61 sats \ 7 replies \ @ek OP 6 Sep
Life is hard
just learn some chess openings and you’ll already feel way more like you know what you’re doing and have fun
maybe there is a life lesson in there
reply
Don’t focus on memorizing openings. Memorize concepts instead and your chess will crescendo into tough solid chess!
Separate the game into three stages and study them all individually.
Early game, middle game, end game.
Goals for every early game:
  1. Control the center of the board
  2. Develop your minor pieces (knight, bishop, rook)
  3. Get your king out of the center (castle)
Do these three things more efficiently than your opponent and you will secure a nice middle game for yourself.
reply
21 sats \ 3 replies \ @ek OP 6 Sep
You're right, thanks for writing it out, I was too lazy for that. I wrote a little about that in #582522:
Even though I am not very successful, learning and applying chess openings, their goals (piece development, controlling the center etc.) and some common ideas like pinning pieces or forks made chess really fun! I now feel like I actually know what I am doing (or should be doing) instead of just randomly trying to win or hoping for blunders.
Is the mid game when pieces are traded? And end game when the queen is lost?
reply
There is no definitive transition into the end game. Essentially when most of the pieces are off the board. Rook king pawn vs rook king pawn, queen end games, rook rook king vs rook rook king… an endless list really.
Studying end games is what really made me (finally) feel like a chess player. This book changed my entire game and I recommend it strongly for anyone trying to get better.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek OP 6 Sep
There is no definitive transition into the end game. Essentially when most of the pieces are off the board. Rook king pawn vs rook king pawn, queen end games, rook rook king vs rook rook king… an endless list really.
Maybe a sufficient (but not necessary) condition for being in the end game is when you try to promote pawns faster than your opponent. 🤔
Studying end games is what really made me (finally) feel like a chess player. This book changed my entire game and I recommend it strongly for anyone trying to get better.
Cool, thanks for the recommendation! 240 pages doesn't look too intimidating.
reply
Not at all! And it’s written in such a way that you can just go slowly one end game at a time. No need to read the book in a linear fashion either.
reply
how do small text
reply
40 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek OP 6 Sep
<sub>like this</sub>
the real cheat code is to go to #674135/edit though
reply