English Chess Forum

Are they really issuing bans on the evidence of just two games? The theory behind the mathematical statistics used to infer outside assistance from quality of play requires a reasonable amount of evidence to eliminate the alternative hypothesis that the engine matching is down to luck, skill or bot...

It would be helpful to know why, after receiving Sr Palomar's appeal and rejecting it in the rather haughty manner Justin Horton quoted, Lichess in the end caved in and restored his account. Is there a further stage beyond an appeal? It seems that some pieces of the jig-saw are missing. Yes, good p...

If you have Q vs 3 minor pieces, I guess you're talking about exchanging rooks then?
It'll depend on the position really, no general rule can be applied. In fact, that's nearly always the case...

er... if 4 rooks are on the board, how can you have Rook + Bishop + Pawn for the Queen? Normally, we don't play to avoid accidents. You kind of have a sixth sense on what is the right move and have worked out a strategy, so fears don't play a role in decision making. At least not very often. If fear...

Apart from Taulbut's book, here are some more: "Exchanging to win the endgame" + "Tactical chess exchanging", by Nesis (he's obvious done a lot of thinking on the subject!). "The art of exchanges" by Greek GM Grivas. "The power of exchange" (A DVD by GM Mikhalchishin). It is often said that in order...

Hi Nick,
Since this thread is about that QGD move, I think we should focus on that, but I'll be more than happy to give you my opinion on the general ideas about swapping pieces and that Hames Howell game if you start a new thread on that topic.

What?? "your" idea? do you claim you invented it? I thought you simply subscribed it. A human being has around 10.000 (some sources claim that it could be more than 50.000) thoughts a day. I don't tag people just because one of their opinions about a given topic is the complete opposite of mine. A c...

Just returned from my Crhistmas holidays and saw the new replies to this thread. Hi Ian! :wink: Although I did defend my ideas vehemently, at no point was I desrespectful towards anyone. There's a huge difference between "attacking" an idea and being desrespectful towards someone. Keith is a respect...

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "*"] [PlyCount "12"] 1. d4 Nf6 (1... c5 2. d5 Nf6 (2... e5 3. e4 d6 4. Bb5+ $5 Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Nxd7 6. Nc3 g6 {Playable, but White's got more space and a good Bishop. c4 could be available for the KS Knight.}) (2......

I don't think there's much of a difference. If your pieces are harmoniously placed, they're more likely to be able to cooperate, that's all.

https://i.postimg.cc/Gh5RMZKx/collageimgur.png Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj6Z4_3ft1u5Smyw0MQz_c0zM7Ci_fsDY I've just released a completely free chess course for beginners on youtube. 31 chapters, more than 200 minutes of video lectures. The course is also available at Udemy (free...

Wow! Understanding sound positional fundamentals is the new dogmatism and doing the opposite of what perfectly sound positional fundamentals say and that even world champions follow is the way to go?? I think I have provided both sound arguments and evidence from real games by top GMs on the points ...

I see that you avoid replying to the point about the positional fundamentals and the issue with results. Capablanca understood the minority attack pretty well, but he never faced really strong opposition when he played the exchange variation. In fact, I can't quite recall him playing it against worl...

"A recent interpretation". It might indeed be recent, but hardly a successful one if we are to judge by a) the most elementary positional fundamentals of those positions. b) results. A new interpretation of Black's "bad bishop" in the French defence is not gonna make it any better! "It's important t...

More facts: GM Mathew Sadler. Found 3 of his games in the 2018 Mega Database playing Black in the D36 variation. What's odd about these 3 games is that: a) The only game he drew is actually the one where he traded his "good bishop" with ...g6+...Bf5. b) The other 2 games, he decided to keep his "goo...