12 ms·

A Beginner's Garden of Chess Openings (2002)

304 points by elgfare 6y ago

sleepysysadmin 6y ago
I'm finding openings matter less and less. If I'm white, I'm going E4 but otherwise I'm reacting to my opponent's move until I can gain the initiative.
- millstone 6y ago
  Would you mind sharing your rating and what time controls you play? I am 1930 on lichess blitz (so probably ~1700 FIDE). If I guide the game into lines I know well, I can get both a positional and time advantage since my opponent has to think longer.
  - sleepysysadmin 6y ago
    >Would you mind sharing your rating and what time controls you play? I have never held a rating, recently played against an NM and got completely crushed. Rapid most of the time. Though I prefer increment and something like 5+5 is fun. >I am 1930 on lichess blitz (so probably ~1700 FIDE). If I guide the game into lines I know well, I can get both a positional and time advantage since my opponent has to think longer. Early on with chess I memorized a couple openings. I knew all sidelines of Ruy Lopez, queens gambit, and sicilian. My problem was that when my memory fails me or right about the time I land outside this memorization. That's when I fell apart. I switched it up and I played only fischer random for quite some time, the goal was to have to figure it out. I became much more principled. So I obey opening principles 90% of the time but the goal is to be constantly adding pressure as opposed to 'if he plays X I have to play Y' This way I don't have to remember anything. It's ideal.
danaur 6y ago
I'll call out for beginners at chess, there is no need to learn openings in order to improve at low level. Focus on just playing games and tactics (chesscom paid or lichess free). These things will get you to a level where you can start to parse the difference between openings.
dandersh 6y ago
"White can start by moving his King's pawn 2 spaces, i.e. playing "e4". This move has many strengths - it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the Queen and a Bishop). This is a popular first move, leaving Black with two options" I don't remember much from my chess obsessed youth, but going e4 and moving the bishop/queen into position for a 4 move checkmate will always remain. When I subbed middle school years ago it was my go to whenever playing students. Oh man the reactions I'd get when it worked, lol. I've been meaning to get back into chess more seriously, this looks like a helpful guide.
- unkulunkulu 6y ago
  If you can get your hands on Chessmaster X for windows with Josh Waitzkin, I highly recommend it, a strong all around introduction to chess with interesting interactive stories of real games by him as well as chess greats
metroholografix 6y ago
Below 1700 or so, openings are mostly a waste of time and tactics rule the day. Learning the basic opening principles and two basic opening moves that you keep playing (one for white, one for black) and focusing on tactics [1][2] is in my experience the fastest way to advance. After 1700 or so, specific openings can be studied. I suggest playing d4 instead of e4 as white (avoids dealing with the Sicilian) and as black the French defense (for e4) and the KID (for d4). This is mostly coming from the POV of getting good at the game with a minimum of theory preparation, whilst being able to deploy the same openings in blitz and bullet games if need be. Another bonus of getting strong at tactics, is that you'll be able to see and appreciate ideas behind the openings and your game analysis will also improve. There are excellent GM analysis videos on Youtube that one can start extracting value from too. [1] https://www.chesstactics.org https://www.chesstactics.org [2] https://chesstempo.com/ https://chesstempo.com/
- eachro 6y ago
  how does one study tactics?
  - kwertyops 6y ago
    Tactics trainers: https://lichess.org/training/ https://lichess.org/training/ https://chesstempo.com/chess-tactics/ https://chesstempo.com/chess-tactics/ https://www.chess.com/puzzles https://www.chess.com/puzzles
    - cactus2093 6y ago
      I'm curious if anyone has advice on how to interpret the ratings in the tactics trainers. Should they map roughly to your in-game rating? I'm pretty new to chess and still pretty bad (just under 1000 online, I make a lot of blunders and/or fall for opponents' tactics) but my rating is 1750 on the tactics trainer. I would imagine at some point the tactics are not the bottleneck and I should be working on something else instead (openings, endgames, or studying mid-game strategy?) but just wondering where that point is.
neonate 6y ago
https://archive.is/3He5V https://archive.is/3He5V https://web.archive.org/web/20200916032946/https://dwheeler.com/chess-openings/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200916032946/https://dwheeler....
lcuff 6y ago
My advice to beginners is to not stick with one opening, but to play them all. Include wild openings like the Kings Gambit and Danish Gambit, as well as strategic openings like the Queen's Gambit. You will be out of 'the book' very quickly, and that's actually good. You'll be learning to play, rather than recall. Another piece of advice: Study endgames before openings. Learn about K + P vs K, the elementary mates, (K + 2B vs K, and K + N + B vs K). Then keep going. I have had to 'finish off' opponents in tournament conditions with these combinations of pieces. Lastly: Best chess book ever: Winning Chess by Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev. Of the dozens of chess books I've owned, this one is head and shoulders above the rest. All about middle game tactics, and mating patterns.
- antognini 6y ago
  > Study endgames before openings. Growing up we had a copy of The Art of Chess by James Mason. The book starts out with the endgame, goes into the midgame, and ends with openings. The philosophy was that if you don't understand how to play when there are four pieces on the board, how will you be able to play when there are 32?
  - banachtarski 6y ago
    I grew up playing chess competitively and used to make this argument all the time. Since then however, I've relaxed my stance. In reality, endgame theory is in some sense, far more complicated than many opening systems, because their are so many degrees of freedom. Yes there are 32 pieces at the start of the game, but prior to development and initial piece placement, there are usually far fewer candidate moves. I think it's a good idea for a beginner to learn at least a few opening systems after getting the "gist" of the endgame like king opposition and opposite color bishops etc.
  - watwut 6y ago
    The trouble with that order is that you dont get to actually play the game and dont get to have any fun for months. Which means you will stop playing chess entirely. And I mean, I started to play late and I am not good, but the "if you don't understand how to play when there are four pieces on the board, how will you be able to play when there are 32" does not really check out. The two are just different.
pmoriarty 6y ago
After a lifetime of chess, I've more recently become a fan of Fischer random chess (aka Chess960)[1], where the back rows of pieces are shuffled before the game begins. It puts puts people on a more equal footing in terms of their actual chess playing skills instead of their opening memorization abilities. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess
- jedberg 6y ago
  I was coming here to say the same thing. I'm in no way a good chess player by any means, but the equalization of Fischer chess appeals to me. I'm not going to lose because I didn't memorize as many openings, I'm going to lose because I suck.
  - Judgmentality 6y ago
    > I'm going to lose because I suck. I find this strangely motivational. I guess I'm a sucker for fairness.
- dwheeler 6y ago
  I'm the article of the referenced article on chess openings. I'm also one of the authors of the Wikipedia article on Chess960 (Fischer Random Chess); you can see the information I wrote about it here: https://dwheeler.com/essays/Fischer_Random_Chess.html https://dwheeler.com/essays/Fischer_Random_Chess.html I think Chess960 is fun! But many people want to play "traditional chess", not Chess960. Also, knowing a little about traditional chess openings also helps when you're playing Chess960. Memorizing a long list of opening moves isn't helpful, but seeing examples of good openings is helpful even when the starting position is different.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jacobsenscott 6y ago
  I prefer chess 960 for the same reason. I love playing chess, but really I hate studying openings. All the opening principles (control the center, activate your pieces, etc) apply in chess 960, but you need to think about applying them rather than doing them by rote. This has actually done a lot to improve my traditional chess play. I've gone from terrible to mediocre.
ch33zer 6y ago
I find it amazing that a game that's so old doesn't have a dominating opening. I see no reason for that to be the case. Maybe it's just a matter of us not having the computational power to find such an opening and analyze it's continuations to completion. I know that there's a huge number of reachable chess states, but it still seems like there could be an opening that always wins.
- ghaff 6y ago
  The consensus is that white is only guaranteed a draw if it plays perfectly. [1] But that's neither proven or a universal opinion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess
- bluGill 6y ago
  Chess is not solved, unlike some other games. There may well be a best opening for each player which ensures some result no matter what your opponent plays. However nobody knows it (including all the wrong variations your opponent can play), so it doesn't matter.
- jcranmer 6y ago
  In actual game databases, the first moves of e4, d4 are each played more frequently than all other openings combined, and even of the remainder, Nf3 and c4 strongly dominate the rest. Those four first moves cover about 99% of all games. If you look at black's responses, 1. e4 c5 and 1. e4 e5 dominate, with 1. e4 e6 being the next most popular option, while 1. d4 Nf6 strongly dominates that opening move for white (with 1. d4 d5 the next most popular option). So, from the perspective of the first move (on each side), given that you can describe almost all games with up to 4 moves out of a possible 20 suggests that there actually is a dominating opening, albeit one a single-move long.
- rgossiaux 6y ago
  Chess is a very rich and pretty well-balanced game--that's what makes it so rewarding to study and to play. Even amongst modern computers that are miles ahead of the best humans, there's nowhere close to a single dominating opening or set of openings. On the human level, there is already far more computer opening theory than most players (including very serious, titled players) are capable of memorizing, so things haven't gotten stale yet.
saucymew 6y ago
If you're looking for an opening book, I recommend FCO Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul van der Sterren for any beginners/under 2000. FCO is well written with many diagrams (sorry I hate reading move lists), and captures the amateur/pro metas as openings came and went out of favor through the years. Also, all the cool kids play 960 now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess
postingpals 6y ago
I'm gonna go against what others are saying here... learn openings if you're a low rated player. They not only give you tactics against players who don't prepare against them, but you also never have to feel lost in the first 12 or so moves. You can just study 1 or 2 lines for a start, it's really not hard especially with computers.
- dwheeler 6y ago
  I'm the author of the referenced article. I agree, even low-rated players should learn at least a few moves of a few openings. I think trying to learn 12 moves is too much for a beginning player, but knowing a few moves is helpful because it helps you avoid some easy blunders.
paloaltokid 6y ago
When I was starting to learn chess I liked the London System. It was easy to memorize and helped me get a footing in how to think about chess.
zcesur 6y ago
While I agree with others here in that studying tactics and endgames is a better use of your time if you want to step up your game, you can still improve your opening without actively studying it. I remember when I was starting out I used to watch a lot of Jonathan Schrantz videos out of sheer interest and I ended up picking up quite a lot of ideas and principles all the while having fun. So definitely check out some [1] of his Saint Louis Chess Club lectures! He also has his own YouTube (as well as Twitch) channel [2] where he mostly goofs around and beats not only strong players but also chess engines with incredibly dubious openings. On a different note, in case anyone finds it helpful, here's a CLI tool [3] I wrote last week which you can use to build opening repertoires. The intended use case is to 1) download the games of a chess player from a website like openingtree.com, 2) run the tool on the fetched PGN file to generate an opening repertoire, and 3) import the output into a study tool like lichess or chessable. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUuueHFfFs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUuueHFfFs [2]: https://www.youtube.com/c/JonathanSchrantz https://www.youtube.com/c/JonathanSchrantz [3]: https://github.com/zcesur/opening-repertoire https://github.com/zcesur/opening-repertoire
uberdru 6y ago
I will never forgive Netflix for letting the Scholar's Mate out of the bag. You should learn that from a parent, aunt, or uncle. It is an initiation.
- nrs26 6y ago
  I agree! How did Netflix do this? Was this in Queen's Gambit?
  - superhuzza 6y ago
    Yes, in this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2eQDS6rC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2eQDS6rC0
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  In 2020, Netflix is your uncle.
- nijaru 6y ago
  I remember the first day of chess club in elementary school another kid played this against me. I hadn't seen it before playing with friends or family, so I failed to counter it. It's been years, but I always remember it. Thankfully it has never gotten me since!
- zacharycohn 6y ago
  I learned about it at my first, and only, tournament game.
- makeset 6y ago
  I wrote a simple chess AI for fun before I had really played much chess beyond knowing the rules, and the AI pulled it on me in one of the earlier test runs. I remember feeling stupid and proud at the same time.
hertzrat 6y ago
Has anyone dabbled in Fischer’s chess 960? The idea was to semi-randomize the starting position each game to prevent players needing to memorize a huge body of openers. Kasparov’s response iirc was “...let’s not pretend that research is not an important part of the game”
- dwheeler 6y ago
  I have played it, and Chess960 is fun. I do not think that Chess960 helps humans against computers. 960 possibilities is just too small an amount of randomness. Besides, computers now have substantial advantages against humans in anything where full knowledge is available. But if the point of a game is to have fun, then Chess960 meets the criterion. Try it out!
nonsapreiche 6y ago
just to remember: https://lichess.org/team/hacker-news https://lichess.org/team/hacker-news
rafaelvasco 6y ago
Out of curiosity, what would be the final rating of the the Beth Harmon character from Queen's Gambit ?
- modernerd 6y ago
  The author of the book of the same name says he based her character loosely on Bobby Fischer. Vasily Borgiv is clearly inspired by Boris Spassky, a contemporary of Fischer’s who lost to him in the 1972 World Cup. Spassky had a peak rating of 2690 and Fischer’s was 2785, which puts him about 19th in the world today: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_top_chess_players_throughout_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_top_chess_play...
- lazyant 6y ago
  chess.com has a computer persona with her at different ages, ranked: - 800 at 10 years old - 1200 at 9, - 1600 at 10, - 1880 at 15, - 2400 at 17, - 2500 at 20 and - 2700 at 22

304 points by elgfare 6y ago

I'm finding openings matter less and less. If I'm white, I'm going E4 but otherwise I'm reacting to my opponent's move until I can gain the initiative.

millstone 6y ago
Would you mind sharing your rating and what time controls you play? I am 1930 on lichess blitz (so probably ~1700 FIDE). If I guide the game into lines I know well, I can get both a positional and time advantage since my opponent has to think longer.
- sleepysysadmin 6y ago
  >Would you mind sharing your rating and what time controls you play? I have never held a rating, recently played against an NM and got completely crushed. Rapid most of the time. Though I prefer increment and something like 5+5 is fun. >I am 1930 on lichess blitz (so probably ~1700 FIDE). If I guide the game into lines I know well, I can get both a positional and time advantage since my opponent has to think longer. Early on with chess I memorized a couple openings. I knew all sidelines of Ruy Lopez, queens gambit, and sicilian. My problem was that when my memory fails me or right about the time I land outside this memorization. That's when I fell apart. I switched it up and I played only fischer random for quite some time, the goal was to have to figure it out. I became much more principled. So I obey opening principles 90% of the time but the goal is to be constantly adding pressure as opposed to 'if he plays X I have to play Y' This way I don't have to remember anything. It's ideal.

danaur 6y ago

I'll call out for beginners at chess, there is no need to learn openings in order to improve at low level. Focus on just playing games and tactics (chesscom paid or lichess free). These things will get you to a level where you can start to parse the difference between openings.

dandersh 6y ago

"White can start by moving his King's pawn 2 spaces, i.e. playing "e4". This move has many strengths - it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the Queen and a Bishop). This is a popular first move, leaving Black with two options" I don't remember much from my chess obsessed youth, but going e4 and moving the bishop/queen into position for a 4 move checkmate will always remain. When I subbed middle school years ago it was my go to whenever playing students. Oh man the reactions I'd get when it worked, lol. I've been meaning to get back into chess more seriously, this looks like a helpful guide.

unkulunkulu 6y ago
If you can get your hands on Chessmaster X for windows with Josh Waitzkin, I highly recommend it, a strong all around introduction to chess with interesting interactive stories of real games by him as well as chess greats

metroholografix 6y ago

Below 1700 or so, openings are mostly a waste of time and tactics rule the day. Learning the basic opening principles and two basic opening moves that you keep playing (one for white, one for black) and focusing on tactics [1][2] is in my experience the fastest way to advance. After 1700 or so, specific openings can be studied. I suggest playing d4 instead of e4 as white (avoids dealing with the Sicilian) and as black the French defense (for e4) and the KID (for d4). This is mostly coming from the POV of getting good at the game with a minimum of theory preparation, whilst being able to deploy the same openings in blitz and bullet games if need be. Another bonus of getting strong at tactics, is that you'll be able to see and appreciate ideas behind the openings and your game analysis will also improve. There are excellent GM analysis videos on Youtube that one can start extracting value from too. [1] https://www.chesstactics.org https://www.chesstactics.org [2] https://chesstempo.com/ https://chesstempo.com/

eachro 6y ago
how does one study tactics?
- kwertyops 6y ago
  Tactics trainers: https://lichess.org/training/ https://lichess.org/training/ https://chesstempo.com/chess-tactics/ https://chesstempo.com/chess-tactics/ https://www.chess.com/puzzles https://www.chess.com/puzzles
  - cactus2093 6y ago
    I'm curious if anyone has advice on how to interpret the ratings in the tactics trainers. Should they map roughly to your in-game rating? I'm pretty new to chess and still pretty bad (just under 1000 online, I make a lot of blunders and/or fall for opponents' tactics) but my rating is 1750 on the tactics trainer. I would imagine at some point the tactics are not the bottleneck and I should be working on something else instead (openings, endgames, or studying mid-game strategy?) but just wondering where that point is.

neonate 6y ago

https://archive.is/3He5V https://archive.is/3He5V https://web.archive.org/web/20200916032946/https://dwheeler.com/chess-openings/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200916032946/https://dwheeler....

lcuff 6y ago

My advice to beginners is to not stick with one opening, but to play them all. Include wild openings like the Kings Gambit and Danish Gambit, as well as strategic openings like the Queen's Gambit. You will be out of 'the book' very quickly, and that's actually good. You'll be learning to play, rather than recall. Another piece of advice: Study endgames before openings. Learn about K + P vs K, the elementary mates, (K + 2B vs K, and K + N + B vs K). Then keep going. I have had to 'finish off' opponents in tournament conditions with these combinations of pieces. Lastly: Best chess book ever: Winning Chess by Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev. Of the dozens of chess books I've owned, this one is head and shoulders above the rest. All about middle game tactics, and mating patterns.

antognini 6y ago
> Study endgames before openings. Growing up we had a copy of The Art of Chess by James Mason. The book starts out with the endgame, goes into the midgame, and ends with openings. The philosophy was that if you don't understand how to play when there are four pieces on the board, how will you be able to play when there are 32?
- banachtarski 6y ago
  I grew up playing chess competitively and used to make this argument all the time. Since then however, I've relaxed my stance. In reality, endgame theory is in some sense, far more complicated than many opening systems, because their are so many degrees of freedom. Yes there are 32 pieces at the start of the game, but prior to development and initial piece placement, there are usually far fewer candidate moves. I think it's a good idea for a beginner to learn at least a few opening systems after getting the "gist" of the endgame like king opposition and opposite color bishops etc.
- watwut 6y ago
  The trouble with that order is that you dont get to actually play the game and dont get to have any fun for months. Which means you will stop playing chess entirely. And I mean, I started to play late and I am not good, but the "if you don't understand how to play when there are four pieces on the board, how will you be able to play when there are 32" does not really check out. The two are just different.

pmoriarty 6y ago

After a lifetime of chess, I've more recently become a fan of Fischer random chess (aka Chess960)[1], where the back rows of pieces are shuffled before the game begins. It puts puts people on a more equal footing in terms of their actual chess playing skills instead of their opening memorization abilities. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess

jedberg 6y ago
I was coming here to say the same thing. I'm in no way a good chess player by any means, but the equalization of Fischer chess appeals to me. I'm not going to lose because I didn't memorize as many openings, I'm going to lose because I suck.
- Judgmentality 6y ago
  > I'm going to lose because I suck. I find this strangely motivational. I guess I'm a sucker for fairness.
dwheeler 6y ago
I'm the article of the referenced article on chess openings. I'm also one of the authors of the Wikipedia article on Chess960 (Fischer Random Chess); you can see the information I wrote about it here: https://dwheeler.com/essays/Fischer_Random_Chess.html https://dwheeler.com/essays/Fischer_Random_Chess.html I think Chess960 is fun! But many people want to play "traditional chess", not Chess960. Also, knowing a little about traditional chess openings also helps when you're playing Chess960. Memorizing a long list of opening moves isn't helpful, but seeing examples of good openings is helpful even when the starting position is different.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jacobsenscott 6y ago
I prefer chess 960 for the same reason. I love playing chess, but really I hate studying openings. All the opening principles (control the center, activate your pieces, etc) apply in chess 960, but you need to think about applying them rather than doing them by rote. This has actually done a lot to improve my traditional chess play. I've gone from terrible to mediocre.

ch33zer 6y ago

I find it amazing that a game that's so old doesn't have a dominating opening. I see no reason for that to be the case. Maybe it's just a matter of us not having the computational power to find such an opening and analyze it's continuations to completion. I know that there's a huge number of reachable chess states, but it still seems like there could be an opening that always wins.

ghaff 6y ago
The consensus is that white is only guaranteed a draw if it plays perfectly. [1] But that's neither proven or a universal opinion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess
bluGill 6y ago
Chess is not solved, unlike some other games. There may well be a best opening for each player which ensures some result no matter what your opponent plays. However nobody knows it (including all the wrong variations your opponent can play), so it doesn't matter.
jcranmer 6y ago
In actual game databases, the first moves of e4, d4 are each played more frequently than all other openings combined, and even of the remainder, Nf3 and c4 strongly dominate the rest. Those four first moves cover about 99% of all games. If you look at black's responses, 1. e4 c5 and 1. e4 e5 dominate, with 1. e4 e6 being the next most popular option, while 1. d4 Nf6 strongly dominates that opening move for white (with 1. d4 d5 the next most popular option). So, from the perspective of the first move (on each side), given that you can describe almost all games with up to 4 moves out of a possible 20 suggests that there actually is a dominating opening, albeit one a single-move long.
rgossiaux 6y ago
Chess is a very rich and pretty well-balanced game--that's what makes it so rewarding to study and to play. Even amongst modern computers that are miles ahead of the best humans, there's nowhere close to a single dominating opening or set of openings. On the human level, there is already far more computer opening theory than most players (including very serious, titled players) are capable of memorizing, so things haven't gotten stale yet.

saucymew 6y ago

If you're looking for an opening book, I recommend FCO Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul van der Sterren for any beginners/under 2000. FCO is well written with many diagrams (sorry I hate reading move lists), and captures the amateur/pro metas as openings came and went out of favor through the years. Also, all the cool kids play 960 now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess

postingpals 6y ago

I'm gonna go against what others are saying here... learn openings if you're a low rated player. They not only give you tactics against players who don't prepare against them, but you also never have to feel lost in the first 12 or so moves. You can just study 1 or 2 lines for a start, it's really not hard especially with computers.

dwheeler 6y ago
I'm the author of the referenced article. I agree, even low-rated players should learn at least a few moves of a few openings. I think trying to learn 12 moves is too much for a beginning player, but knowing a few moves is helpful because it helps you avoid some easy blunders.

paloaltokid 6y ago

When I was starting to learn chess I liked the London System. It was easy to memorize and helped me get a footing in how to think about chess.

zcesur 6y ago

While I agree with others here in that studying tactics and endgames is a better use of your time if you want to step up your game, you can still improve your opening without actively studying it. I remember when I was starting out I used to watch a lot of Jonathan Schrantz videos out of sheer interest and I ended up picking up quite a lot of ideas and principles all the while having fun. So definitely check out some [1] of his Saint Louis Chess Club lectures! He also has his own YouTube (as well as Twitch) channel [2] where he mostly goofs around and beats not only strong players but also chess engines with incredibly dubious openings. On a different note, in case anyone finds it helpful, here's a CLI tool [3] I wrote last week which you can use to build opening repertoires. The intended use case is to 1) download the games of a chess player from a website like openingtree.com, 2) run the tool on the fetched PGN file to generate an opening repertoire, and 3) import the output into a study tool like lichess or chessable. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUuueHFfFs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxUuueHFfFs [2]: https://www.youtube.com/c/JonathanSchrantz https://www.youtube.com/c/JonathanSchrantz [3]: https://github.com/zcesur/opening-repertoire https://github.com/zcesur/opening-repertoire

uberdru 6y ago

I will never forgive Netflix for letting the Scholar's Mate out of the bag. You should learn that from a parent, aunt, or uncle. It is an initiation.

nrs26 6y ago
I agree! How did Netflix do this? Was this in Queen's Gambit?
- superhuzza 6y ago
  Yes, in this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2eQDS6rC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2eQDS6rC0
BurningFrog 6y ago
In 2020, Netflix is your uncle.
nijaru 6y ago
I remember the first day of chess club in elementary school another kid played this against me. I hadn't seen it before playing with friends or family, so I failed to counter it. It's been years, but I always remember it. Thankfully it has never gotten me since!
zacharycohn 6y ago
I learned about it at my first, and only, tournament game.
makeset 6y ago
I wrote a simple chess AI for fun before I had really played much chess beyond knowing the rules, and the AI pulled it on me in one of the earlier test runs. I remember feeling stupid and proud at the same time.

hertzrat 6y ago

Has anyone dabbled in Fischer’s chess 960? The idea was to semi-randomize the starting position each game to prevent players needing to memorize a huge body of openers. Kasparov’s response iirc was “...let’s not pretend that research is not an important part of the game”

dwheeler 6y ago
I have played it, and Chess960 is fun. I do not think that Chess960 helps humans against computers. 960 possibilities is just too small an amount of randomness. Besides, computers now have substantial advantages against humans in anything where full knowledge is available. But if the point of a game is to have fun, then Chess960 meets the criterion. Try it out!

nonsapreiche 6y ago

just to remember: https://lichess.org/team/hacker-news https://lichess.org/team/hacker-news

rafaelvasco 6y ago

Out of curiosity, what would be the final rating of the the Beth Harmon character from Queen's Gambit ?

modernerd 6y ago
The author of the book of the same name says he based her character loosely on Bobby Fischer. Vasily Borgiv is clearly inspired by Boris Spassky, a contemporary of Fischer’s who lost to him in the 1972 World Cup. Spassky had a peak rating of 2690 and Fischer’s was 2785, which puts him about 19th in the world today: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_top_chess_players_throughout_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_top_chess_play...
lazyant 6y ago
chess.com has a computer persona with her at different ages, ranked: - 800 at 10 years old - 1200 at 9, - 1600 at 10, - 1880 at 15, - 2400 at 17, - 2500 at 20 and - 2700 at 22