# Question
Title: Why do titled players always play online (blitz) speed chess?
If you have been to an online chess server, you will notice that almost all titled players always play quick games (3 0) at a max.

On the other hand, if you go to tournaments, it needs cool thinking and not instantaneous moves.

I am surprised, then how do they maintain this balance? Doesn't playing too many quick games spoil their overall playing ability?

# Answer
> 11 votes
When defending his title at the World Chess Championship 2012, Anand defeated Gelfand in the rapid round. He was able to put time pressure on Gelfand in all four games. In the second game with white, Anand played his moves so fast that Gelfand was forced to make moves with very few seconds to spare.

Being able to perform well in rapid chess is a must for GM's in the modern days.

# Answer
> 13 votes
Good chess players who play online prefer quick games like 10sec + 1 or 1 min because nobody can cheat with a computer engine for such short games.

If a player tries to cheat with a computer, in this type of game, he loses the game on time.

After many quick games, these players can maintain this balance easily. Indeed, they train brain to think very quickly. And those who can think quickly can think slowly. Thus, there is no problem playing slow games after fast games.

Moreover, just for your information, *blitz game* refers to all chess games where each player has up to 10 minutes for all the moves.

# Answer
> 13 votes
They play quick games probably because it's more fun and doesn't take too much time. Blitz only damages one's tournament results if played to the exclusion of one's studies.

# Answer
> 8 votes
*Who has the time for a nice 30 minute game anymore?*

Being a titled player does not mean that all of your income comes from chess and that you live a life of luxury (If only! :P). Most titled players have jobs, families, or other endeavors to deal with on a daily basis. As such, it is nice to sneak in a few quick games when there is time to play. This is why it is popular, because it is easy to use no more than 6 minutes to play a quick 3 0 game and then be on your way.

*Why play one when you can play many?*

More than that though is the appeal to play a larger amount of games and positions. Playing one game which takes many hours has its place and is great for your chess (I think slow chess makes my Blitz better), but it is still only one opening that was played. In an hour, it is possible to play up to 10 openings by playing 10 3 0 games. Or, if you are feeling in the mood for a good sprint, 30 1 0 games.

*Experience*

It is also nice to build those natural reactions. When you play those 10 games in an hour, or perhaps in a week 100 games, then you begin to see positions that can be transposed into, or certain weaknesses in the opponent's position out of experience rather than a keen observation.

# Answer
> 7 votes
I am an active member on online chess server http://www.chessfriends.com. I played there more than 5800 games. My stats as white are exactly same as black. I prefer playing 1 minute games, but sometimes I play 3 minute or 5 minute games. My experience is, that playing bullet or blitz games improve my tactics skills a lot. I have 2300 Fide rating, and I am still able to play 6 hours National league games, without any problems.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Very simple, playing and winning in the faster games such as Blitz will give them confidence when they play games that lasts days together.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Blitz allows you to collect game experience fast. Blitz could improve you in:

* Quickly test some new moves and get adequate response in a real game.
* Learn moves so that you will waste less time for thinking in a real game.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Playing speed chess makes you concentrate more during a match.

# Answer
> 0 votes
They don't want to let weaker players beat them by using a computer, that's the real reason. If Chess engines didn't exist there would be a lot more correspondence games and longer time controls. If you are a titled player there will undoubtedly be thousands of patzers eager to make you look foolish and pretend they are strong players by handing you a loss online.

And even in games between two strong players, just the thought that *one might* be cheating is reason enough for them to play blitz/bullet games instead, where they can rest assured that no one is cheating.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I'm starting to get into it in a serious way for the first time since a kid and I never used set openings or piece plays. I also imagined the main mode would be classical, because it always was the more calculated respected mode. The thing I realize about blitz mode is that most people who find it fun will get to a point where they cannot improve. I started to realize that every time I played casually against friends, I always start differently, it leads to a different result. The main way to improve for the casual but intelligent player is to start working on a starting formation, building a foundation for set-piece plays in different lines. I imagine professionals get much more from a blitz match than an amateur, because you can mash pieces together really quickly all day long but if you have no real reason for it then there is no purpose. I myself have no need for a mode outside of classical 20/30 minute games while I still work on some ground based theory.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Think about taking a test. You're given 120 minutes for it. Under normal circumstances you may take all of the allotted time, even when you've adequately prepared for it.

But what about overpreparing? If you've assumed you only have 80 minutes for this exam, you may just begin preparing under over constrained time limits.

A chess game is an exam of your tactics and plans for enhancing your position. The faster you can finish it, the less pressure you are placed under. Blitz games help with this.

---
Tags: learning, strategy, master-games, blitz, online-blitz
---


title: Building a repertoire on lichess

text:
# Question
Title: Building a repertoire on lichess
I have decided I wanted to understand one basic opening against 1. e4 and one against 1. d4 as black. After watching a few videos on multiple openings and systems, I decided I wanted to try and pick up the Caro-Kann. I was wondering if it's sensible to build an opening repertoire there. More specifically, is it possible to do it without chessbase? Is the free stockfish analysis reliable? What steps should I take to ensure my analysis isn't flawed?

# Answer
> 5 votes
Create a private Lichess study and add your game references there. As you keep adding more of your learnings and research, the study will develop into a full repertoire. You can also export as png, so you can always switch to other software if you find a better option.

https://lichess.org/study

# Answer
> 4 votes
I want to give you a small suggestion related to *B.Swan*'s comment:

> The engine will not lie to you, but if a position is equal to SF11, is it equal to you too? Very often not. Then it would not be reliable. But you will have this problem with any engine. In any variation you analyse, you should not be overly concerned about ultra soundness (oh \[no\] the position is +0.2! where have I gone wrong), but rather about whether it is clear to you how the game should proceed and whether you can handle it (and of course whether you like it..)

I think it is best if you build your study based on your understanding first, before checking with an engine. The reason is as *B.Swan* mentioned, namely that what an engine can cope with is often not what you can cope with. So what you want is not the best move based on very deep tactics, but the best move based on what you can analyze. No doubt, this means that you will not play as well as the engine, but **because of that** you may play better than if you tried to mimic the engine. The reason to check with the engine is not to ensure that you have found the best move, but rather to ensure that you have not from any position in your study chosen a move that can lead via deep tactics by the opponent to a disaster for you!

In other words, you use your own skill to find your own moves, but use the engine to find opponent responses to those moves to make sure they are not mistakes or blunders under best play. Such an asymmetric use of the engine is more likely to improve your play than to attempt to follow only what the engine prefers best, because humans simply do not have the same high-fidelity storage capacity as computers.

# Answer
> 3 votes
There’s no need to buy chessbase (although I’m not arguing against it if you want to do so). Chess.com actually has an excellent database of masters games available to free users. The Lichess opening book is compiled of 2 million+ master games but only a small number of these are available as a pgn for you to load in the Lichess analysis board. I think chesscom is the better resource for this.

The flip-side of this is that the chesscom opening book is crippled for free users. I’d recommend using the chesscom games database and the Lichess opening book and between the two, you pretty much have chessbase.

---
Tags: opening, lichess
---


title: Help needed with a problem

text:
# Question
Title: Help needed with a problem
On an empty board, how can you place a White king, two White, rooks, and a Black king so that White can give mate in 4 ways from that position?

# Answer
> 4 votes
```
[FEN "8/8/8/8/8/8/2R5/k3K2R w K - 0 1"]

```

From this position, Kd2 Ke2 Kf2 and O-O deliver checkmate

---
Tags: problems, retrograde-analysis
---


# Question
Title: How many FIDE rated games are played per year?
I was surprised not to be able to easily find this statistic. How many FIDE rated games are played around the world each year?

# Answer
> 4 votes
> I was surprised not to be able to easily find this statistic.

The information is available with quite a lot of work from data which FIDE makes available on its website. The key page is the Ratings Download page. If you are an arbiter and you use a FIDE approved pairing program (e.g. Swiss Manager or Vega) then when you click the button to auto-magically update FIDE player details and ratings it will start by downloading and processing one of the files linked to on this page.

You don't have to be a pairing program to download files from this page. Anybody can do it. For me there are 4 important files -

1. Download full list of players (not rated included) ... XML format
2. Download STANDARD rating list ... XML format
3. Download RAPID rating list ... XML format
4. Download BLITZ rating list ... XML format

These files are updated by FIDE on an almost daily basis and so reflect data only for the last month. If you want historic data then towards the bottom of the page there is an option where you can select a period and see and download files from that period.

Most months I download the first file above and process it to extract these kinds of statistics in the same sort of way, I guess, as Kaspars Migla who runs the chessratings.top website referenced in the FIDE post in the other answer. If I forget then I download the 3 separate files from the archive. This is obviously more work but the big file isn't available in the archive.

From what Kaspars Migla says:

> It is a very rough estimation because only games played by rated players in classical chess are taken into account.

it looks like he just downloads the standard file whereas I download the file with all data including rapid, blitz and Online Arena. So, his figures are likely to be slightly different from mine.

There are a number of things to note.

1. File 1 (full list of players) is more than sum of files 2, 3, and 4. It contains unrated players and ratings for FIDE's Online Arena.
2. For each player and rating type, along with the player's rating and K factor, it gives the number of rated games played that player in the period.
3. Because FIDE update the files more than once during the month you will get slightly different data if you download on different days.
4. Because these game numbers are for rated games played by a rated player they include each game played between two rated players twice, once for each player.
5. Similarly, they also include games played between a rated player and a previously unrated player who gains a rating in this period only once. The newly rated player has the game counted in their count, because it was played against a rated player, but the previously rated player doesn't because for them the game was not against a rated player. Hence odd numbers are possible in a sum which is roughly twice the number of rated games played.

> How many FIDE rated games are played around the world each year?

OK, so now for the numbers. As I said I download and process the big file for all the players containing all the data rather than the three separate files for standard, rapid and blitz only. I've run some queries on my resulting database.

***For each year the four numbers are sum(standard game count), sum(rapid game count), sum(blitz game count), (sum of sums)/2***

As explained above the sum(standard game counts) is actually roughly twice the sum of actual FIDE rated games because each game is counted for each player.

As it happens the total number of FIDE rated games did exceed 3 million in 2019 for the first time although just over half were standard and the others were rapid and blitz.

I've given figures going back to 2011, the year before FIDE started rating rapid and blitz.

Year Standard Rapid Blitz Total
**2019** 3015776 1684486 1338912 **3019587**
**2018** 2886482 1382951 1063591 **2666512**
**2017** 2786351 1150926 958753 **2448015**
**2016** 2629805 907642 785846 **2161646**
**2015** 2349963 631590 589853 **1785703**
**2014** 2022154 467333 426370 **1457928**
**2013** 1873662 313977 338094 **1262866**
**2012** 1689346 97722 117587 **952327**
**2011** 1569389 0 0 **784694**

# Answer
> 1 votes
A part-answer.

From FIDE.com:

> According to data, collected by FIDE and chessratings.top in 2019 for the first time in history the number of classical games surpassed the 3,000,000 barrier (the sum of individual games by all the players). Last year 174,363 players played at least one game, whereas the total number of games reached 3,009,829. In 2018 this number was equal to 2 882 235 games, in 2017 – 2 785 460, in 2016 – 2 629 460. Since any chess game is played by two people we can estimate the total number of games – 1,500,000. It is a very rough estimation because only games played by rated players in classical chess are taken into account.

So in 2019, the total number of classical FIDE rated games was a little over 1,500,000 (half of 3,009,829 - which is odd since that's an uneven number)

I am not sure whether FIDE includes games where one player is rated and their opponent isn't.

---
Tags: fide, statistics
---


# Question
Title: Is there a data file available (e.g. a .csv) containing every single rated game?
### Question

Is there a data file somewhere containing every single (FIDE) rated game?

### What I found out so far

I see many websites with some limited database search capability, or summary statistics, but I couldn't find anywhere to simply download a complete dataset of FIDE games.

Such a dataset would have each row being a new game, and would hopefully also contain who played, who won, when it was played, and other info.

### (Very) Rough size estimate

I estimate such a file would be quite large, which I base of some extremely rough estimates

* How many FIDE players? (probably) tens of thousands
* How many games on average per year? Probably hundreds
* Therefore 10000 * 500 = 5m games per year
* 5m games per year * about 100 years comes to about 500m rows

If each row is approximately 1kb, the total file size (uncompressed) would be: half a terabyte!

But still, tools like spark or bigquery could easily handle this, and it would be fun to analyse if it is available somewhere in its entirety.

# Answer
> Is there a data file somewhere containing every single (FIDE) rated game?

As an arbiter I can tell you definitively that the answer is "No". However you don't need to be an arbiter to know that. You just need to have played in a FIDE rated blitz tournament. Nobody is writing the moves down in those tournaments.

In FIDE rapid tournaments you do get a few players who start out recording but many of them stop when they get short of time and those games don't end up in databases.

Even when it comes to standard time control FIDE rated games only those games played in norm events have to be sent to FIDE (to make sure there is no cheating to get titles like GM and IM). So, all games played in norm events should be recorded and sent to FIDE. For each such tournament the games should be available for download from the FIDE site and those games will be picked up by the spiders / web-crawlers used by the big database providers.

However the large majority of FIDE rated standard games are not played in norm events and so there is no requirement for arbiters and organizers to send those games to FIDE. Doing so is hard (unpaid) work and so most arbiters and organizers are not going to do it.
> 4 votes

# Answer
It would be fun to create a decission tree based on all those games, however, I don´t think there´s anything like that, at least publicly. Besides, you´re probably making an understimation, as right now there are 360,000 fide rated players.

The biggest public chessdatabases are

* Chess Microbase
* Chess Tempo
* Chess-DB (and I think this latter was closed)
> 2 votes

---
Tags: fide, database, statistics
---


# Question
Title: Why Is Black forced to give up the queen in this puzzle?
```
[FEN "1r4k1/3q3p/p2P2r1/4pNNQ/5p1P/P7/6PK/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

I got this position as a puzzle with White to play. The correct move was 1. Ne7, followed by 1... Qxe7 and 2. dxe7. To me, it seems more logical for Black to simply move the king, e.g 2... Kf8, and then capture the knight with 3...hxg6 after White plays 3. Nxg6.

How come Qxe7 is forced here after White plays Ne7?

# Answer
If black plays 1... Kf8 he will get mated. Here is one possible line given by the engine:

```
[FEN "1r4k1/3q3p/p2P2r1/4pNNQ/5p1P/P7/6PK/8 w - - 0 1"]

1. Ne7+ Kf8 2. Nxh7+ Ke8 3. Nf6+ Kf8 4. Nxd7+ Ke8 5. Nxe5 f3 6. Qxg6+ Kf8 7. Qg8#

```

You can answer questions like that by using an engine, for example here (click on the button "Toggle local evaluation" in the top right). There you can also check all other variants, which you can't figure out on your own.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Ne7 has a double purpose. Firstly it´s a check, and secondly, it blocks the defence of the queen on the h7 pawn. Mate it´s unstopable, so the least worst move is QxN, which is loosing for black anyway.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: tactics, puzzles
---


title: Is this position a fortress?

text:
# Question
Title: Is this position a fortress?
I am unsure how to break through as white here. There seem to be no way to get a passed pawn on the e file. Stockfish evaluates this as +3 at high depths but gives no plan. Any plans?

```
[fen "3Q4/5pk1/6rp/6p1/4K3/6PP/8/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

Edit: On further analysis, the following position is winning, is there any way to force this position?

```
[fen "8/5p1k/6rp/8/3QK2P/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

# Answer
I took the liberty of consulting with the Syzygy tablebases for a while, and came to the following conclusion: the endgame is drawn. This is far from obvious, but it has to do with the following fortress:

```
[fen "4Q3/5pk1/7r/6KP/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

Black draws this by shuffling the rook between e6 and h6. Bizarrely enough, as long as the h-pawn remains for white there is no way for white's queen and king to simultaneously attack the rook on h6, which is the key realization behind this fortress. The only thing black needs to watch out for is the fact that if white's queen is threatening to get to f8, then black needs to prevent this by making sure that their king is on g7 to cover the square. However, this is always possible for black to do, since with the black pawn on f7 **there is no square on the board for white's queen where it would be covering g7 and at the same time would be threatening to go to f8.** I chose to highlight the last part of the sentence, because it is critical. One final note before we move on: this fortress would hold no matter where white's queen and king is placed (as long as the white king stays on the 5th rank and below).

Let us now analyze a few key positions with the above fortress in mind, beginning with the tablebase win that OP found:

```
 [fen "8/5p1k/6rp/8/3QK2P/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

This position is a win for white if white is to move, and the only winning move is Qc5. Don't ask me why this position is winning if white is to move, I actually don't fully understand it myself and can only say that it is indeed a tablebase win. I would actually recommend going over the winning lines with the tablebases online (https://syzygy-tables.info/?fen=8/5p1k/6rp/8/3QK2P/8/8/8\_w\_-\_-\_0\_1), the way the queen manoeuvres to break black's fortress is quite astonishing.

In fact, place white's king wherever in the rectangle drawn up by a1 and f5, and you find that white is winning every time as long as they are to move in the above position. But things change if black is to move. It is immediately obvious that ...Rg4+ in the diagrammed position would be winning for black, but even if this move were not a possibility (as when white's king is anywhere except for e4), the position would still be a draw.

> Question: what is the drawing idea?

> The drawing idea is for black to play their pawn to h5. After this, there is no way for white to make any progress unless the white queen reaches f8. But this is easy to prevent, as black's king will always be able to reach g7 when this is threatened, as mentioned before. Even if white were to eliminate the h5 pawn this would still not be enough, since black would then achieve the fortress I discussed at the beginning of this answer.

> Follow-up question (to test how well the previous information has been processed): If white is to move, why is Qc5 the only winning idea?

> This is because Qc5 is the only move that sidesteps the skewer with ...Rg4+ while simultaneously preventing black from achieving the draw by means of ...h5, since white's queen threatens to infiltrate on f8 from c5.

We are now finally ready to deal with the initial position immediately:

```
[fen "3Q4/5pk1/6rp/6p1/4K3/6PP/8/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

We note three key points:

> 1. The position is drawn if white were to play g4 here. Why?

> This is because black would then shuffle their rook between e6 and g6 indefinitely, and the only way for white to make progress would be to push the h-pawn forward. But this would allow a trade of pawns, and the g-pawn cannot be used to stop the rook shuffle between e6 and g6. Again, all that black has to keep in mind is to avoid letting the queen into f8.

> 2. If white were to push h4 in the above position, black has a concrete drawing line. What is it?

> The drawing line is: 1.h4 gxh4 2. gxh4 (the only feasible winning attempt) h5! (and the drawing fortress is achieved for black).

> 3. The only way for white to make any progress in the above position is to play either g4 or h4 at some point, since otherwise black will just shuffle the rook between e6 and g6, with no way in for the white king.

Using points 1, 2 and 3, we can say with confidence that the initial position must be a draw, as claimed in the first paragraph.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: endgame, fortress
---


title: Another good chess problem

text:
# Question
Title: Another good chess problem
```
[Title "The Chess Monthly, 11/1860, Helpmate In 3 Moves (Version)"]
[FEN "6R1/7q/8/5k2/3K1B2/8/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[startflipped ""]

```

Now, in this chess problem by Samuel Loyd, both sides work together for a checkmate. If Black is to move first, how can White give mate in 3 with Black's cooperation?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Nice one:

> 1 Kf6 Ra8! 2 Kg7 Bb8 3 Kh8 Be5#! ("Indian theme")

---
Tags: problems
---


# Question
Title: Unfinished Chess game between Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov
I found many historic games unfinished.
Take this match as an example. This is a match between Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov in Ch World (match) (PCA) 1995. Anand lost this match as per the result. But I didn't find any confirmed checkmate in the last. Please somebody explain.

# Answer
High level players usually resign when they have a lost position. There's no point in continuing the game for thirty more moves when defeat is inevitable. Checkmate is actually a rare occurence in elite games. You'll find the same thing in more modern games, too.

While players have the right to keep playing, it is considered bad etiquette to not resign when a player has no realistic chance of scoring.
> 17 votes

# Answer
Checkmate is just one way a game can end. It can also end on time, game loss penalty, or resignation. If you can make your opponent convinced enough of the futility of their position that they resign, this counts just as much of a win as does a checkmate. That's not an "unfinished game", that's a game that finished with a resignation. It's up to every player to decide when they think their position is hopeless. If you don't see why Viswanathan Anand thought that he had no chance of winning ... well, that's probably part of why you're not World Champion.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: checkmate, kasparov, anand
---


title: Advanced video chess lectures

text:
# Question
Title: Advanced video chess lectures
Could you recommend any video lessons online? I know STL Chess Club on YouTube and I am looking for something similar for 2000+ FIDE players.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Chessable offers advanced courses (free and paid). Many of those courses have videos.

https://www.chessable.com/courses/for-advanced-players/

# Answer
> 0 votes
chess24.com has some great video series, but it's hard to make meaningful suggestions if you don't give us more specific details

---
Tags: chess-videos, recommendations
---


# Question
Title: What's the oldest age at which a grandmaster played their first rated game?
Of all grandmasters past and present, what is the oldest age at which any of them started playing chess?

**Define *started playing chess***:

* The day that person played their first (FIDE, or equivalent) rated game

# Answer
This isn't an answer to the exact question posed, but it may nonetheless help.

Lajos Portisch learnt to play aged 12.
Akiba Rubinstein learnt at 14 or 16. (Sources vary.)
Harry Pillsbury learnt at 16.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive chess grandmaster. He was still playing in rated chess tournaments at the age of 89

Vassily Smyslov won the Staunton memorial at Groningen at the age of 75. Jaanis Klovans was 60 when he finally earned his grandmaster title.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: history, fide, statistics, grandmaster
---


# Question
Title: Why do professional chess players point at the pieces with a middle finger?
I've recently heard and then actually started to notice more and more that professional chess players tend to use a middle finger when pointing at pieces on the board like in this Anand vs Caruana game during the Sinquefield Cup 2017:

(source)

I am wondering, why is it happening?

Note: this is a genuine question, I am not trying to offend or make fun of anything or anyone here.

# Answer
> 14 votes
When they're analyzing at a rapid pace, they tend to only need the thumb and index finger to pick up pieces and move them. Using the middle finger as well doesn't really help. So since that finger is freed up, they can use it to point (especially because pointing with the 4th finger or pinkie is awkward).

Or they subconsciously despise each other.

# Answer
> 7 votes
Garry Kasparov has already answered this question. Unfortunately, it is a video and there is no text version.

You can find it on his official site: http://www.kasparov.com/garry-kasparov-answers-chess-questions-from-twitter-jan-16th-2018/

In the video, essentially, Kasparov said that he hasn't noticed it.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I think it very simple: if you point to something which is under your hand, it is much more convenient to use your middle finger. It seems a bit awkward, but more "natural" to your hand.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I am no psychologist or a great chess player, but I do use common sense. When I move/remove chess pieces I use thumb and middle finger to do so as I few like the middle finger being the longest I believe it lessens the probability of accidentally knocking other pieces down... With that finger being used in the game my brain makes it a primary pointer automatically...

---
Tags: analysis, learning, psychology, grandmaster
---


# Question
Title: Can pieces follow different paths from one square to another in a single move?
I am implementing a chess game. I am aware of the rules but I have not played it much. I need clarification on a small point.

Suppose a player legally moves a piece from square A to square B. Consider the path this piece followed during this move. Can it be different based on the type of piece?

I am not able to find such a case.

Edit :- I am adding the interface code that I am dealing with to make it more clear as asked by some people to give more context.

```
public class Chess {

    ChessBoard chessBoard;
    Player[] player;
    Player currentPlayer;
    List<Move> movesList;
    GameStatus gameStatus;

    public boolean playerMove(CellPosition fromPosition, CellPositionb toPosition, Piece piece);
    public boolean endGame();
    private void changeTurn();

}
public abstract class Piece {

Color color;
public boolean validate(CellPosition fromPosition, CellPositionb toPosition);
}

public class Knight extends Piece {
public boolean validate(CellPosition fromPosition, CellPositionb toPosition);

}

```

Similarly there will be classes for other pieces as Knight. Now if a player want to move in chess from some position X to another position Y, the validate() method of the Piece will be called by playerMove() of chess,validate() can only check whether the move is valid or not.Like for the given pieces,say knight, it will check that from given location,the destination is one of 8 valid moves.For Rook it can be any one of four directions and so on.

The playerMove() function makes a call the the Piece.validate() function and then it gets to know that it is a valid move.The problem that I am trying to address, now once playerMove function in chess, knows that it is valid move, it does not know that whether there is any piece in between from given location to destination?Because the piece dont have context of Board,it cannot detect it thing and it has to be done in playerMove() function of chess.So i will write a code here to generate the list of possible squares that are involved from source to destination. Will that list of squares will always be unique ?or can it be different for diffeent piece? Because apart from knight ,all moves in straight or diagonal so it should be unique ,so I want to clarify on this .If still question not clear, please let me know.but

# Answer
> 4 votes
For queens, bishops and rooks moving from square A to square B there is only one way that move can be made and all the squares in between must be empty for that move to be legal.

For a knight moving from square A to square there are generally two ways but that is irrelevant because knights can jump over pieces in the way.

For castling there is only one way the king can move from A to B and the intervening square must be empty for that move to be legal and the king must be moved first. For castling there is only one way the rook can move from A to B and all the squares in between must be empty apart from the king for that move to be legal.

# Answer
> 3 votes
No. It's a matter of taste how the knight travels from the start square to the end square, but nothing is written on how it gets to the final square. The same for castling, of how the rook arrives at the destination square, since it has to get there by moving past the king that's just made a two square move.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The special cases to consider are knight moves, castling, and pawn moves. Knights don't really have a path; you can think of them as teleporting to their destination. Pawns and castling have to follow the same restrictions on moving through occupied squares (they have same squares they "go through" as any other material with the same source and destination squares), but also have additional restrictions. Whenever a king moves other than castling, it doesn't "go through" any squares, so your question doesn't really appy.

Every other move is either a rook move or a bishop move. Whenever a queen moves, it makes either a rook move or a bishop move. When a queen makes a bishop move, it follows the same rules as moving a bishop, and the path it takes is the same as a bishop. When it makes a rook move, it follows the same rules as a rook (other than the aforementioned castling).

# Answer
> 0 votes
For pieces which are not the knight, there indeed is only one path to check. For rook, bishop and queen you trace out a "ray", a king only moves one square and the knight does not care about other pieces being in the way so there the path does not matter. So to check you would have to verify that the destination square is not a friendly piece (as you can't capture friendly pieces) and for the ray moving pieces that all squares in between are empty.

The pawn of course is a special case since it captures differently than it moves, I hope you are aware of that. :) (and it has further complications like the double step and en passant rule)

NOTE: For a move to be legal the moving player must not be in check after the move. So you also have to verify that. One possible way to do that is pretend that the king of the moving player is a rook and see if it could capture an enemy rook, then that enemy rook is in fact giving check. (same for the other pieces and of course be careful with the pawns once again)

I will also note that I would implement this a lot differently but I assume it's a learning project, so should be fine.

---
Tags: rules, software
---


# Question
Title: How much theoretical knowledge does playing the Berlin Defense require?
Sorry if this question is opinion based, however I think it can be meaningfully discussed.

I am researching the Berlin Defense and am reading contradictory opinions on how much concrete knowledge is required to play it.

Some people claim that

* It requires very little knowledge of variations and one can rely almost entirely on endgame principles
* Almost all sensible moves are playable
* The game is slow and of positional nature, often drawish

The other side claims

* It is one of the most theoretically extensive openings
* Plans are often not obvious, but one needs to know what to do in order to not fall into a hopeless position with no improvement possible
* Play becomes sharp and concrete, requires knowledge of variations, the better prepared player wins

Where do the differences of opinion come from?

# Answer
> 15 votes
Back in the days of over-the-board chess I use to run themed blitz tournaments over the summer to keep members of our chess club occupied in the off season. In July 2019 I ran one on the Berlin Defense. Only 6 players turned up instead of the usual dozen or so (surely not put off by the boring reputation of the Berlin?) so I ran a 6 player double round robin giving each of us 10 games in the evening. That was the most hard work I'd done for a long time and it had nothing to do with playing in and running the tournament (which I did most weeks) and everything to do with the slippery nature of the Berlin. Every single game was a real struggle.

To help players get in the mood and prepare I usually sent out an email with links to a couple of YouTube videos on that week's opening. That week this video from Yasser Seirawan was one of them. I'd strongly recommend you watch it. I will say that as prep for a one-off game it is not suitable. You will either be very frustrated at the pace and apparent lack of a destination or Yasser's soothing voice will put you to sleep.

However if you are going to make the Berlin your goto defence against the Ruy then it will give you your first and most important idea what the opening is about.

When you are learning a new opening quickly the most important thing is to understand what white's plan is and what black's plan is in the opening. That way you know what you are trying to do and what your opponent is trying to do that you have to stop.

The second most important thing when you are learning a new opening is, as well as knowing the plans, you have to be comfortable in the kinds of positions you will get in the opening. By the way, that's why Kramnik beat the mighty Kasparov to become world champion. Kasparov was deeply uncomfortable in the Berlin positions and Kramnik wasn't.

But in the slippery Berlin nothing is clear as Seirawan demonstrates in his video. What are white's plans? It should be fairly obvious. Here is the starting tabiya.

```
[fen "r1bk1b1r/ppp2ppp/2p5/4Pn2/8/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNB2RK1 w - - 0 1"]

```

White has the advantage of a viable kingside pawn majority which should be capable of creating a passed pawn. Black's doubled pawns on the queenside make it relatively easy for white to prevent a black passed pawn there. On the other hand black has the two bishops and the e pawn is really one square too far forward. Life would be easier with the pawn on e4 instead of e5.

One important middle game principle is that any given pawn formation will have an optimal number of pieces. A very cramped black pawn structure will be terrible for black if both sides have all their pieces but perfectly fine for black if several pieces have already been exchanged. Similarly far advanced white pawns are good for white, white controls more space, if all the pieces are on but the position becomes over extended if too many pieces have come off. The e pawn is just a bit too far forward given how few pieces are left. It can very easily become a problem child.

Nevertheless, white's plan is simple and obvious.

1. Arrange the queenside pawns so that black can never create a passed pawn there.
2. Advance the kingside pawn majority to create a passed on the kingside
3. Queen the pawn.

Well, that was simple and obvious to state but the next step is working out which moves to make to put the plan into action and that is where the problems start. And that is where Seirawan's video is so good because it slowly, frustratingly makes it clear just how difficult that is. Lots of plans have been tried over the years and none of them really quite work unless black doesn't know how to counter them.

OK, so white's plan was easy to state but seems very difficult to put into action, but what on earth is black's plan?

Well this is where it gets even more difficult and even more hard work. Black's plan is just to counter and frustrate whatever white tries to do. Again Seirawan's video will help make this much clearer.

OK, let's look at some of the propositions.

> It requires very little knowledge of variations and one can rely almost entirely on endgame principles

Certainly not! If your opponent knows what they are doing and you don't then you will lose like the slowly boiled frog without ever knowing just what happened.

> Almost all sensible moves are playable

True in the starting position of the tabiya. There are no proven plans for white. Black's plan is just to counter what white does. The player who struggles and fights the best will win. Because of the unbalanced nature of the starting position there is no obvious route to a draw for either player. You just have to fight.

> The game is slow and of positional nature, often drawish

Well, yes. It is slow and positional to start with but the thing about slow, positional, drawish games is that one slip and they can become tactical and lost very quickly. In the absence of a clear plan for your side you must always be countering your opponent's plans and that is a big weakness for weaker players.

> It is one of the most theoretically extensive openings

If you are black then you certainly need to know and be able to counter all the current white plans. If you are white then you need to know what to do if black doesn't correctly counter your plan. That may involve a quick transposition into one of the other plans. You also need to be very well prepared if you are going to try and avoid the draw.

> Plans are often not obvious, but one needs to know what to do in order to not fall into a hopeless position with no improvement possible

Exactly so.

> Play becomes sharp and concrete, requires knowledge of variations, the better prepared player wins

Again, this is absolutely correct, although it can take some time to reach this stage. Your best way of not being on the losing side is to know the starting plans.

The only real contention is the first claim that knowledge of variations isn't necessary. Perhaps this confusion arose because the variations that arise are generally not tactically sharp variations, at least in the first instance, where one side gets quickly mated or loses material. Instead the variations lead to positionally lost games. The result of not knowing these variations is still the same as not knowing the sharper variations which arise in other openings.

---
Tags: berlin
---


title: Balancing chess and work

text:
# Question
Title: Balancing chess and work
I started chess 2 years ago at 500 ELO and have climbed up to 1900 ELO (chess.co) recently. I have fallen deeply in love with the game and have made it a life goal to achieve eventually a mastery title.

Unfortunately, I started chess very late (20 years old), an age where one usually is in university and starts or has started working. Very soon I will have to move to my apartment, work full time, cook food, etc. I fear I will not have enough time as I currently do to dedicate my self sufficiently to chess; a lot of time is required to improve in chess. I was wondering *how does one balance chess serious improvement and work/life responsibilities* ?

In conjunction with this question, what would you consider an optimal training time regime? Is 1 hour a day sufficient time to gradually improve, or will that be pointless?

# Answer
There is a lot of argument over the 10,000 hour rule, which is said to be the amount of practice required to attain mastery of a skill. With today's tools, learning can be accelerated quite a bit. But even if we knock it down to 3000 hours it would take you nearly a decade at 1 hour a day.

You say you love the game, so I say just go for it at an hour a day. Any time spent won't be pointless. If you can afford to work with a professional you can further accelerate your learning; A weekly lesson with a GM or similar.

As for a regime in a tight schedule I recommend:

**1 GM game annotated by the player.** There are numerous game collections by World Champions going over their games. Play through the game as if you are playing!

**X puzzles.** You should always be solving tactic and endgame puzzles. Find an amount that works for you, at least 6 day.

Once your brain is done for the day you could consider overloading it with some chess videos.

Noticed I didn't say study the opening. Memorizing variations doesn't make you a better player. You will learn each phase of the game from the games collection; so plan on playing whatever the guy you are studying plays.
> 13 votes

# Answer
20 years old is not that late to start. Any amount of time spent can help improve or maintain skills. Consider how much time you would like to spend and commit to it. Adjust to ensure you are enjoying your chess time. Easy to improve when having fun. An hour a day is fine to start.

How you spend you time is also important. There is much good advice on this site, for example this

You will not get a title playing on chess.com. Consider playing in tournaments that lead to titles. Probably your rating will be different then chess.com so that will give you a better idea how close you are to your goal.

I learned to play when I was 7, but in my teens I did not have anyone better than me to play so I could not improve. Once I started university it was easy to find folks better than me and I started playing and studying chess much more. Most of my chess improvement was during university.
> 14 votes

# Answer
20 years old is still young and you have a good rating. 1 hour a day is very good for a hobby, and unless you want to be a competitive professional, that should be more than enough. I admire that you would choose chess over other games, but real-life skills are more important IMO, unless you join chess social circles and advance your job through that. For example, there are a lot of chess players in Tezos community and you may find something related to your job where you see a lot of chess players. If you do not yet have a job, I think you may want to be more social in chess circles with your real-life identity, which could be helpful for your job search.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: psychology, study
---


title: Is there more than 1 solution?

text:
# Question
Title: Is there more than 1 solution?
In this selfmate puzzle is there more than one solution? I think I found one but I was curious to know if there is more than one.

```
4N2k/5P2/3p1rP1/2pP4/2p1K1R1/2B1P1N1/6Pp/8 w - - 0 0

```

Credit: J. C. J. Wainwright, first published in Alain C. White's Theory of Pawn Promotion, 1912

# Answer
> 14 votes
I'm assuming you did not know the name of its author.

When you post problems that aren't your own, you owe it to the composers to acknowledge their work. This is a problem by J. C. J. Wainwright, and is in two moves. (It was first published in Alain C. White's Theory of Pawn Promotion, 1912.)

And, no, it has only one solution. (Added explanation: In the problem world, a 'solution' is the first move (the key move), and all subsequent variations that meet the limits of the stipulation, which in this case is 'self-mate in two moves'. Problems that have solutions with more than one key move are considered to be faulty, unless there are good reasons for the number of key moves.)

If you want to double check, try the on-line chess problem database YACPDB (https://www.yacpdb.org/), where a lot of chess problems have been recorded by users. Here is the link directly to it: https://www.yacpdb.org/#262458

---
Tags: problems, selfmate
---


# Question
Title: Is there a software where we can query historical games to find patterns without inputting the exact chess position?
Suppose one wants to find:

> 1. A list of games where White/Black gave each other check more than 10 times.

> 2. A list of games where there were Black and White gave each other check in consecutive steps

> 3. A list of games where the king crossed the middle rank and still won

And so on.

Is there a software I can input these generic statements and find a list of games which have these conditions satisfied

# Answer
As Brian mentioned, CQL (Chess Query Language) is the most capable tool for the job. The current version of CQL at the time of this writing is 6.0.5 and the current website is http://www.gadycosteff.com/cql/. The site provides lots of examples and comprehensive documentation. Below are queries that will find games matching your three examples to give you an idea of what CQL looks like in practice.

**More than 10 checks in a game**

```
cql()
initial sort "total checks" find all check > 10

```

This will find all games where check was delivered (by both sides) more than 10 times in a game. The matching games will be sorted in descending order by the number of checks delivered (the first game in the output will be the one with the most checks) and will contain a start-of-game comment with the number of checks that appeared in the game. For example, here is a game from lichess.org that was found using this query with 81 checks. By default, the query will also add a comment to each move that matching the `find` filter (i.e. each move that is a check). The `find` filter is described in detail here.

**Consecutive checks**

The CQL website provides many examples. The `consecutive-checks.cql` example finds games with 5 or more consecutive checks. The query provided there is:

```
cql(input heijden.pgn)
sort "number of consecutive checks"
  line 5 100 nestban
    --> check+

```

The `sort` filter will again cause the games to be sorted by the number of most consecutive checks. A comment will be inserted for each checking move in the longest line of checks for each matching game. Documentation for the `line` filter used in this query is found here.

**Winning side has King crossing middle rank**

The following query will find all decisive games where the winning side's King moved to the opponent's side of the board at some point. The first time the King crossed into enemy territory will be commented. The query is written from the perspective of White (the filter `result 1-0` means White won and `Ka-h5-8` matches a position where the White king is present on ranks 5-8) but matches for both White and Black using the `flipcolor` query (the `flipcolor` query is described here).

```
cql()
initial
flipcolor { result 1-0 find Ka-h5-8 }

```
> 7 votes

# Answer
> Is there a software I can input these generic statements and find a list of games which have these conditions satisfied

Of course not! Natural language interrogation of databases has a long way to go before it reaches this stage. Engines require queries to be formatted in some suitable way.

What there is is something called Chess Query Language (CQL). In the same way that SQL (Structured Query Language) allows you to interrogate a relational database to extract useful information, so CQL allows you to interrogate the chess equivalent, a PGN file containing chess games.

The original website supporting CQL died but was preserved by the Archive project and is available here. The associated old version of the software can be downloaded here.

**The latest version is available here**.

As the introduction from the old version makes clear CQL is a very powerful tool for interrogating chess databases:

> Chess Query Language (CQL) was designed to allow researchers, authors, and players to search for games, problems, and studies that match specific themes. You specify the theme you are looking for, and the database to look for them, in CQL. Then you run this CQL file using cql.exe . This creates a new PGN file that has all the games matching your theme.

> CQL specifies a small but powerful set of primitives to define chess themes. CQL can find much more complex themes than any other chess program. Users have searched for themes like stalemates with multiple pins; games in which the same position recurs but with the winning side missing just one piece; Nowotny and Grimshaw themes, games with some number of captures on a single square, games with a certain number of black and white passed pawns, and many more.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: engines, software, programming
---


# Question
Title: Which was the first televised/video-recorded WCC match?
I was thinking about the way that chess has taken to being streamed recently and it got me wondering how far back one could go if they were to watch WCC matches instead of playing through them.

So which match was the first to be completely (not just one game or the awards ceremony, etc.) recorded as it was being played?

# Answer
From a report by Harry Golombek on the seventh game of the Botvinnik v Smyslov world championship match in Moscow on 30 March 1954:

> Television made its first appearance in the history of world chess championship matches during the course of this game, which was televised from 8 till 8.30 p.m.
>
> Source: BCM, May 1954, page 141.

The 24-game match had 14 decisive games, 12 of the first 16, including a streak of 8 decisive results in a row! All the games were full of fight, and many of the games were of theoretical significance.
> 6 votes

# Answer
I doubt that anything was redcorded before 1972 since all matches after 1950 were played in Moscow between Soviet players. In 1972 ChesterFox had purchased rights to televise the Fischer-Spassky match. Fischer kept protesting and insisting that the cameras be removed, so little of the match was recorded.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: history, world-championship
---


# Question
Title: What do we know about how to get better at chess?
When players here ask about getting better, there are frequent suggestions like "solve more puzzles", "study endgames", "read books", etc. But what do we know from a science perspective about getting better at chess?

A Google Scholar search for "psychology learning chess" turns up over 120,000 results, including an article from 1907 on "The psychology of chess and learning to play it."

What do we know from the scientific literature about the most effective ways to get better at chess, limits to the speed of improvement, etc?

# Answer
There is a 2006 paper "Training in chess: A scientific approach" by Dr. Gobet from the University of Nottingham, and Dr. Jansen from Carnegie Mellon University, which goal was "...to show how recent findings in cognitive psychology can be applied to improve techniques of chess training, teaching, and learning"

It concludes that learning occurs best:

1. from the simple to the complex
2. when the elements to be learnt are clearly identified
3. when following an "improving spiral" (this is similar to what DeGroot found in how a chess player thinks with *progressive deepening*).

Then using the above knowledge the authors used their "template theory" and used it to review various chess training techniques.

Some conclusions they get doing that are: (in the area of Explicit Knowledge)

1. focus on a limited number of positions and openings and learn the various methods in these positions thoroughly.
2. repetition will be necessary.
3. avoid too much historical and anecdotal details.

(in the area of Implicit Knowledge)

1. Using a computer to view variations can greatly cut down on the time to do so, but may offer less efficient encoding of the information \[in your brain\].
2. Find a balance between rote learning and understanding (specifically in studying the opening).
3. study openings from different points of view -- for example, by linking it to the middlegame or endgame.
4. use a chess database for your repertoire as "memory is fallible!) and you will need to review it frequently.

They also mention the "decomposition method" which consists of studying and playing basic endgame positions -- basically removing most the pieces from the board in common middlegame structures.

In studying endgames the claim the "improving spiral" can be best applied. I would compare this to how endgame table-bases are being created; basically solving the game backwards.

In studying tactics they suggest starting by themes and only later random.

They also defy some previous claims like "go through each variation once" and "blindfold chess is good for your chess"; going as far to say blindfold chess may actually be harmful to one's development. They also think that studying composed puzzles is useless.

They then reiterate DeGroot's earlier findings on the importance of "pattern recognition".

As the paper was built on past studies I think it pretty much shows what scholars think of how chess learning should be approached scientifically.

Personally, I agree with their suggestion of studying in chunks and repetition. It is easy to get overloaded when studying chess.
> 8 votes

---
Tags: learning, psychology
---


# Question
Title: Arena: How to have the engine only analyze and let me play as both White and Black
I enjoy watching chess videos where, say, an opening is analyzed and besides the main line, the lecturer also explores alternatives and explains why they are bad or good. I would like to do this exploration on my own.

The way I imagine doing it is playing as both White and Black on my Arena 3.5 with Stockfish engine installed. I'd like ot be doing all the moves myself, but having the engine explore possible moves only as suggestions.

For now, I am stuck having to stop the engine on every move by pressing the red cross on the rightside panel, undoing the move done after I press the cross, and performing my own move. How to set up Arena to work the way I would like, or perhaps there is alternative free software that does this?

# Answer
In Arena 3.5, you can hit the "Edit" button next to "Analyze", and continue doing moves. In the edit mode, it does not try to do a move automatically. If you keep the "Analyze" button as pressed, then it will analyze both sides of the game. I think this is what you are looking for. See screenshot attached.
> 11 votes

# Answer
I believe Fritz version something like 5.32 is available as a free download. Fritz allows you to plug in your engine of choice, so no problem using the Fritz interface with the latest free engine. Stockfish is fine and works on my setup with Fritz.

Once you do that Fritz has an infinite analysis mode which does exactly what you want.

Edit: Fritz 5.32 looks to be difficult to find. However ChessDB (http://chessdb.sourceforge.net/) will also do this. Just attach the engine of your choice and open an analysis window as you enter the moves on the board the analysis will show up in the window.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Keshav's solution works. But I tend to set the engine in infinite mode (Levels \> Infinite), and it never makes a move and also lets you input moves.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I think the free but excellent LucasChess software that is geared more toward tutoring may be a better option. ArenaChess is a great app with much flexibility but gives little attention to helping one to learn the game: it does not even include a hints option.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: engines, arena
---


# Question
Title: Classical Scheveningen: Why is ...Ne8 so rare in this position?
Black to move. This position from the classical variation of the Scheveningen occurs over 900 times in the Lichess database, yet ...Ne8 has been played only three times. The move seems strong: it prepares ...Bf6 followed by a trade of dark-squared bishops. Since white's DSB is bearing down on the black king, while black is cramped and his bishop sits apparently without prospects on e7, this trade is surely favorable for black. Indeed, my versions of Stockfish 12 and Leela both give ...Ne8 followed by a timely ...Bf6 as the best lines for black in this position. Leela gives ...Ne8 as the only move that retains approximate equality. Why then is ...Ne8 played so rarely?

```
[FEN "r4rk1/1bq1bppp/p2ppn2/1p6/3BPP2/P1N3Q1/1PP1B1PP/R4R1K b - - 0 1"]

```

# Answer
Haven't checked, but I would guess it is due to a combination of weaker players (the classical Scheveningen is not all that popular nowadays), most games being blitz or bullet and the move not being obvious.

While it might be the strongest move in the position, the maneuver Ne8, Bf6 is not obvious at first glance. It comes with some downsides which have to be carefully considered before deciding on it:

* the move removes one attacker from the pawn on e4 (even though it cannot be currently taken)
* the move blocks the rook on f8
* it moves an active piece backwards (at least a psychological factor)
* white could reply e5?! at one point which is not easy to calculate. It could either be a strong move blocking the knight (and therefore the Rf8) and lead to an attack on the black king. Or it could turn out to be weakening with black freeing himself and moving the knight via c7 to strong light squares in the center. In any case it is not easy to calculate.

Other factors could be the mentioned shorter time control, player strength, or perhaps some players preferring to move the Rf8 before Ne8.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: theory, sicilian-defense, scheveningen
---


# Question
Title: Can Black always choose seating position and clock position?
Watching tournament and competitive club play, players playing black sometimes switch the clock to their dominant side before the game starts without asking.

Presumably, having the clock on your dominant side compensates slightly for losing the first-move advantage because it makes it easier to operate the clock for you, it makes it harder for your opponent if they have the same dominant side as you, and it may serve as a small psychological crutch — particularly during blitz games.

But FIDE’s Laws of Chess state that:

> 6.4 Before the start of the game the arbiter decides where the chess clock is placed.

Additionally, I’ve seen Black switching the board around before either player has sat down so that they get the view of the room they prefer. IM Jeremy Silman even gives this tip in his “Psychology” section of *The Complete Book of Chess Strategy*:

> If you’re playing outdoors, don’t forget to face your opponent towards the sun (it worked five hundred years ago and it will still work today)!

Which must be a reference to this quip:

> Sit your opponent with the sun in his eyes.
> — Ruy Lopez, 1561

Two questions:

1. As black, will I get in trouble for moving the clock before the game without asking?
2. As black, is it an acceptable practise to ask to trade seats?

Answers can refer to casual play, club play, and tournament play.

# Answer
> 7 votes
It is an interesting question, but you already gave the answer. It is the arbiters decision where the players sit and the clocks are placed (so that the arbiter can see them best). When no official arbiter is present, the team captain of the home team acts as arbiter. These rules are for tournaments and club matches. Casual is of course different. If a player does not follow the arbiters decision he can get penalized (eg. time reduction, which happened few months ago at our club match, because of the exact same clock positioning question)

# Answer
> 5 votes
This is another case of USCF rules slightly differing from FIDE rules.

USCF rule 16L says:

> The director may require that clocks face a certain direction or that Black or White sit on a particular side of the table. In the absence of such a requirement, unless Black is late arriving for the start of the game (39A1), Black determines which side of the board the clock is on, and the player arriving at the chessboard first may choose either side of the table to sit on.

So Black can move the clock, but the first player there determines seating - and both of those are only if the tournament director doesn't require otherwise.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If your opponent is blind or has another physical disability, it is generally good etiquette to allow them to set-up the board, seating and clock to their preference.

---
Tags: rules, etiquette
---


# Question
Title: Can you help me with this serieshelpmate problem?
I found a different kind of problem, a serieshelpmate. I'm trying to get better by thinking outside of the box and solving different types of puzzles. So I found this one but I'm kind of stuck.

```
[FEN "1q4Nr/4K2k/8/8/8/8/1R6/8 w - - 0 1"]

```

Now, Black makes 5 legal moves without a reply from White. After that White gives a mate in 1. How? I am familiar with the rook and knight mate but I just can't see it.

(@NoamElkies found the source, **with solution**: Robert Pye, Irish Chess Union, November 2018)

# Answer
I found the solution by noting that

> * the rook can cover either one column or row
> * the knight already covers f6 and h6, so it's logical to let the rook take care of the g-file
> * we need the other black pieces to block the king's escape (but not being able to interpose a check by the rook)

It turns out that this sequence works:

> 1... Kg7 2... Rh1 3... Qh2 4... Qh8 5... Rh7 6. Rg2#

You can test it in the Replayer Sandbox; it supports null moves.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: checkmate, problems
---


# Question
Title: How to use Polyglot opening book bin file
I previously asked how to use polyglot in c# with a chess engine. My question then was not accurate. What I want to know is, what property(ies) of the bin file object I need to do the following:

I will parse a FEN string, then, I will access a property of this bin file that will allow me to generate a FEN string that's hopefully linked to a move, whether this move is in a pgn string of a game, or saved as a specific data struct.

Then I will compare my parsed string with such FEN string obtained by accessing a property of the bin file object.

Then, when I find a match, I will use another method to obtain the next immediate move, which is the one the computer should do, according to the game from which the move was obtained after finding a FEN matching the one I parsed in the first place.

So, I guess a pseudo code would look like:

```
 string extractedMove;
 string parsedFEN = "...";
 object bookBytes = File.Read(pathofthebookfile);

  string GetFENOutOfBook (string FENvalue)
{
   return  bookBytes.Find(FENproperty/Fenkey => FENvalue);
}

  public void GetMove ()
{
   extractedMove = bookBytes.moves[GetFENOutOfBook(parsedFEN)].ToString();
}

```

So can someone point me in the right direction to do this? I just need to know what properties I need to work with of the polyglot book bin file so I can create the logic to extract the move. Thanks in advance!

# Answer
> 7 votes
I have every reason to believe your approach is wrong and will lead to disaster. I'm saying it as someone who make softwares to work on Polyglot books (www.smallchess.com).

You are **strongly** advised **NOT** to do all the hard works like what I did before. Just wrap the C++ Polyglot code in your C#! Your time should be on your C# engine, not this.

Polyglot, although open source is not something you would like to port to C# unless you are super motivated. Why? Polyglot has bunch of hash keys. Screenshot on my source code:

There was never any good documentation on Polyglot, it existed mainly in source code. Today, not many people really know how that does (including myself). I understand only part of it, by reading source code.

That was the comment I wrote to myself when I started using Polyglot many years ago:

```
    /*
     * A PolyGlot book move is encoded as follows:
     *
     * bit  0- 5: destination square (from 0 to 63)
     * bit  6-11: origin square (from 0 to 63)
     * bit 12-13-14: promotion piece (from KNIGHT == 1 to QUEEN == 4)
     *
     * Castling moves follow "king captures rook" representation. So in case
     * book move is a promotion we have to convert to our representation, in
     * all other cases we can directly compare with a Move after having
     * masked out special Move's flags that are not supported by PolyGlot.
     */

```

Polyglot works like this:

1. Given a position, convert to a hash key. I have my screenshot for the conversion

2. Use the key to locate an entry in the book using binary search
3. Read the entry from (2)
4. Extract the chess move like:

# Answer
> 1 votes
The binary file consists of a number of 16 byte entries, formatted as follows first 8 bytes the position hash, next 2 bytes encode the move as mentioned in the previous post, the next 2 are the move weights and the final 4 are the move learning. The main problem you'll have is matching the position hash you generate with that used in the book, so you'll need to use the same keys as in the polyglot source code to match up, or generate the book yourself with your own keys.

---
Tags: opening, programming, books, polyglot
---


title: How can I remember Silman's imbalances?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I remember Silman's imbalances?
I can never remember Silman's imbalances when it comes time for a tournament. I can remember them any other time when I'm not all stressed out. Is there any way that I can?

# Answer
At the moment you are trying to remember the imbalances using declarative memory:

> Declarative memory (“knowing what”) is memory of facts and events.

Whereas you need to have the imbalances in procedural memory:

> Procedural memory is a part of the long-term memory that is responsible for knowing how to do things, also known as motor skills.

So you need to internalise the imbalances by practicing, for example using the *The Reassess Your Chess Workbook* by I.M. Jeremy Silman.
> 13 votes

# Answer
My experience shows me that in order to apply chess strategies during the game, remembering them alone is often not the main issue. There is a gap between just remembering a strategy and being able to apply it during your game.

If you want to improve your knowledge of imbalances, I suggest that you set up a few training positions from a book (or from your own games) and that you try to go through the list of imbalances in your particular position. You can even do that by looking at the book with the complete imbalances list if it helps. In the end, if you are unsure about some points on the imbalances list in your position, you can ask somebody (maybe a trainer or a friend) or even ask the computer to show you some example lines by playing moves on the board.

By setting up training positions this way, you will not only learn to remember the imbalances better, but more importantly you will understand them on a deeper level. This will allow you to apply them better in future games. Important is that you spend a sufficient amount of time on each position (e.g. 10 minutes) and that you don't already go to the next position after 2 minutes.

If a good chess player looks at a chess board, he doesn't go through a mental list of these imbalances. Instead he already has good working knowledge of them, such that he can focus on how to improve his position upon them.
> 8 votes

# Answer
I remember them as DIMPS (development, initiative, minor, pawn, space).
> 5 votes

# Answer
Minor Pieces Pawn Structures Space Material Files and squares Development Initiative

You shouldn't try to memorizing the Silman's Imbalances material but instead understand them so you will naturally use them in your play.

Here is how I would use these imbalances during the game: Opening Stage: Development and Initiative usually exists here so focus on these imbalances mostly throughout the opening.

Middlegame and Endgame: Minor Pieces Pawn Structures Space Material Files and squares

For Minor pieces and Pawn structures and material: Just think about the pieces While For Space and files and squares: think about territory.

So during a game: Just focus on these imbalances: Pieces and Territory Opening Stage: Development and Initiative.
> 5 votes

# Answer
**IMPLODeS**
I - Initiative
M - Material
P - Pawn Structure
L - Lines
O - Officers (referring to the Knights and Bishops i.e. Minor Pieces)
De - Development
S - Space
> 5 votes

# Answer
The list of imbalances Silman provides in *Reassess Your Chess* runs:

* Superior Minor Piece
* Pawn Structure
    + Doubled
    + Isolated
    + Backward
    + Passed
* Space
* Material
* Control of key lines and squares
* Development
* Initiative

You can see that a) There are 2 elements beginning with an "S", and b) There are no priorities offered

Since this is the case, you need to supplement this information with other material.

I found a very useful guide to thinking about both positional and tactical situations in an online course offered by VisualWize, who make chess visualization training software. You can find it ***here***.

There are both sections of content and exercises to practice what you've learned. I admit to using an amalgam of different methods that I've learned from multiple sources, but this is the closest I can find to a comprehensive system.

I realize that this doesn't assist you in memorizing Silman's Imbalances material, but I hope I've convinced you (or *will* convince you, when you visit the VisualWize site) that the material he offers is not adequately structured or comprehensive enough to work well without being supplemented by other content.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Categorize them!

1: Easy to assess - Material, King Safety, Development 2: More difficult - Pawn Structure, Space 3: Difficult - Statics vs Dynamics, Initiative, Key files/Squares/Diagonals.
> 3 votes

# Answer
My mnemonic is (MPSMFSDI): "My Playing Skills Must Find Simple Dramatic Improvement"-

Minor pieces/ Pawn Structure/ Space/ Material/ Files and../ Squares/ Development/ Initiative/

Though the how, what, why and where to APPLY these, in spite of owning Silman's books is far more difficult to implement, and I just can't seem to win any games using these methods.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I organize my thoughts this way:

**First priority: King safety/Obvious tactics and threats**

Then: Imbalances related to the board itself (that is, the battlefield)

**Space // Key Squares // Pawn Structure** // -- (I put pawns in this category because I see them as part of the board, when considered together as a structure)

Then: Imbalances related to the pieces:

**Overall Material // Minor piece activity // Development**

Imbalances related to the player:

**Initiative // Psychological factors**
> 1 votes

# Answer
Using mnemonics is one way, or a 'jingle' is another. How you do that is up to you, but repetition is the best way and you need to practice in real positions. You can take any Master game, review it, and periodically stop and do the assessment.

I've revisited this concept and I do the assessment by "color", meaning, assess each factor for each color separately. Whether this is practical in an OTB game is another matter, **but if you play correspondence/daily games on any chess server** that allows notes, it comes in handy A.F..

Let's assume you can remember the areas you need to focus on (a trivial matter, really). First, you need to look at your opponent's most recent move.

* Q1: What are your opponent’s THREATS?
* Q2: What are the CONSEQUENCES of your opponent’s last move and are the threats real?

Then, you want to assess the positional aspects for each color and come up with a list of things you want 'to do'. For example:

\[ dsB = Dark-Squared Bishop; lsB = Light-Squared Bishop\]

***Me (White, to move):***

* **Pawn Structure:** No weaknesses, potential d4 pawn break.
* **Superior Minor Pieces:** dsB=dsB; N vs lsB (to be determined)
* **Space Advantage:** In the center
* **Material Advantage:** N/A
* **Lead in development:** 4 moves to complete development; 0-0, Bg5, Nd2, Rd1.
* **King Safety:** after 0-0, king is safe
* **Control of a key file:** I control e5
* **Control of a hole/weak square:** e5; b6 is a hole.

"White has a space advantage in the center, controls e5, has an easy path to complete development, and a potential d4 pawn break."

***You (Black):***

* **Pawn Structure:** Doubled c-pawn
* **Superior Minor Pieces:** lsB is unopposed
* **Space Advantage:** Queenside
* **Material Advantage:** N/A
* **Lead in development:** Slight - 3 moves to castle and complete development
* **King Safety:** 0-0 and king is safe
* **Control of a key file:** 1/2 open d-file
* **Control of a hole/weak square:** e5 is weak for black; b6 is a hole

*"Black has a space advantage on the q-side, a doubled c-pawn, a weak e5 and hole on b6, a slight lead in development, and a 1/2 open d-file"*

***Both:***

* *Acquisition of the Initiative:* White has a slight initiative
* *Statics (positional weaknesses/advantages) vs. Dynamics (tactics):* Black has a positional weakness in e5 and hole on b6;
* Candidate Moves: 0-0 (king safety first here);
* Game Moves: 0-0

These are all 'sign-posts' to point you in the right direction and give you potentially good moves, and make you aware of the relevant factors in the position. I think it is super-important to play correspondence/daily games to hone this skill and get yourself to the point where it becomes 'second-nature'. Silman kinda makes it seem simple but it's difficult to read his book and bounce in a game and start doing it efficiently. You need to practice it. The fact that you cannot remember the relevant points is an indication that you need more practice at it, and Correspondence games allow you to do that and think slowly upon the concepts.

Chess is Hard. Good Chess takes work.
> 1 votes

# Answer
IMPORTS

Imitative

Material

Pawn structure

```
control of center
control of space
pawn weaknesses/strengths
    passed pawn
    doubled pawn
    isolated pawn
    backward pawn

```

Open lines

Rooks

Threats/tacitics

Safety of the king

Also IMPLODES was given in an old Chess Life article.

Don't remember Silman's elements, however I look first at combinations (including mating attacks), weak points to apply pressure, stopping opponent's plans, and, finally, improve most misplaced piece (including pawns to gain space).
> 0 votes

# Answer
SPSMCDI (Superior minor piece, pawn structure, space, material, control \[of key files, ranks, diagonals\], development, initiative) You can think of this as a phonetic acronym SUPPOSE MCDONALDS DIDN'T EXIST (SPSMCDI). just spell exist with an “I” instead of an “E”
> -2 votes

---
Tags: positional-play, memorization
---


# Question
Title: What is the legend of Ossip Bernstein, who supposedly played chess to save his life?
Wikipedia article reads as following:

> A famous story goes that in 1918, after the October Revolution, Bernstein was arrested in Odessa by the Cheka (Bolshevik secret police). He was ordered to be shot by a firing squad because he was a legal advisor to bankers. As the firing squad lined up, a superior officer asked to see the list of prisoners' names. Discovering the name of Ossip Bernstein, he was asked whether he was the famous chess master. Not satisfied with Bernstein's affirmative reply, the officer made Bernstein play a game with him. **If Bernstein lost or drew, he would be shot. Bernstein won in short order and was released. He escaped on a British ship and settled in Paris.**

Is this story entirely true? Any sources are there to support it?

# Answer
> 12 votes
The written sources appear to be:

1. An obituary on Bernstein by Edward Lasker (a friend of Bernstein) in the April 1963 issue of Chess Review, which is described in the link below, including a scan of the 1963 article itself: http://jewishchesshistory.blogspot.com/2009/09/alekhine-escaping-execution-definite.html

However, the US Chess Federation has made it also available on their site on page 104: http://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL-AND-CR-ALL/CR-ALL/CR1963/CR1963\_04.pdf

2. A book by Arnold Denker, mentioned in the Wikipedia article itself, 'The Bobby Fischer I knew and Other Stories'. Denker seems to indicate that he also heard the story from Bernstein himself and that he always believed it.

---
Tags: history, famous-players, famous-games, famous-events, international-master
---


# Question
Title: Is holding the opponent's captured pieces legal or allowed?
There was a controversial finish in a Canadian championship, where an opponent \[un\]knowingly held the queen of the other player. The \[victimised\] player wanted to promote his pawn to queen, but couldn't find it. Due to time pressure, he used an upside down rook instead of a queen.

The arbiter didn't allow this and the player ended up losing the game. The decision was not reversed even though there was a video evidence of the event.

In many chess videos, I see that even the great world champion Magnus Carlsen holds the opponent's pieces in his hands, of course without any ill intent.

Is there any rule or guideline for this?

# Answer
> 6 votes
The first thing to note is that even if the opponent is deliberately hiding your captured queen (or any other piece you might want to promote to) there is no excuse for using some substitute because the rules allow for a simple solution: stop the clock, call the arbiter and ask for the piece you require. It is part of the arbiter's job to do this.

Holding a captured piece or pawn is perfectly legal as long as it does not distract or disturb the opponent. Some players like to hold a captured piece between thumb and finger and spin it.

Gelfand is famous for doing this. He always does it under the table so that the opponent doesn't see it and so cannot be disturbed by it. If your opponent does this where you can see it and the movement disturbs you then you are within your rights to call the arbiter and complain.

---
Tags: rules, pawn-promotion, famous-games, pieces, famous-events
---


# Question
Title: How do I create sharp, tactical positions?
It is said that you shouldn't simply look for combinations every move; rather, you should create positions that tend to create tactical opportunities.

But what does this actually mean? I think my calculation is pretty good, and I strongly prefer to be in tactical positions whenever I think I can out-calculate my opponent. But how do I actually create these tactical positions? I play `1. e4`, I play gambits, but these aren't always accepted, and a lot of them have calm positional responses. And sometimes I find myself in a quiet middlegame where I don't know what to do apart from shuffle my pieces because the position doesn't lend itself to tactics and combinations.

What method(s) should I employ to turn a calm position into a sharp one? Does the method of doing this change when my opponent insists on quiet, positional chess?

# Answer
> 4 votes
There are two key principles:

1. Tactics can only flow from a superior position
2. Dissipating tension early is usually bad

What these tell us is that, first, it is important to follow sound general principles in the opening and early middlegame. So, develop your pieces, get your king safe and try and control the center. Developing tactics is going to be much more difficult if your pieces are not developed, your king is unsafe or you don't have control of the center.

Second, if every time your opponent makes a threat or offers an exchange of pawns or pieces you tamely exchange then it is going to be more difficult to generate tactics. Instead you should try and counter with threats of your own. Ignoring one threat and countering with a threat of your own will automatically increase the complexity of the position and make it more tactical.

There is a third important principle which materialists often struggle with and that is to view the values of the pawns and pieces not according to some fixed 1,3,5,9 system but according to what those pawns and pieces can do in regard of the current and possible future positions on the board.

Now for an example from the Closed Sicilian. In the Open Sicilian there is a tactical melee from the third move when white plays d4. There are captures and threats and lots of tactics. By contrast in the Closed Sicilian white avoids an early d4, there are no exchanges, open files or big tactical threats. It is all positional manoeuvering for control of the (closed) center.

```
[fen "r1bqk2r/pp2npbp/2npp1p1/2p5/2B1PP2/2NP1N2/PPP3PP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 0 1"]

```

Here it is white to move. Both sides have almost completed development. Black has still to castle and both sides still need to develop their queenside bishops. The only capture threatened is BxN by black but that isn't going to happen. No way is black going to exchange their pride and joy, the Dragon bishop. The struggle for the center is intense. Black is currently threatening to play d5 and, as all Sicilian players know, if black can play d5 then they have equalized and, in the minds of most Sicilian players are already halfway to victory.

To continue the fight white must stop d5 and the best way of doing that is with Qe1 lining up the queen against the king and so pinning the knight against the king is the e pawns are exchanged after d5. Black castles renewing the threat of d5. Now white has no way of stopping d5. All white can do to stop black equalizing is to come up with a counter threat but what? There are no obvious threats white can make, no obvious tactics.

The answer is to offer a pawn sacrifice with f5. On the surface it looks like black can just win a pawn with the obvious exf5 (gxf5 looks much more dangerous) but this is turns out to be a losing blunder. Better is to plow on with d5 anyway and maybe even offer a counter pawn sacrifice. Play could continue:

```
[fen "r1bqk2r/pp2npbp/2npp1p1/2p5/2B1PP2/2NP1N2/PPP3PP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 0 1"]

1. Qe1 O-O 2. f5 d5! (2...exf5? 3. Qh4! {and black is in trouble}) 3. Bb3 c4 4. dxc4 d4! 5. f6 Bxf6 6. e5

```

and what was a calm, positional struggle has suddenly exploded into a highly tactical game where lines are opening up, pieces are hanging and you better be able to calculate.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Don't try to play like Tal unless you really understand how Tal played. For every brilliancy that gets regularly published there are many fine victories that are less spectacular and less well-known. Even Tal could not not just turn on the combinative tap at will.

I strongly recommend reading The Art Of Attack in Chess by Vladimir Vukovic. An outstanding feature of this book is the authors discussion of what he calls the preconditions for attack. The most valuable benefit that I got from the book was the number of times that I refrained from committing to an attack, because I realised that I did not have those precondions. Always play the position that you have, rather than the position you wish you had.

---
Tags: strategy, tactics, positional-play
---


# Question
Title: Is there any free software to automatically analyze and annotate games?
I'm looking for free software that automatically analyzes and annotates chess games (post-mortem), preferably marking blunders, suggesting good alternatives, pointing out missed tactics (forks, pins, skewers, removing the defender, etc.). Preferably it should also generate some printable output (e.g. PDF) so one could ruminate away from the computer, and in front of a chess board. What do you guys use for this?

# Answer
> 13 votes
ChessBase will do what you're describing (enter the game, then tell it to annotate), but it is not free.

Scid is a free alternative database program, but it will not automatically annotate your game.

See this chess.com thread for more: Is there any free software to analyse the completed game?

# Answer
> 14 votes
# Arena Chess

Arena is a free chess application that has a rich and stable feature set. It should do pretty much all you need to do - except generate PDFs (not sure what you mean by that)

# Answer
> 7 votes
BabasChess is free chess software (good for play on internet chess servers) that has automatic analysis with Crafty chess engine feature. It is somewhat basic but is useful and I think BabasChess is good as free software!

# Answer
> 7 votes
Arena Chess 3.5: Play/load your game then use menu option "Engines/Automatic Analysis". You can set time, depth of analysis, etc.

# Answer
> 7 votes
Lichess allows you to import a game in PGN and automatically generates computer analysis for it.

# Answer
> 6 votes
The best free chess software I've found is the Tarrasch Chess GUI. At the link you can DL the interface and a compatible engine of relatively strong strength. It provides a decent enough opening database, and will give you computer evaluations for each move.

# Answer
> 6 votes
Most chess programs allow you to run an engine while you go through the moves of a game, and see the engine's evaluations. This is sometimes called a Kibitzer, Infinite Analysis or just Analyze. The program Chessbase and Tarrasch are examples of programs which do this.

Some programs can be set up to annotate, blundercheck or do a full game analysis. In this, you set how long the engine will look at each move, and what degree of error it should comment on. When it finishes its analysis, it shows you game notation marked with question marks and alternate lines. The programs that do this are Aquarium, Arena, Babaschess, Chess Assistant, the engine GUIs sold by the company Chessbase (Fritz, Hiarcs, Houdini, Komodo, Rybka, Shredder), Chessmaster, Chesspartner, Hiarcs Chess Explorer, SCID, SCID vs PC and the Shredder GUI sold by shredderchess.com. The engines Crafty and Yace also have an "annotate" feature.

On Windows, I use Chessbase, but I don't print anything out. On my Android phone, I use Chess PGN Master Pro, and on my iPad, I'll probably end up going with Giordano Vicoli's Chess\_Studio, for analyzing.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Having tried almost all known software and tools to analyze my games,
decodechess.com gives a learning experience that's not seen anywhere else. It's more than just annotations of the style you were looking for, but actual explanations! Really cool stuff, worth trying and they run a generous free trial and are looking for feedback. Here's a screenshot of their cool tab system:

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can get a good free PGN Viewer app from

PGN ChessBook

which comes with the very strong Stockfish analysis engine built in. It has some good tools for analyzing games, as described on

Automatic blunder check and game annotation features

The best annotated PGN game collections I could find were also added to my website at

Annotated PGN download page

It took me several days to find these. There are 950+ annotated games in “.pgn” files and I added every world championship match game ever played.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Android app Analyze This Pro (there is a free version too) has a feature to annotate and even comment on games.

# Answer
> 1 votes
A friend made this: https://www.chesscompass.com/ I think it's what you are looking for? Seems easy to use, and he's nice so I thought I'd try and promote it for him a bit.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I am surprised that no one has suggested Lucas Chess.

It's free and easy to use for analyzing your games, with customizable options for the analysis you want.

To analyze your game, you open your pgn file (tools/open or paste pgn) or create your own game (tools/create your own game) and then go to utilities/analysis/analyze. You can also play any alternative move after the analysis (as white or black) against any engine of your preference!

It also has many other features such as:

mate in 1,2,3 and 4, find best move, resistance training, tactics by repetition, play like a grandmaster, determine your calculating power, a large choice of internal chess engines, graphical analysis, generating tactical positions from PGN files, move trees, personal opening guide, training openings and many others.

---
Tags: software, analysis
---


title: The quickest selfmate in 1

text:
# Question
Title: The quickest selfmate in 1
How quickly can a legal game reach a position where one side **must** give checkmate?

This is in effect **Evergalo**'s reading (see his (now deleted) answer) of **Rewan Demontay**'s Question 33154; that question actually asked something else, but the selfmate question is nice too. **Evergalo** offered a game that reaches such a position in 6.0 moves, i.e. after Black's 6th:

```
[FEN ""]

1. e3 d6 2. Ke2 Qd7 3. Kd3 Qh3 4. Qh5 Kd7 5. Ke4 Ke6 6. d4 Qf5+ 7. Qxf5#

```

I found a solution in 5.5, that is, after White's 6th move (actually two very similar positions, which together can be reached in 660 ways according to Popeye 3.41).

> **Is 5.5 moves the quickest possible?**

> **If so, are there other solutions in 5.5 ?**

> **Has this puzzle appeared before?**

# Answer
Going to the dusty databanks in my skull, this indeed has been written about before. It appears in Journey Entry #153 of Tim Krabbe's Chess Diary. Since you define the ply count to the position before the selfmating move, the given examples are valid (although, Krabbe does not count the forcing move either, leading to counts of 5.0). This answers your second and third wonderings.

Here are the given games, which, unsurprisingly, all have Fool's Mate setups. All are 5.5 moves, the same as yours. I can offer no proof of optimality, however. I do think, though, that it *seems* unlikely that faster can be done.

```
[Title "Pim Blijlevens, Tim Krabbe's Website #153, 12/10/2001, PG in 6.0"]
[FEN ""]

1. f4 e5 2. g4 Ke7 3. Nc3 Kf6 4. Nf3 Kg6 5. Nd5 Nh6 6. Nh4+ Qxh4#

```

---

```
[Title "Pim Blijlevens, Tim Krabbe's Website #153, 12/10/2001, PG in 6.0"]
[FEN ""]

1. e4 f5 2. Ke2 g5 3. Kf3 Nc6 4. Kg3 Nf6 5. Nh3 Nd4 6. Qh5+ Nxh5#

```

---

```
[Title "Sasho Kalajdzievski, Tim Krabbe's Website #153, 12/11/2001, PG in 6.0"]
[FEN ""]

 1. e4 h5 2. f4 g5 3. Kf2 f5 4. Kg3 gxf4+ 5. Kh3 a6 6. Qxh5+ Rxh5#

```
> 6 votes

# Answer
For the record, my solution was

```
[Title "Help-selfmate in 5.5+0.5, NDE Dec.2020"]
[FEN ""]

1. Na3 Nc6 2. d3 Nd4 3. Kd2 Nf3+ 4. Kc3 b5 5. Nxb5 Rb8 6. Nxc7+ Qxc7#

```

(264 possible games), and the same with Nf3+ changed to Nb3+ (396 games; the simple ratio 264:396 = 2:3 corresponds to the counts of 3-move Knight paths from b8 to f3 or b3).
> 2 votes

---
Tags: problems, records, selfmate
---


# Question
Title: How does one promote a third queen in an over-the-board game?
Most chess sets come with only one spare queen, and according to the video in the question Is holding the opponent's captured pieces legal or allowed?, one cannot use an upside-down rook because is effectively the same as promoting to a rook.

If two queens are already on the board, how can one promote a third one?

# Answer
Under USCF rule 8F7:, it *is* acceptable to place a rook upside-down if a spare queen is not available.

> If the desired piece is not available to replace a promoted pawn, the player may stop both clocks in order to locate that piece and place it on the board. A player who cannot quickly find such a piece may request the assistance of the director. It is common practice, however, to play using an upside-down rook for a second queen. In the absence of the player’s announcement to the contrary, an upside-down rook shall be considered a queen.

Under FIDE rules, you can't use an upside-down rook as a spare queen, but you can find the answer hidden in the section about the clocks:

> 6.11.2 A player may stop the chessclock only in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, for example when promotion has taken place and the piece required is not available.
> 27 votes

# Answer
You pause the clock, call an arbiter and an additional queen will be provided.
> 22 votes

---
Tags: rules, pawn-promotion, otb-chess
---


# Question
Title: What are some free chess software for showing the best moves in the final output analysis?
I appreciate any free chess software that can be used for analyzing chess games. However, some of them are difficult to use, showing a large number of lines with many moves which are not displayed in the chessboard. As a result, someone has to be comfortable with reading chess notation to understand them. Another issue is that many chess programs show only the best line for each move in the final analysis output. It might be useful to also know the second or third best move for example.

I was wondering: how many **free** chess programs are there:

1. showing the best moves/lines (from best to worst) **and** allowing the user to navigate through them visually on the board?
2. rating each move (something like excellent/good/mistake/blunder)?
3. export an analysis concentrating all the above information?

Lucas chess is the only free chess software that I know satisfying all the above.

Scid is also close to that, but I think that it displays only the best line for each move in the final output (if this isn't the case, please describe how someone can see more than one line for each move in the final analysis using scid).

Is there any other free chess program doing all that?

# Answer
You can download Stockfish for free. It has a great UI. You can also use the engine with scripting languages such as python which we do for our app Chess Puzzle Blitz.

Stockfish: https://stockfishchess.org/

Both Lichess and Chess.com have analysis tools (you can load a PGN or FEN, or manually set a board).

Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/analysis Lichess.org: https://lichess.org/analysis
> 2 votes

---
Tags: analysis, software
---