Looking for a chess partner

[Fonze]

I love chess; wondering if anyone here wants to whoop my ass in a game ;p

Say, one or two moves a day; keep it casual. I suppose we could try to arrange a time to play at the same time, but given the nature of being online one or two moves a day would prolly be the path of least resistance.

We can do it in PM's or just in this thread if you want witnesses to the murder; just remember to pay them all off or it'll come around to bite you in the keister.

As for communicating moves: I figure the old standard should work well for this, though pictures might be possible to do.

Little into about myself:

Spoiler

I'm not the best chess player, but I've been playing for about 20 years. When I was young I was always told that you had to learn to lose to learn to win (which I'm not sure if that was just an excuse to keep me coming back for more ass whoopings or not, but beside the point) and I've lost a lot of matches. Enough to teach me a good general defense and an unpredictable offense. I love to learn and chess is one of those games that always teaches you something, so it's something I very much enjoy to do, though I don't get enough practice against human opponents as I'd like. It's been about a year (8 months; feels like a year) since my last match against a human and at least 6 months since my last match against a computer, so I'll be a bit rusty; but much like beating up a bicycle, you never really forget, heh.

Anyway, let me know if you want to take me to school in a game some time; I look forward to it!

[Linguica]

paging Grazza, Grazza report to threadid 85823 please

[Chezza]

You make yourself sound like a terrible player, never really better than anyone you played but after do many defeats you are now "decent".

I bet you're some sort of human computer who can defeat a general player in 3 moves. You cheecky man.

[Fonze]

Lol! Nah, I've never entered a tournament so I can't say how I am in the world. I've won most of my last matches, barring the most recent, for whatever that's worth, though keep in mind it's not like any of those games were intensely competitive. I'm just not a huge fan of talking myself up.

I'm not a terrible player, don't get me wrong, but I'm also most certainly not a human computer. I couldn't even tell you the name of most popular offenses and defenses. I've just lost a lot and love to learn, so where ever that puts me in the spectrum. But I tend to do somewhat random things at times (because I like to play sneaky, for better or more often worse) so I have good games and bad ones.

Anyway, if anyone wants to try a game I think it'd be fun; win, lose, or draw I'll have a good time.

[stewboy]

Sure, I play chess! Are you on any online chess sites? I use gameknot.com myself. If not:

1. e4

[Fonze]

Ah sweet stewboy. I look forward to a good game :)

And no, I'm not on any online chess sites. Maybe one day I'll take the plunge.

Stewboy      Vs.      Fonze
1. E4                 B6

Also, totally willing to do more than one match at a time, y'all. I got multiple boards that have equally ambiguous pieces that people hate to play with (me too sometimes, heh) and an app on my phone which might just be a better idea because it apparently does have a save feature and the pieces are easier to tell apart, which is helpful. So anyone else that wants to play a game feel free to drop in and say so :) Though I suppose we'll all have to resort to either PM's or spoiler sections to not clutter things up too bad.

[Doomkid]

Well I love chess but I've never done it through text.. I always was just like "duh it's first move, pawn go two"

I'm about to go to sleep so my brain is like 30% functional but tomorrow I'll figure out how to do it via text and begin a match :)

[Fonze]

Heh, yeah I've never actually finished a game through text/messages, but hopefully this site will help you learn how to notate it:
http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/basic/notation/notate.htm

[nxGangrel]

You could always play with this guy

[stewboy]

2. Nf3 if we're continuing in this thread!

[scifista42]

How many moves does a chess game between experienced players usually have? Dozens? Hundreds? I read that the statistical average is 40 moves per a game, but I think that must be with all obvious uneven matches and given-up games included. Anyway, I'm all for (passively watching/reading) this, I'm curious what kind of interesting-something would come up from a lengthy chess game thread if this became one.

nxGangrel said:

You could always play with this guy
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ykuly6nYFTg/UJii7SLk6tI/AAAAAAAADWU/0fy3TZb6ua8/s1600/Geri's+Game.jpg

Looking at the pieces on the chessboard (assuming that there's a chessboard with a chess game in progress on the table where he sits), he must be a really good player.

[Fonze]

Ok, first off; to Stewboy:

Spoiler

interesting move; an early castle or a plunge at the middle? Rhetorical question, of course.

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6

Let's make a bloodbath ;)

That's an interesting question, scifista. I'm not sure what the "real" average number of moves would be, taking out uneven matches, though I can't really imagine it being too far apart from that figure of 40 that you posted, maybe 50. Keep in mind that the majority of chess is waiting and thinking. Just thinking about how a game can last for hours or days might make you think that moves in the triple-digits are common, but that is not the case.

If we assume that the victor eliminates every last one of the opponent's pieces, that's 15 moves plus a checkmate. Of course it is not necessary to eliminate all pieces, either. What's going to prolong the game is setting up blocks, chasing pieces around, and playing defensively. From my experience, one of the biggest, most important thing you can do in chess is to not waste moves (and try to get your opponent to waste theirs). This usually occurs when one player is chasing a piece(s), such as a queen, for a really common example. If I can put your queen in immediate danger while deploying my troops to places I want them to be anyway, then you are wasting moves trying to keep her safe. Bonus points when you move her back to a square she stood on previously, heh. On the flip side, and just as common, is when I try to chase your piece around the board, only for you to continue deploying troops while I've still been moving just the one. If we are to assume that there really is much of a difference between starting as white or as black, then imagine what you do to yourself when you waste moves.

Tying this back in; an experienced chess player will do everything possible (that is still beneficial) to not waste moves, while capitalizing on any opportunities to force their opponent to waste theirs. As a result, expert games do not go into the 2-hundreds and whatnot. Really most games won't, save two people that are inexperienced and do everything to not lose their pieces, which simply is not the name of the game. The goal is to kill off all of your subordinates so that they can't rise up and end your tyrann-- wait, what are we talking about again? Heh. Seriously, chess is a war-simulator where you are the general; the goal is to win by any means necessary. Those little stone pawns may have little stone families back home, but if it's victory or them (or your queen, for that matter) well, I guess it's time to start dating again (or conscripting for the pawns). Little out of random with the analogy there, but you get my point. I would assume most expert players to play offensively, because much like Doom DM once you have the advantage it's easier to keep it. An expert would play proactively, instead of simply retroactively responding to his opponent's moves. That's one move ahead right there, which can be a very big deal when schtuff hits the fan. From my experience, expert players (and computers, for that matter) only chase pieces when it clearly benefits them, such as "free moves" to deploy pieces in the beginning. Of course 2 big parts of chess are blocks and covered areas, so all experienced players do this and this always prolongs strategies that rely on busting through those areas.

But even two expert players will have short games, as well as long ones, simply due to human nature and the way that things play out.

[stewboy]

Fonze said:

interesting move; an early castle or a plunge at the middle? Rhetorical question, of course.

Haha you're reading way more into my thinking than I am :P

Spoiler

1. e4 b6
2. Nf3 Ba6
3. Bxa6 Nxa6 (just to save time!)
4. d4

[Fonze]

Spoiler

Good move on the trade! I was hoping you wouldn't do that so I could get a move ahead and maybe even mess up your castle, heh. But I'm a little puzzled as to why you went for d4 instead of Pe4-e5. Looking at this, I just can't let you take the middle. This move kinda kills me, but I went for a gamble of a start and while I'm not hurting too bad, it could have went a little better ;p Now I'm still a move behind with no presence in the middle and my knight is against the wall. But that's not to say it's too much of a hinderance; at least the knight is out. Still, I just cannot let you freely take such a position on me. This sacrifice sucks, but it's not too bad.

Also, I hope you don't mind a little chatter while we play; this ain't a tournament and is very much a casual game, so I'm more interested in having fun and continuing to learn than putting on a poker face to win, heh. Though I won't (and won't expect anyone else to) freely give out my strategy before it's time/relevance is up.

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5

Well, I got my physical board set-up the other day, but I just remembered this phone does screenshots, so I'm gonna switch it up to use whatever the name of this generic chess app is so I can make moves easily while at work and take screenshots. I think it'll also make things easier to visualize if there are any people crazy enough to spectate a chess game, heh. Then again, I think this will be a good match and it'll be cool for me to look through this thing at the end to analyze it.

[stewboy]

I'm not sure why you would do that.

Spoiler

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nxe5

[Fonze]

Spoiler

I had to; if I hadn't you'd have taken a great position at e5 with your pawn, especially with the other pawn covering him and the knight covering them both. That great positioning you could have had confuses me because you went for d5 a couple moves ago instead of advancing Pe4-e5 while it was a safe move. Now the oportunity has passed for that position, especially with the movement of that knight. I think I would've pawned forward to c3 if I were you with the last move I (as black) made, but then again I can only speculate as to what your strategy is and being human there is a good possibility that I'm missing something here. But I went for a gamble of a start so I gotta make up some lost time in the middle while I can. The same reason you don't know why I did that is what killed me to make that move, but I had to; well, either that or start trading off pawns right in front of my king, which I'd prefer not to do yet. Seemed a smaller sacrifice, but *I think* I'm glad that you didn't pawn up to c3. Idk; I'm out of practice, so I don't expect every gamble to pay off, but I have to gauge you in the early game and I still have confidence in my ability to recover. We'll see ;)

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4

[stewboy]

I am interested to see your reaction to this one.

Spoiler

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O

[Fonze]

I'm suddenly happy I stayed up too late.

Spoiler

I guess I'll have to keep it simple while I skirt disaster. Pawn up. Good castle, btw.

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6

[stewboy]

Spoiler

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Nf3

[Fonze]

Well I guess I got a kinda-pin out of the deal so that ain't quite so bad. Course this may wind up in a trade, heh.

Spoiler

I was almost hoping you'd move Ne5-c6 so I could get you in a trade with the knights, heh.

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5

[stewboy]

Spoiler

7. Nc6 Kd7 and I've lost my Knight, that's why I didn't do it.

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8. Qe2

[Fonze]

Well I don't like where you got me right now; I'm just barely avoiding disaster with each move at this point. All isn't lost, but I think I might be a hurtin' unit.

Spoiler

Ah true; assuming I'd've thought of that; hard to tell. But that also assuming I allow you to draw my king out, which I might not have been willing to do; once again, hard to tell.

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8. Qe2               Pb6-b5

[stewboy]

That was actually an interesting response that I hadn't thought of to my threat.

Spoiler

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8. Qe2               Pb6-b5
9. a4

[Fonze]

Had to stop you somehow, heh. I guess you might just wind up taking him with the pawn and advancing the rook out to take the knight, but there's really not much I can do with the knight, so I'll prolly just have to wait and let him go on my terms, lol. For now, I need to deploy more attackers and get em out of the back.

Spoiler

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8. Qe2               Pb6-b5
9. a4                Be7

[stewboy]

Spoiler

1. e4                b6
2. Nf3               Ba6
3. Bxa6!             Nxa6
4. d4?               E5
5. Nf3xe5            Qh4
6. O-O               d6
7. Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8. Qe2               Pb6-b5
9. a4                Be7
10. axb5

[Fonze]

This is definitely a good game; I know I'm sweatin' bullets as I await each of your moves, lol. My position is just horrible, though; it's a shame that I'm about to lose that knight, but there wasn't much else I could do. I wonder if you'll take him with the rook or with the pawn.

Spoiler

1.  e4                b6
2.  Nf3               Ba6
3.  Bxa6!             Nxa6
4.  d4?               e5
5.  Nf3xe5            Qh4
6.  O-O               d6
7.  Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8.  Qe2               Pb6-b5
9.  a4                Be7
10. Pa4xb5            Pg5

[stewboy]

Spoiler

1.  e4                b6
2.  Nf3               Ba6
3.  Bxa6!             Nxa6
4.  d4?               e5
5.  Nf3xe5            Qh4
6.  O-O               d6
7.  Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8.  Qe2               Pb6-b5
9.  a4                Be7
10. Pa4xb5            Pg5
11. bxa6

[Fonze]

Bout time something went my way... I think, heh.

Spoiler

1.  e4                b6
2.  Nf3               Ba6
3.  Bxa6!             Nxa6
4.  d4?               e5
5.  Nf3xe5            Qh4
6.  O-O               d6
7.  Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8.  Qe2               Pb6-b5
9.  a4                Be7
10. Pa4xb5            Pg5
11. Pb5xa6            Pg5-g4

[stewboy]

Spoiler

1.  e4                b6
2.  Nf3               Ba6
3.  Bxa6!             Nxa6
4.  d4?               e5
5.  Nf3xe5            Qh4
6.  O-O               d6
7.  Ne5-f3            Qh4-h5
8.  Qe2               Pb6-b5
9.  a4                Be7
10. Pa4xb5            Pg5
11. Pb5xa6            Pg5-g4
12. Nf1

[Caffeine Freak]

The way that I got a lot better at chess was simply by downloading a chess app for my smart phone, setting the difficulty to a reasonably high level, and playing it whenever I had some spare time. For a while, I basically lost every game, and then started winning more and was able to progressively scale up the difficulty. The thing is, a chess program may not replicate the unique thought processes and strategies of human players, but it tends to be punishingly merciless against any mistakes you make, so it's a great teacher. After a while of playing with the app, I played some games against people and found that I was much better than I had ever been.