Yes, I watched ‘The Queens Gambit’
Like millions of other people watching the TV show rekindled my interest in the game, and what I’ve discovered is that things in the chess world have come a long way since I was last interested in the game in the 1990’s.
Well, it’s not chess that has changed but rather computing and the resources available to people learning the game. One such resource is chess.com
Some games I’ve played on chess.com and analysis
A very odd Greco-esque kings pawn game with a chess.com intermediate bot
Chess.com has may intermediate bots, most of which I can beat 50%
of the time, but there is one bot which has the following description :
Nelson knows that the queen is the best piece and he likes to attack with it as much as he can. Most opponents can’t punish his risky play. Can you?
As this suggests, Nelson gets his queen out IMMEDIATELY, and for a beginner like me this is pretty un-nerving.
It took me at least 30 attempts to beat this bot, and the game is below. The big problem is understanding the bot’s book of 4 or 5 defence lines to a kings pawn opening.
Often the bot will play a Greco defense line for a kings pawn opening. Those games I usually lose but on this one occasion the bot went gung-ho.
The key to this bot is to take his queen in an exchange and thereafter it’s just an ordinary intermediate bot.I’m quite pleased with this game, so I’ve annotated it 🙂
A more standard game against an advanced bot with a fairly long endgame
This game started out like a lot of others, with a very standard opening and defense. Usually I’d loose a game like this against an ‘advanced’ bot. But early in the game a few unusual moves were made that the bot seemed not to be able to handle, I think the game went too far off book.
Things I’ve learned so far
Here is an ordered list of priorities to consider when making moves in chess :
- Do you know a book move? If so, use it
- Think defense. Can your opponent fork/pin/skewer you in their next move? If so, get out of that position. Particularly avoid being forked.
- Is there a move that will allow you to fork or pin your opponent? If so consider taking that move.
- Decide on the piece you’re going to move
- Decide on a provisional move for that piece.
- Is there a stronger move you can make with that piece? Check every possible move.
- Is there an exit strategy? If you move this piece, can you get it back out safely should you need to? This is particularly important when moving knights.
Some general considerations :
- Know book moves and main lines for at least the kings and queens pawn openings.
- Focus on the centre of the board obviously
- Don’t panic! Some moves that look aggressive may just be passive.
- If you’re coming into the endgame and you have a chance to exchange knights/bishops, try to get rid of your opponents bishops. Bishops are less use than knights in the endgame because you can simply avoid the dark/light squares. Whereas knights can change colour.
- Stay mobile. Games in which all your pieces are pinning or being pinned collapse unpredictably.
- Chess is brutal, you’ll loose all the time in hideous and insulting ways. But it’s just a game, you can start again.
Good 3D models of the Lewis Chess pieces here:
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/games-toys/board-games/3d-printable-medieval-chess-set-pieces-obj-blender