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By Agent Steel
#14959048
I have been a member of chess.com for a very long time now, since maybe 2009? Damn.

I rarely play serious full-length games anymore, due to laziness. I used to study quite a bit and I only ever played standard games, achieving a maximum rating of around 1700.

Anyways lately I've been destroying the Tactics Trainer, boosting my ratings over 200 points in just the last week. Suddenly I'm just finding it much easier and I'm proud to announce my rating as it stands now - 2142.

I checked the database and out of the 800,000+ players, I am ranked among the top 10,000 players. This puts me at a rating that is better than 99% of all the other players. I feel pretty good about this :)

Who else is a member of chess.com? There has to be others. Maybe we could arrange some games or tournaments, let's see who the best player on POFO is.
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By One Degree
#14961559
I played many years ago, but never got involved more than basic amateur stuff of planning a few moves ahead.
By pugsville
#14961594
I used to play, semi serious but it's hard unforgiving game. Played enough to know the real work involved in taking it seriously> Melbourne a small town in chess terms, it had great feel before the internet ruined chess clubs, and I always hated playing either on or with computers. It's the feel on the pieces, the trash talk, the camaraderie. I struggled with the tournament game, patience ,the long game. Basically don;t play now, a barbeque the odd social player, ut it's unsatisfying as I know how flawed my game is now, how rusty and not at all sharp you get from playing a lot and seriously.

Love the Lativian. Never a dull game. Any decent game involves sacrifice, calculation is for computers and others who don't actually play the game, the End Game is failure, you don't mate in the middle game you were taking it on, draws are dishonorable. There is only attack, material does not count, only active material.

Yeah unrealistic romantic he got pounded the real players. rather play beautiful and lose.
'
By pugsville
#14961595
One Degree wrote:I played many years ago, but never got involved more than basic amateur stuff of planning a few moves ahead.


Planning? Planning? looking ahead? What are you mad?

It's always more import to look around than look ahead.

There is no worse fate in chess than to have a Plan. Once you have a plan things can go wrong.
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By One Degree
#14961598
pugsville wrote:Planning? Planning? looking ahead? What are you mad?

It's always more import to look around than look ahead.

There is no worse fate in chess than to have a Plan. Once you have a plan things can go wrong.


I said I am an amateur. What is the purpose of looking around if you don’t use the information to plan possible moves? I would plan 2 or 3 possible attacks based upon which pieces they might move next.
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By Hindsite
#14961615
I am a former USCF member with highest over-the-board rating of 1817. I earned that rating after finishing in a 3-way tie for first in the under 1600 division at the Philadelphia World Open in 1982. At that time the USCF was giving 100 bonus rating points to the winners. I didn't have time to play after that until after I started drawing Social Security retirement.

I rejoined the USCF and played at a couple of chess clubs that mostly played fast games in an attempt to get rid of the rust for not playing for so long. After returning to OTB chess from a 30 year break my regular rating is now 1547 from 38 games. However I did defeat a 1900+ player on my way down playing the longer time controls of G/90, d/5.
http://www.columbiachess.org/2012_02_01_archive.html
http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12144700


My wife is handicapped and I don't feel comfortable leaving her for long and the closest chess club is one and a half hour away. So I haven't played OTB chess since JUN 2013.

I now just play on-line. I do have an account with Chess.com, but only played 1 or 2 fast games there a year or two ago. I mostly play slow games on Redhotpawn.com and Gameknot.com. at the present time, because i need more time to think.
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By Ter
#14961617
I used to play for awhile in a club in Europe.
Otherwise just social chess.
But I hated losing so I mostly avoided playing.

Korchnoy visited our club and played a simultaneous game against our strongest players. He beat all of them except for one or two draws and one loss.

My young son has started playing, both against people and against the computer. I have been challenged already.
By pugsville
#14961709
One Degree wrote:I said I am an amateur. What is the purpose of looking around if you don’t use the information to plan possible moves? I would plan 2 or 3 possible attacks based upon which pieces they might move next.


It's quote from one of my favorite GMs, there's tendency to focus narrow rather than wide.

I advocate sort zen-planning, situational-ism, I try to avoid planning.
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By One Degree
#14961725
pugsville wrote:It's quote from one of my favorite GMs, there's tendency to focus narrow rather than wide.

I advocate sort zen-planning, situational-ism, I try to avoid planning.


Ah, I think I understand.
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By Godstud
#14961734
Chess is for nerds.

:p
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By Heisenberg
#14962053
I love chess, but I'm not very good. I have a tendency to make unintentional Tal-like sacrifices (also known as "stupid blunders") :p

I'd be happy to play other PoFoers (ideally slow chess, since I don't often have time to sit down and play live) but you'd probably all thrash me. :lol:
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By Hindsite
#14965378
The World Chess Championship is going on.
You can check out the games on Chess.com.
By Agent Steel
#14965842
Ugh...sorry but world championship chess these days is BOOOORING. Every game is a draw.

The most exciting thing going on in the chess world right now is Google DeepMind Alpha, an A.I. program which is playing in the style of the old school grandmasters and completely dominating the world's top chess engines.

I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced that the chess games are legit though...I think there might be a conspiracy and some of the moves are set up. I use Stockfish myself and after checking back through the games myself I saw some bad moves that I know Stockfish wouldn't play. Add to that the fact that google is not allowing anyone on the outside to examine or download their program...makes me wonder if they're not telling the truth.
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By Hindsite
#14966145
Agent Steel wrote:Ugh...sorry but world championship chess these days is BOOOORING. Every game is a draw.

There are many draws in World Championship Chess because the best chess players in the world are playing. But in the end at least one game will not be a draw.
HalleluYah

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