[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I'm playing black here. Just curious, what is likely to happen if I replicate/copy every white move?

It is not possible in most cases, and not necessarily a good strategy even if possible in a particular situation.

In most cases, it will not be possible either legally (i.e. White made a capture move and you can't capture back because your capturing piece is already captured by White and does not exist anymore; or if White gives you a check), or tactically.

Here is an example from Petroff Defense, where copying is not possible tactically.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 Qe7 So far the copying works (although still not idea for Black). But now...
5. Qxe4

And Black can't copy the move by playing 5. ... Qxe5?? because that would just lose the Queen to 6. Qxe5. And even after that it will not be possible for copy because Black just lost his Queen while White still has his :-)

In most openings, White has a slight advantage and by copying the moves, Black does nothing to gain any initiative. Black almost always plays asymmetrical because that is the only way to equalize the position.

For example, in the above Petroff Defense, the most played move after 3. Nxe5 is 3. ...d6 (and not copying the knight move), and that gives Black much better chances than 3. ... Nxe4.

By the way, coming to your specific game you mentioned, the game could continue like this: 6. c4 c5 (because you insist on copying). 7. cxd5 cxd4 8. Qxd4 Qxd5 (still copying although Nxd5 is better). 9. Nc3

And now you can't copy and play 9 ... Nc6??. That loses! A blunder!

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

It is not possible in most cases, and not necessarily a good strategy even if possible in a particular situation.

Yeah, I was not looking at it as a strategy per se - was just curious to see how the game will proceed if Black copies every move. For academic purposes!

By the way, coming to your specific game you mentioned, the game could continue like this: 6. c4 c5 (because you insist on copying). 7. cxd5 cxd4 8. Qxd4 Qxd5 (still copying although Nxd5 is better). 9. Nc3 And now you can't copy and play 9 ... Nc6??. That loses! A blunder!

Well, I could repeat 8 moves (White:Ne5, Black: Ne4)



But when White took out my knight on c6, I had to "disengage" and take it out with my pawn (bxc6):



If I had NOT disengaged and copied his move with my knight, he could have taken out my pawn on e7 and given a "check". He would have been one pawn up over me had I continued copying his moves.

[highway_star]

Yesterday was International Chess Day, so I thought it would be a good time to revive this thread which has been dormant for a while.

Nowadays there is a ton of material available online to learn chess and for analysis of games which have been played. I am listing some YouTube channels which I enjoy watching.


Agadmator

Currently the most popular chess channel on YouTube. He posts reviews of both recent and historical games.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5...FD8dLIegT5QAbA




Dereque Kelley

Absolutely the best channel for understanding chess openings at a beginner / intermediate level.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa2...h5Gm9gXwg0kCdA




GMBenjaminFinegold

A Grandmaster who should have been a comedian, although his style of comedy may not be everyone's cup of tea.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6E...5q0zeaqI5yobKg




John Bartholomew

The thing I like in this channel is his live streaming games where he plays against weaker players and explains their mistakes. Very instructive for beginners.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6h...79Sl1Fc1vx2mYA




MatoJelic

I like his reviews of historical games in his distinctive style of commentary.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMx...mj2N-faTWLwNig




The Best Of Chess Channel

A newer and lesser known channel focused on reviewing historical games. Very passionate presenter who explains stuff in a simple way for beginners.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLd...R794PsE_hDiWQg



ChessBase India

This is the place to go if you want to know what's happening on the Indian chess scene. Their Facebook page is also good.


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIs...kRHsEgqYAPQHsA




Samay Raina

Stand up comedian who has started streaming chess. There are guest appearances by some famous chess players and also other comedians.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAo...ZJav0c_yHEciAw

[Sutripta]

^^^
You should also include Anna Rudolf as host or presenter. Best looking of the lot by far!

Any interested in
https://www.chess.com/news/view/stoc...ompete-in-cccc

Sutripta

[speed_edge]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Correct!!
In fact, when you said white can promote, it is actually a checkmate. e8=Q#. Thus, this is in fact a forced mate in 6 problem. The complete solution is:

1. Bh6+ Nxh6
2. Qf6+ Kh7

Landed on this thread now, still wondering how to solve this one . Can you please explain why on step 2 king has to move to "Kh7"? Why not Kg8? That can still save the game and black would be high on material.

Regards
SE

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by speed_edge

Can you please explain why on step 2 king has to move to "Kh7"? Why not Kg8? That can still save the game and black would be high on material.

If 2. ... Kg8, then there is even quicker mate, in 5 moves instead of 6.

2. ... Kg8
3. Qg5+

And now Black has only three moves.

A.

3. ... Kf7
4. Qg6#

B.

3. ... Kh7
4. Rxh6#

C.

3. ... Qg6
4. e8=Q+ Kh7/g7
5. Qgxg6#

Thus, there is a overall quicker mate if 2. Kg8 instead of 2. Kh7.

[SmartCat]

Look what I found on Netflix India -



Queen's Gambit is an original Netflix series, with 100% FRESH rating on Rottentomatoes
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/th...s_gambit/95809

From wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Qu...t_(miniseries))

The Queen's Gambit is a fictional story that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy named Beth Harmon from the age of eight to twenty-two during her quest to become the world's greatest chess player while struggling with emotional issues and with drug and alcohol dependency. The story begins in the mid-1950s and proceeds into the 1960s.

[Dr.AD]

This thread has become dormant for a while. Let me try to revive this with one simple but nice puzzle that I saw on Instagram today.


White to play and win.

The link where I saw this is here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKlqkX7h...id=ec58akhzct7

However, the link contains the solution (Spoiler Alert!). Therefore, please try to solve it looking at the above diagram first before opening the link.

[rdst_1]

Are any of you guys watching the live coverage of Tata Steel Masters on Youtube. There are multiple channels covering it, but I love the coverage of Chess24 by Peter Leko and others.
I am not a Chess player. Just got introduced to it through Samay Raina's lockdown antics and now really enjoy watching it as a sport. Watched a lot of live streams by Vidit Gujarati, Anish Giri and Teimour Radjabov (that guy is just an awesome human being) during the lockdown as well as live coverage of International Olympiad by Samay and Chessbase, which India won jointly with Russia (due to internet issues).

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by rdst_1

Are any of you guys watching the live coverage of Tata Steel Masters on Youtube. There are multiple channels covering it, but I love the coverage of Chess24 by Peter Leko and others.

Yes, I am following it on various channels too. I did not like Peter Leko's playing style when he was one of the top players, but I like his commentary. So yes, I enjoy following his commentary.

[SmartCat]

Whoops. Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha startup co-founder) messed up big time.

Chess.com organized a Covid fundraiser for Akshaya Patra. Multiple celebrities (including Aamir Khan) played against Vishy Anand. Biggest suprise - Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha won:

When chess met cricket, cinema, music and business
https://www.thehindu.com/sport/other...le34806826.ece

Viswanathan Anand could have waited for his opponent, Nikhil Kamath, to lose on time, though from a completely winning position. But, the genial genius from Chennai didn’t. He resigned, though his rival had only seconds left.

Nikhil’s victory was indeed very much the talking point. The founder of Zerodha, India’s largest retail stockbroker, used to play chess in his school days.

Problem:

Chess.com's fair play algo detected that Nikhil Kamath's moves had 99% accuracy, which can only be achieved using a chess engine (computer moves). It quickly suspended Nikhil's Chess.com's account.



The game is available here:
https://www.chess.com/game/live/1732...=nikhil-kamath

Twitter noticed this and started shaming Nikhil. He has put out a lame apology (and suggesting that Vishy knew about this, but obviously, nobody is buying it)
https://twitter.com/nikhilkamathcio/...20236543696898



Vishy Anand's comment on the controversy:

[eyesice]

This is pathetic from a coveted Indian entrepreneur. Losing to a former WC and a legend should not be considered a shame! What was Kamath thinking?

If people can stoop to such levels then I wonder what the ethics of the company would be? I must say I am a bit scared as I hold majority of my investments through Zerodha!

[Samurai]

I think Viswanathan Anand must have easily figured out he was playing a Chess computer and not a billionaire. I am guessing he resigned to make that point. Had he won no one would have been wiser. By losing he put lot of focus on that game. His tweet is hinting at it by mentioning ethics.

[SmartCat]

"It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game". Wow, now I get it.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media too has picked up the controversy.

https://sports.ndtv.com/chess/entrep...ogises-2463454
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/tr...m-7032601.html

Reacting to the incident, chess legend's wife Aruna Anand said, "Well, Nikhil contacted Anand today and explained this tweet. Anand replied to say that he can't deny the algorithm and personally wouldn't comment on the issue." She further added "Anand requested Mr Kamath not to involve his name in Tweets or in his course of action. That he went ahead and did it and allege something is disrespectful,"

Originally Posted by eyesice

I must say I am a bit scared as I hold majority of my investments through Zerodha!

Only the cash in a broker account is at risk. The shares bought from any broker is held with NSDL (owned by NSE exchange) or CDSL (owned by BSE exchange). You can login to NSDL website and check the shares you own:
https://nsdlcas.nsdl.com/

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Whoops. Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha startup co-founder) messed up big time.

Chess.com's fair play algo detected that Nikhil Kamath's moves had 99% accuracy, which can only be achieved using a chess engine (computer moves). It quickly suspended Nikhil's Chess.com's account.

This is really sad to see. He is such a well respected entrepreneur with very clean reputation. I am shocked to read this. I wonder what really happened.

That 99% accuracy is an unusual thing. First, it confirms cheating. Second, everyone now knows how fraud detection algorithms work. In fact, Nikhil Kamath is an expert in this field and he will know this better than most others. He will know for sure that 99% move matching will get a red-flag by any anti-cheating algorithm instantly. Those who deliberately cheat in chess often try to cheat so that this % is lower. It really takes a very naive cheater to cheat with 99% accuracy, that too in an event so closely watched by everyone, and includes a legend like V. Anand.

I do not believe Nikhil Kamath is so naive. I wonder if this is some practical joke that went wrong.

Regardless, this is shameful and really sad. In general, these are tough times for chess. Due to obvious reasons, a majority of chess has moved online, and there cheating is very common. Cheating accusations have become common at all levels in chess, and that is really really sad to see. You can never trust anyone playing online chess anymore, unless you personally know them and trust them for some reason.

Originally Posted by Samurai

I think Viswanathan Anand must have easily figured out he was playing a Chess computer and not a billionaire. I am guessing he resigned to make that point. Had he won no one would have been wiser. By losing he put lot of focus that game. His tweet is hinting at it by mentioning ethics.

Good point and I agree. It would not have taken long for Anand to realize that he is playing against an engine. He must have got very frustrated playing this game (and that could explain his own mistakes toward the end of the game), and might have resigned either in frustration or to prove a point, even though he was winning on time.