3+ 80. Ke2 Re3+ 81. Kd2 Rd3+ 82. Kc2 Rc3+ 83. Kb2 Re3 84. f6 Re2+ 85. Kc1 e3 86. f7 Rf2 87. Qc8+ Kd5 88. f8=Q Rxf8 89. Qxf8 Ke4 90. Qb4 Kd3 91. Kd1 Ke4 92. Qxb6 d3 93. Qb4+ Kd5 94. Qc3 e2+ 95. Ke1 Ke4 96. Qd2 Kd4 97. Kf2 Ke5 98. Qxd3 e1=Q+ 99. Kxe1 Ke6 100. Ke2 Kf7 101. Ke3 Ke6 102. Ke4 Kf6 103. Qf3+ Ke6 104. Kd4 Kd6 105. Qd5+ Ke7 106. Ke5 Kf8 107. Qe6 Kg7 108. Qf6+ Kh7 109. Kf5 Kg8 110. Qe7 Kh8 111. Kg6 Kg8 112. Qg7# 1-0

[/pgn]

If you want to play correspondence chess, I like RedHotPawn.com / ChessAtWork.com. (Same site, different interfaces.)

Otherwise, I agree with Lakerman. If you're both awake at the same time and want to play real-time, I think lichess.org is the easiest way. I've never searched for a particular opponent, though. I don't know how that is. Yahoo Chess makes that much easy, but it's a little more problematic. (For one thing, games.yahoo.com is more likely to get caught in firewalls.) Still, it works and is an alternative.

as I said earlier, it happened to a friend of mine (DominikDerBoss. He appealed and got his account back.

He was streaming and I was in a discord call with him, not even paying attention to his games and he asked me if a liked a move, and I didn't even look at the position and said "yeah, looks good". Also, he is like 300 ELO stronger than me.

Same thing happened to another friend, IM gravereaper who had P4ssion as a guest, he also appealed and got the account back.

But in both cases they could not continue playing. Let's face it. It's unfair that Carlsen won this game. If Howell didn't say the move, chances are Magnus wouldn't have found it.

Getting external help is the definition of cheating. Of course it's not as bad as engine cheating and doesn't deserve a permanent ban, but a disqualification from the tournament would have definitely been fair

Playing with AI is super inaccurate and unrealistic. It either plays perfectly or makes outright stupid eyesore-tier mistakes with not much in between. I recommend something like http://lichess.org/ which lets you do beginner exercises and pairs you up with people of equal skill after a few games.

The best book is probably Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. It's extremely inexpensive, and even findable online.

The best program is probably Chessmaster Grand Master Edition. The tutorials are excellent and the number of AI opponents is really great.

If you're into websites, I have been impressed with lichess's tutorials on playing chess, and I enjoy chesstempo's endgame trainer and tactics trainer.

Youtube is also awesome, there is so much free content. I really love Chess Fundamentals for people who know how the pieces move, but want to know more.

It's normal but depending on whether you want to improve, there are easier or harder ways to do that.

The hard way is to just continue doing whatever you're doing and expecting a different result.

The easier way is to head to http://lichess.org/learn#/ and continue through all of that and some of the next section, and watch https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chess+fundamentals+bartholomew

http://lichess.org/training/ will be helpful too if you're too scared to play a real game.

Oh one more thing: play humans rated near your level (i.e., get an account at Lichess so you can be paired properly). Try to avoid playing the computer as you won't learn so fast and won't get to take advantage of human blunders.

Otherwise, keep it simple, keep it fun; and start by clicking the first two links I've just mentioned.

Play on Lichess, and play more than one game a day. The more you play, the likelier it is that you'll be paired against someone you can beat.

Also run through http://lichess.org/practice and stop overthinking everything.

And practice puzzles at ChessTempo.com.

That's all I play on lichess.org.

btw, play more chess at lichess.org, and then use it's analysis tools, like a computer AI analysis, to help show you how to improve your game.

For example, have a look at this game I just blundered my way into death on.. The graph at the bottom shows how well i'm doing against my opponent at any given move.

It has amazing analysis tools, and the most lively community for bughouse chess in the world.

And also, chess960, my favorite.

The creator of the site is an active redditor over at /r/chess.

Cool game OP. Reminds me of a game I played the other day on the white side of a Scandinavian with an early ...Bg4 followed by Qh5. I got to reveal a trap my chess coach told me about, saccing the exchange and trapping the queen in the corner. Here's a link to the game on lichess

Or in this endgame (White threatens to force Kb8-c7): http://lichess.org/editor/1k6/1P6/K7/8/8/8/8/8_b_-_-

Dunno how expensive it would be to implement double null-move pruning by adding "null" to the list of legal moves (because null might be the strongest move, with a threat to follow)

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org"] [Date "2016.04.18"] [Result "0-1"] [Variant "Standard"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6
2. Bc4 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5
3. Bb3 dxe4 7. Ng1 Bc5
4. Ne2 Bg4 9. O-O O-O
5. Qe1 Re8 11. Ng3 Qe7
6. Qxe4 Be6 13. Bxe6 Qxe6
7. d3 Rad8 15. Be3 Bb6
8. Bxb6 axb6 17. Rad1 Qxa2
9. Rb1 Rd4 19. Qe3 Rb4
10. Qe1 Rg4 21. Ra1 Qd5
11. c4 Qxd3 23. Ra2 Nd4
12. Qc3 Rxg3 25. hxg3 Ne2+
13. Kh1 Nxc3 27. Raa1 Ne4
14. Rad1 Nxf2+ 29. Rxf2 Qxd1+
15. Kh2 e4 31. b3 e3 32. Rf4 e2
16. Rg4 e1=Q 34. Kh3 Qh1# 0-1

Edit: way to late, didn't reload the site :( Spend some time with your little fellow to write "d" and "e" better, it'll make reading his chess notations way easier. These two were tricky in some cases ;)

Followed y'all. New to Lichess (username: Athrye) and newish to chess, would love to get a few games going. Anybody want to hop in on a game now? http://lichess.org/Wk8if3k2 (link will automatically start game, so don't click unless logged and interested in playing)

Kommt drauf an, was du willst. Chess24 hat gute Videos und gute Berichterstattung. Ich kenne Playchess und den dortigen Content nicht und kann nicht vergleichen, aber wenn du grundsätzlich für Videos bezahlen willst, könnte es sich schon lohnen. Als "Spielplattform" hat es aber den ganz großen Durchbruch bisher nicht geschafft, die Website fühlt sich einfach klobig an und läuft oft nicht rund. Wenn du einen neuen Server zum Spielen suchst, schau dir mal http://lichess.org/ an, das ist inzwischen der zweitgrößte nach chess.com, ist Open Source/werbefrei, hat eine flotte minimalistische Oberfläche mit vielen Funktionen und inzwischen auch viele starke Spieler.

Yes after rook takes g2+ and kh1, I saw rg4+ to win the queen back (my original plan), but I was winning on time, and even if after rf2+ my opponent played Bf3. I figured I would still have a fun game with loads of material for my queen. [pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/DrBTKVyH"] [Date "2016.01.22"] [White "rajesh0970"] [Black "FecalAlcoholSyndrome"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1704"] [BlackElo "1409"] [PlyCount "66"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+0"] [ECO "B21"] [Opening "Sicilian Defence, Smith-Morra Gambit, Accepted, Pin Defence"] [Termination "Time forfeit"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 Bb4 { Sicilian Defence, Smith-Morra Gambit, Accepted, Pin Defence } 7. O-O b6 8. e5 Bb7 9. Ne4 f5 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. Bg5 Bc5 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nxc5 bxc5 14. Qd6 Qe7 15. Qg3 O-O-O 16. Rac1 Rhg8 17. Qh3 Ne5 18. Be2 Qg7 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Rxc5+ Kb8 21. Rc3 Qxh4 22. Qxh4 Rxg2+ 23. Kh1 Rxf2+ 24. Kg1 Rg2+ 25. Kh1 Rxe2+ 26. Kg1 Rg2+ 27. Kh1 Rxb2+ 28. Kg1 Rg2+ 29. Kh1 Rxa2+ 30. Kg1 Rg2+ 31. Kh1 Rg4+ 32. Rcf3 Bxf3+ 33. Rxf3 Rxh4 { White forfeits on time } 0-1 [/pgn]

The last pawn was tricky until I found [Spoiler](#s "putting the knight on C2 instead of F8: Q3Npqr/N2npr1p/p5p1/P1pP1pP1/bpP2P1B/3R1B1b/1Pn1PK1P/1R6 w - -")

Someone do tell me if this is wrong.

Analysis:

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/EEZGuWKg"] [Date "2015.12.10"] [White "IvanMartins"] [Black "karljw34"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1643"] [BlackElo "1797"] [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq d3 0 1" [PlyCount "56"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+4"] [ECO "D85"] [Opening "Grünfeld Defence, Exchange Variation"] [Termination "Normal"]

1...Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 { Grünfeld Defence, Exchange Variation. One of my favorite openings to play, and Lichess metrics say it's my strongest opening along with the Marshall as Black and the Berlin as White } 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Be3 {Not the most precise. Nf3 or Bc4 is more flexible} c5 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Qxd7 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. O-O cxd4 12. cxd4 O-O 13. Rb1 b6 14. d5 Na5 15. Qd3 Rac8 16. Rfc1 Qa4 {I want to win the a-pawn, when my connected passers on the queenside should prove decisive. This is very normal Gruenfeld stuff} 17. a3 Nc4 18. Bd4 Nxa3 {Risky, but I like taking risks. In classical I would've calculated the lines after Rxc8 Rxc8 Ra1, but this is Blitz} 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Ra1 Qc2?? {I knew this was a critical position, but I didn't have time to calculate. I saw that after RxN, Qc1+ wins instantly, but I missed the obvious QxN, keeping the back rank safe and winning a piece for a pawn. The best move is 21...Qb4! when White cannot take the knight because of back rank mate} 22. Qd4+?? {my opponent also missed it, thankfully} Kg8 23. h3 Nb5 24. Qb4 Qc5 25. Qb2 a5 26. Ne5 Qc3 {Trying to force more exchanges} 27. Qxb5?? {in severe time trouble, my opponent misses hanging the rook, probably expecting QxN with relative equality} Qxa1+ 28. Kh2 Qxe5+ { White resigns } [/pgn]

PGN fix:

[pgn][Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/HPI5LSFp"] [Date "2015.12.06"] [White "dimlom"] [Black "tacotacotaco"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1654"] [BlackElo "1565"] [PlyCount "32"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "240+0"] [ECO "A40"] [Opening "Horwitz Defence, General"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 e6 { Horwitz Defence, General }
2. c4 d5
3. Nc3 c5
4. dxc5 Bxc5
5. cxd5 Nf6 {don't see this a ton, but i'll take it}
6. dxe6 Qxd1+
7. Nxd1 Bxe6 {love my position here. Lots of developmentsl adv}
8. a3 O-O
9. e3 Nc6 {passive from my opponent...fine with me}
10. Bb5 Ne5
11. Ne2?! { (-0.22 → -1.10) Inaccuracy. The best move was Nf3. } (11. Nf3 Nxf3+ 12. gxf3 Rfd8 13. Nc3 Rac8 14. e4 a6 15. Be2 Bd4 16. Be3 Be5 17. O-O Bb3 18. Rfe1 h6) 11... a6
12. Ba4 Nd3+ {trying to prevent 0-0}
13. Kd2?? { (-0.97 → -4.22) Blunder. The best move was Kf1. } (13. Kf1 Rfd8 14. Bc2 Rac8 15. Ndc3 Bb6 16. a4 Bc4 17. h3 Nb4 18. Bb1 Nfd5 19. Ke1 Nxc3 20. Nxc3 Nd3+) 13... Rad8
14. Kc2 Bf5
15. Kc3? { (-3.73 → -5.29) Mistake. The best move was b4. } (15. b4 Ba7 16. Ng3 Bg6 17. e4 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 Bxe4 19. Nc3 Bg6 20. Kb3 b5 21. Bxb5 axb5 22. Be3 Bxe3) 15... Ne4+
16. Kc4?? { (-5.37 → Mate in 1) Checkmate is now unavoidable. The best move was Kb3. } (16. Kb3 b5 17. Bxb5 axb5 18. f3 Nxc1+ 19. Rxc1 Nd2+ 20. Ka2 Be6+ 21. Ka1 Nb3+ 22. Kb1 Nxc1 23. Kxc1 Rc8) 16... Be6# { White is checkmated } 0-1[/pgn]

Unfortunately, with over 78000 unique visitors per day and many of them registering accounts, generating insights for all active players would be a burden on both computation and storage. It's a great idea but probably not practical.

[pgn][Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/FrRMCqQE"] [Date "2015.11.12"] [Round "?"] [White "JTate"] [Black "Iamsostupid"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E76"] [WhiteElo "1800"] [BlackElo "1888"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 {King's Indian Defence, Four Pawns Attack} c5 6. d5 O-O 7. Nf3 e6 8. Be2 exd5 9. cxd5 Nbd7 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. Bg5 Qb6 13. O-O Ndxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bxg4 Qxb2 16. Bxc8 Raxc8 17. Ne4 Qd4+ 18. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 19. Kh1 Bxa1 20. Rxa1 f5 21. Nd6 Rc7 22. Re1 Rd7 23. Be7 Rb8 24. g4 fxg4 25. Re5 b5 26. Ne4 Kf7 27. Ng5+ Kg8 28. Ne4 Kf7 29. Ng5+ Kg8 30. d6 Re8 31. Ne4 Kf7 32. Nxc5 Rdxe7 33. dxe7 Rxe7 34. Rxe7+ Kxe7 35. Kg2 h5 36. Nb7 Ke6 37. Kg3 Ke5 38. Kh4 Kf4 39. Nd8 Kf3 40. Nc6 Kg2 41. Nxa7 Kxh2 42. Nxb5 g3 43. Nd4 Kg2 44. Ne2 {Black resigns} 1-0

[/pgn]

Chess. You can play online at websites likes http://lichess.org (my favorite) or http://chess.com. There's lot of stuff online and books you can read to improve your game, and if you're really into it pretty much every major city has at least one chess club, where you can play for fun or play competitively. I made many new friends from going to chess tournaments.

Reminds me of this game

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/9rrbPSGh"] [Date "2015.10.24"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "74"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+10"] [ECO "C58"] [Opening "Italian Game, Two Knights Defence, Polerio Defence, Bogoljubow Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 { Italian Game, Two Knights Defence, Polerio Defence, Bogoljubow Variation } Be7 9. Bxc6+ Nxc6 10. Qxc6+ Bd7 11. Qf3 O-O 12. O-O Ng4 13. Ne4 f5 14. Nec3 e4 15. Qe2 Qb8 16. g3 Ne5 17. d3 Nf3+ 18. Kh1 Nd4 19. Qd1 exd3 20. Qxd3 Bc6+ 21. f3 Rd8 22. Qc4+ Kh8 23. Na3 Qb7 24. Be3 Nxf3 25. Rxf3 Bxf3+ 26. Kg1 Qxb2 27. Rf1 Rac8 28. Qf4 Ba8 29. Nc4 Qxc3 30. Ne5 Bc5 31. Nf7+ Kg8 32. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 33. Qf2 Rd2 34. Qxc5 Rg2+ 35. Kh1 Rxg3+ 36. Qc6 Bxc6+ 37. Rf3 Bxf3# { White is checkmated } 0-1

I still won the game but it annoyed me that I missed this tactical finesse. here is the game for anyone interested: [pgn][Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/MUQl4Shj"] [Date "2015.09.16"] [White "Huevon"] [Black "branislav43"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2078"] [BlackElo "1980"] [PlyCount "91"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+0"] [ECO "A02"] [Opening "Bird Opening, From Gambit"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. f4 e5 { Bird Opening, From Gambit } 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 Ne5 6. g3 Nxf3+ 7. exf3 Nf6 8. Qe2+ Be6 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Qf2 b6 12. d4 Bc4 13. Re1 Qd7 14. Nd2 Bd3 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. fxe4 Rad8 17. e5 Bf8 18. Bg5 Be7 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Be4 Bxe4 21. Rxe4 c5 22. Rae1 cxd4 23. cxd4 Rd5 24. h4 Qe6 25. Kg2 Red8 26. b3 Qc6 27. Kh2 Qc3 28. R1e3 Qb4 29. e6 fxe6 30. Rxe6 Rf8 31. Re8 Rxd4 32. Qf5 Qd2+ 33. Kh3 Qb4 34. Qe6+ Kh8 35. Rf3 Rd8 36. Rfxf8+ Qxf8 37. Rxf8+ Rxf8 38. Qe7 Kg8 39. Qxa7 Rf6 40. Qe7 h6 41. h5 Kh7 42. a4 Kh8 43. b4 Kh7 44. Qxf6 gxf6 45. a5 bxa5 46. bxa5 { Black resigns } 1-0[/pgn]

Here's the PGN :

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/mV0sfcSJ"] [Date "2015.08.22"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "65"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+10"] [ECO "C51"] [Opening "Italian Game, Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 { Italian Game, Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation } 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 d6 8. d5 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. O-O Nf6 11. Nc3 O-O 12. f4 Bc5+ 13. Kh1 Ng4 14. Qf3 Qh4 15. h3 Nf2+ 16. Kh2 Ng4+ 17. Kh1 f5 18. d6+ Kh8 19. dxc7 fxe4 20. Nxe4 Bd4 21. Ng5 h6 22. Ne6 Rf6 23. Qd5 Nf2+ 24. Rxf2 Bxe6 25. Qd8+ Rxd8 26. cxd8=Q+ Kh7 27. Bxe6 Qxf2 28. Qg8+ Kg6 29. f5+ Rxf5 30. Qe8+ Kh7 31. Bg8+ Kh8 32. Bf7+ Kh7 33. Bg6# { Black is checkmated } 1-0

after move 27... Qxf2, I thought to myself I was winning! It's so good I think I might need a vacation away from another game of chess LOL!

We've met three times already :) We meet every Tuesday at 6pm at the Oak. We have a http://lichess.org team which a few members have joined. Take a look here: http://en.lichess.org/team/downtown-ottawa-chess-club

Come out next week!

Not sure if you were asking me, but this is the game:

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/SjrYHrj2"] [Date "2015.07.10"] [White "sarkhon"] [Black "javs26"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1199"] [BlackElo "1418"] [PlyCount "111"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [ECO "C60"] [Opening "Spanish Game, Cozio Defence, General"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 { Spanish Game, Cozio Defence, General } 4. c3 d6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 a6 7. Ba4 Bd7 8. d5 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. d6 Bxa4 11. Qxa4+ Nc6 12. dxc7 Qxc7 13. O-O Bc5 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. fxe3 O-O 16. Nc3 Qa5 17. Rf5 Qxa4 18. Nxa4 g6 19. Rf6 Nb4 20. Kf2 b5 21. Nc5 Rfd8 22. a3 Nd3+ 23. Nxd3 Rxd3 24. Kf3 Kg7 25. Rc6 a5 26. Rac1 b4 27. a4 Rad8 28. R6c5 f6 29. Rxa5 Rd1 30. Ra7+ R8d7 31. Rxd7+ Rxd7 32. a5 Ra7 33. Ra1 Kf7 34. a6 Ke7 35. Ke2 Kd6 36. Kd3 Kc5 37. Ra5+ Kb6 38. Ra4 Kb5 39. b3 Rxa6 40. Rxa6 Kxa6 41. Kc4 Ka5 42. g4 h6 43. Kd5 Kb6 44. Ke6 h5 45. h3 hxg4 46. hxg4 g5 47. Kxf6 Kc6 48. Kxg5 Kd7 49. Kf6 Ke8 50. g5 Kf8 51. g6 Kg8 52. g7 Kh7 53. Kf7 Kh6 54. g8=Q Kh5 55. Qg3 Kh6 56. Qg6# { Black is checkmated } 1-0

[/pgn]

Not the prettiest. Whipped up a fast 5 0 blitz to show the laconic chess I play. Black, btw.

[pgn] [Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/"] [Date "2015.07.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B07"] [Opening "Pirc"] [Variation "Pytel-Czech, 4.Nf3"] [TimeControl "300+0"] [Termination "normal"] [PlyCount "34"] [WhiteType "human"] [BlackType "human"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 {Czech Defence, General} 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6
2. Nd2 Bxe2 7. Qxe2 e5 8. d5 Be7 9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Nf3 Qb6 11. Na4 Qa5+ 12. Nc3 Qa6 13. Qe3 Nbd7 14. Bd2 Rb8 15. O-O-O Ng4 16. Qd3 Qxd3 17. cxd3 Nxf2 {White resigns} 0-1 [/pgn]

Okay, I picked a rather dry one to make it more difficult. This was a correspondence game, I'm black.

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/"] [Date "2015.02.24"] [White "???"] [Black "me"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "???"] [BlackElo "???"] [PlyCount "57"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "-"] [ECO "B50"] [Opening "Sicilian Defence, Modern Variations"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 { Sicilian Defence, Modern Variations } 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.O-O Nc6 5.Re1 Bg4 6.d3 e6 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 O-O 10.c3 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nf1 a6 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.d4 b5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5 16.dxc5 Qxd1 17.Rxd1 Bxc5 18.Bf4 Rfd8 19.Ne5 Nxe5 20.Bxe5 Bc2 21.Re1 Rd7 22.Re2 Bb3 23.Nh5 Rd1+ 24.Rxd1 Bxd1 25.Rd2 Bxh5 26.g4 Bg6 27.Kg2 f6 28.Bc7 Rc8 29.Bd6 { White resigns } 0-1 [/pgn]

I'm not as experienced in the various online ways of playing chess as I'm sure others are, but for me, http://lichess.org/ is simple and easy while maintaining the necessary functionalities, and I think sharing the link once the game is in progress allows others to spectate, and provides an analysis of the game after it's concluded.

Just play and play. There's probably no use in a ton of studying right off the bat, maybe just a little. But I'd recommend just going for it and playing. Everyone's bad at first, but you'll make progress bit by bit.

I'm not the best or even somewhat decent, but that's what I did.

chess.com

lichess.org

chesscademy.com

[pgn] [Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/FvikUODo"[1] ] [Date "2015.04.07"] [White "aztlan1997"] [Black "peaopreto"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1358"] [BlackElo "1397"] [PlyCount "51"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [ECO "B07"] [Opening "King Pawn Game, Maroczy Defence"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1.e4 d6 2. d4 e5 { King Pawn Game, Maroczy Defence } 3. dxe5 Qh4 4. Nf3 Qxe4+ 5.Be2 dxe5 6. O-O Bg4? 7. Re1 {I was looking to set up a discovered attack on his queen} Bxf3? 8. Bxf3 Qb4 9. Rxe5+ Ne7?! 10. c3?! Qd6?! 11. Qa4+? {glossed over Qxd6, but wanted to protect the rook by checking the king and leave the queen safe} c6?! 12. Bf4 Qd7?? 13. Nd2? f6 14. Re2 b5? 15. Qb4?? a5 16. Qe4 g5?! 17. Be3? {I was thinking of playing Bh5+ but opted for Be3 in hopes to eventually play Bb6} f5?? 18. Qd4?? { i was to focused on the b6 square and looking over should have just played Qe5, keeping the pin on the knight} Qxd4 19. Bxd4 Rg8 20. Bc5?? {computer says it was a bad move, unsure why} Na6?? 21. Bxc6+ Kd8?! 22. Bb6+ Kc8 23. Bxa8 Nd5? {took advantage of the open square to give check with the rook and drive his king around the board} 24. Re8+ Kd7 25. Rd8+ Ke6 26. Bxd5+ { Black resigns } 1-0 [/pgn]

I couldn't find it, and wanted to! In the end I resorted to the computer. It finds something a little crazy.

[pgn]

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/xdPnd6i0"] [Date "2015.02.13"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "xlmichael"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "1829"] [PlyCount "15"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "9000+30"] [ECO "D00"] [Opening "Queen Pawn Game, Levitsky Attack"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 { Queen Pawn Game, Levitsky Attack } Nf6 3. e3 Bd7 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. a3 h6 6. Bf4 g5 7. Be5 Nxe5 8. dxe5 g4! 9. exf6 (9. Nd4 Ne4) 9. ... gxf3
10. Qxd5 (10. Qxf3 e6 11. Nc3 Bd6 12. O-O-O Be5 {and the pawn falls with black being better... unless white finds Nxd5! which is another crazy line that the computer thinks is equal}) 10. ... Bc6 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. g3 (12. fxe7 Kxe7! 13. g3 Bg7 14. c3 Rd6 {and blacks lead in development makes the computer think he's better}) 12. ... h5 13. fxe7 Bxe7 {Here white is better, but black has a clear lead in development which gives him chances}

1-0

[/pgn]

I just played the Stonewall for the first time in my life against a random noob online anonymously. I destroyed him, I feel disgusted with myself.

[pgn] [Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/jezMSF2E"] [Date "2014.09.30"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "31"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "180+0"] [ECO "A40"] [Opening "Queen Pawn Opening, General"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 { Queen Pawn Opening, General } c6 2. c3 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. Bd3 Bg6 5. f4 h6 6. Nf3 Na6 7. f5 Bh7 8. O-O Nf6 9. Ne5 Nc7 10. Nd2 Nd7 11. Ndf3 f6 12. Ng4 h5 13. Nf2 c5 14. Nh4 c4 15. Qxh5+ g6 16. Nxg6 { Black resigns } 1-0 [/pgn]

We have different presuppositions, and the argument will ultimately boil down to those differences. It is not profitable to others nor interesting to me to play this particular game out again.

If you want to have a battle of wits, we can play a game of chess. Are you a bad enough dude to checkmate me?

Wait a second, need edition! Ill post it

EDIT: As you said, after move 48 I can't win, but before I can with this monster... (not sure if Stockfish is right) [pgn][Event "Rated game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/3TjBcmXR"] [Date "2014.05.11"] [Round ""] [White "lehninger"] [Black "x13420x"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [BlackElo "1529"] [ECO "C40"] [Opening "King Pawn Game, General"] [PlyCount "108"] [TimeControl "1800+15"] [Variant "Standard"] [WhiteElo "1486"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 c6 $5 3. Nxe5 Qe7 4. d4 d6 5. Nf3 Qxe4+ 6. Qe2 $5 Bf5 7. c3 Nf6 8. Qxe4+ Nxe4 9. Bd3 Bg6 10. O-O Nf6 11. Bxg6 hxg6 12. Bf4 Nd5 13. Re1+ Kd7 14. Bg3 f6 15. Nbd2 Ne7 16. h3 Nf5 17. Bh2 Na6 18. b4 Nc7 19. Ne4 b6 20. g4 Nh4 21. Nxh4 Rxh4 22. Kg2 d5 23. Bg3 Rh8 24. Nd2 Nb5 25. Re3 Bd6 26. a4 Nc7 27. Bxd6 Kxd6 28. f4 Rhe8 29. Rae1 $2 Re6 $2 30. Nf3 $5 Rae8 $5 31. Rxe6+ Rxe6 32. Rxe6+ Nxe6 33. Kg3 g5 34. fxg5 Nxg5 35. Nxg5 fxg5 36. h4 c5 37. hxg5 g6 38. Kf4 a6 $2 39. dxc5+ bxc5 40. bxc5+ Kxc5 41. Ke5 a5 42. Kf6 Kc4 43. Kxg6 Kxc3 44. Kh6 d4 45. g6 d3 46. g7 d2 47. g8=Q d1=Q 48. g5 Qh1+ 49. Kg7 Qe4 50. Qf7 Kb4 51. Qd7 Qe5+ 52. Kg6 Qh8 53. Qd3 Qg8+ 54. Kf5 Qc8+ 55. Kf4 Qc1+ 56. Qe3 Qc7+ 57. Kf3 Qg7 58. Qe4+ Kc5 59. Kf4 Kd6 60. g6 Qf6+ 61. Ke3 Kc5 62. Qd3 Qe5+ 63. Kd2 Qh2+ 64. Kc3 Qe5+ 65. Kc2 Qe6 66. Kb2 Qg4 67. Qc3+ Kd6 68. g7 Qg2+ 69. Kb3 Kd7 70. Qxa5 Ke6 71. Qc7 Kf6 72. a5 Qa8 73. a6 Qd5+ 74. Kb4 Qd4+ 75. Kb5 Qd3+ 76. Kb6 Qb3+ 77. Ka7 Qd5 78. Qc3+ Kg6 79. g8=Q+ Qxg8 80. Qg3+ Kh7 81. Qxg8+ 1-0[/pgn]

"Reliable" and "clock" are kind of related. I gave you a link to the actual software that FICS uses. Sorry, I didn't know you wanted half-baked advice. I'm fresh out of that. I now challenge you to a game: http://lichess.org/uFPS1yg3

[pgn]

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/18n7tcrd"] [Date "2012-08-09"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "AI level 8"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "58"] [Variant "standard"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Bd3 e6 4. f4 { Not a great opening, but a good anti computer style. } c5 5. c3 Bd6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c4 8. Bc2 b5 9. Bd2 Qb6 10. Be1 Nc6 11. Bh4 b4 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. e4!? { I'm sacking the a1 rook for the attack. } bxc3 14. bxc3 Qb2 15. e5 Bc7 16. exf6 Bxf4 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Bh6 { At this point I considered the game an easy win, but the silicon beast finds counterplay. } 19. Rf2 Qxa1 20. Qh5 Rb8 21. Rf1 Be3+ 22. Kh1 h6 23. Qg4+ Bg5 24. h4 Qxa2! { Now is a critical moment. The black queen threatens to come to c2 and g6. } 25. Be4!! { I don't remember ever doing a sac like this. The whole point is, that the pawn will block queen from protecting g6. } dxe4 26. hxg5 h5 27. Qxh5 Qe2 { And here is the human weakness. I forgot, that when a mate is coming, the silicon will sacrifice anything to prolong the game. I simply thought, that it had found a refutation, and quickly tried the last chance of a blockade. } 28. Rf3?? Rxb1+ 29. Kh2 exf3 0-1 [/pgn]

This was a really fun and aggressive game for me (black).

[pgn][Event "Casual game"] [Site "http://lichess.org/oppjliks"] [Date "2012-06-25"] [White "Darwhynss"] [Black "boredjesse"] [WhiteElo "1200"] [BlackElo "1145"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "46"] [Variant "standard"]

1. e4 e5 2. Qg4 Nc6 3. Qg3 Bc5 4. Qxg7 Bxf2+ 5. Kxf2 Qh4+ 6. Ke2 Qxe4+ 7. Kd1 Nd4 8. d3 Qg6 9. Qxh8 Qg4+ 10. Kd2 d5 11. Qxh7 Bf5 12. Be2 Qf4+ 13. Kd1 Qf2 14. Qxg8+ Ke7 15. Qxa8 Bg4 16. Bxg4 Qf1+ 17. Kd2 Qf2+ 18. Kc3 Qxc2+ 19. Kb4 c5+ 20. Ka5 Nc6+ 21. Kb5 Qxd3+ 22. Kxc5 Qd4+ 23. Kb5 Qb4# 0-1 [/pgn]

> The only drawback for me is there is no Linux client

There is: XBoard works like a charm for ICC.

I don't see the point in paying, though. FICS is just as good (in fact, I can hardly tell the difference), and free. For web-based solutions, lichess is by far the best I have seen. The only downside is a little too few players.

First game I was black. On turn 15 I thought for a very long time - I was considering a future queen sac. I saw a few potential problems, but was somewhat confident I could draw, if not checkmate. To my dismay he refused the pawn on turn 18, and on turn 20 he made the move I was concerned about, which I could not recover from.

http://lichess.org/analyse/n6wupxxr/black

Second game - despite not making any obvious mistakes, black (yinzhen) ended up in a lot of trouble. We spent a fair bit of time analyzing this game together afterwards.

http://lichess.org/analyse/arjwr7z7

I don't think there's anything quite like Lichess.

For a quick "Play with a friend" option you could try Dave Peck's Go which is turn-based (via email) and uses a web interface.