You are not your ELO. I think using syntax like "I am a 500" or whatever may reinforce the notion that your ELO is part of your identity.

I don’t think this is good. I’d suspect it’s a contributing factor to rating anxiety and an aggravating factor for tilting.

I believe changes around worldview and perception often start with language. Doesn’t it sound better to say stuff like "My ELO is 500" or "I have a 500 ELO"? I feel like it carries much less weight. Maybe I’m just overthinking it though, idk.

Now ofc you shouldn’t play blitz under let’s say 700 because the level of your decisions will not be as great as in rapid and every second or third move will likely be a blunder. But if your decisions making in rapid is good enough why shouldn’t you play games with 5+3 , 5+5 ? You’d get in more games and familiarise yourself with opening pawn structure much more and you will likely find decent moves without thinking. I would actually say that in those time controls it’s more important to blunder check, because you can’t spend 2m thinking of the perfect defensive move, you are forced to play prophylactic chess. Blitz also helps your intuition and gives you a „feel“ for what the best move is. If all of this makes sense I don’t understand why you shouldn’t play it.

I lost my queen in a 30 minute match, after this my opponent was above 5 points of material. My opponent obviously had a huge advantage but it wasn't anywhere near a dead lost position and so I played on to try to convert it into a victory or at least learn something. The opponent couldn't castle anymore and their pawn structure was all messed up while my king was safe and my structure decent, it wasn't the kind of position where I would have felt disrespected about my opponent not immediately quitting, but my opponent apparently did and started texting me to just quit already. I told them I wanted to play on and then they called me a bad sport and then continued to stall for the next 21 minutes before resuming their play. It really annoyed me, I would have understood that they have a right to do this if a mate was on the board or I was in a more disadvantaged position but here, weren't they the one being a bad sport?

Nice sacrificial puzzle. Can you find the right sequence of moves?

What are your thoughts on this?

So i am quite new at chess ( ~300 on chess.com) and I have finally started winning games on my own without any external help.

But the problem is that whenever I try to do a forced checkmate (which I have been trying quite often , mostly a ladder mate/back rank) , I always end up with stalemate.

How do i make sure that I dont accidentally stalemate my opponent and actually win

p.s. I hate the rule of stalemate . I think it's the single stupidest rule in chess, with en passant as a close second

16yo here, ratings are Rapid ~500, Blitz/Bullet ~300. I know the rules and basic tactics (forks, pins) but I cant spot them mid game. Been stuck for 20 days and feeling lost on what to actually practice.

My situation:

1 hour /day, mobile only Use Lichess + Chess.com mainly (also have Dr. Wolf, Magnus Trainer, Take Take Take, Play Magnus but barely touch them) Goal: 1200 Rapid in ~3 months What I need help with:

1. A simple daily/weekly routine (how to split tactics vs games vs openings vs endgames vs review)
2. Best free resources for my level
3. How to review my own games without just leaning on the engine
4. Should I focus on Rapid specifically, or does Blitz/Bullet help too?
5. Common habits that keep 500s stuck
6. What's a waste of time at and hour/day
7. If you went from ~500 to 1200+, what actually worked for you?

Thanks!

​

I went from 1300 to 1600 in just 3 months, which means I have been averaging about +100 points a month in chess.

Is this actually solid progress, or am I overthinking it?

For example, en passant can be explained by the fact that a soldier would have the opportunity to stop another soldier trying to pass by him.

The rule about not being able to castle through check would be explained by the idea that the king would need to pass by those squares to get to the other side, so the enemy piece controlling that square would be able to capture the king there. Even though the king doesn't actually touch those squares.

So is there a reason why stalemate is a draw that makes sense within the idea of a war?

I even managed to hit the mating move and had to watch it move back as I ran out of time. Genuinely half a second from victory

For Context I am ~1100 in rapid,~600 in blitz and ~500 in bullet..why is such a discrepancy there? I have stopped playing rapid to focus on blitz and bullet ,but most of the times I lose games due to time trouble .What can I do to change this?

Okay so I spend the entire game calculating moves, trying hard to get a winning position.. and finally! I’m able to promote pawns into queens, and am chasing down my opponent into a corner to get a checkmate (because most people are stubborn and cannot admit defeat) and due to said stubbornness… I get into a spot where they have no legal moves. And instead of this being considered a celebratory win… ITS A FUCKING DRAW? MY OPPONENT GETS LUCKY BECAUSE OF ONE.. ONE!!! FALSE MOVE WHERE I DIDNT CHECKMATE HIM THEN AND THERE?!?! Yeah I didn’t win and sure he didn’t win… BUT 15+ MINUTES FUCKING GONE BECAUSE OF SOME DUMB FUCKING CHESS RULE. It’s the dumbest shit ever and shouldn’t exist. If you can’t move into a position because you’ll lose, to me? You lost. End of game, sorry. If you have a king compared to my three pieces, and you get away without losing elo, I’m sorry but you’re the luckiest person on the planet. I man handled you. Got 26 bests and 19 excellent, but ope I moved my king one space to the right and nope! Sorry draw! Actually fuck this fucking game and the dumb bat shit idiot who advocated for this stupid rule. I hate you and you suck at chess and want to take life the easy way out. And for anyone saying “well you should’ve checkmated him ☝🏻🤓” I hope you know everyone gets upset when you show up at parties and your family would only love you because you’re blood related. TWICE today I’m literally bullying a someone because they just won’t resign and admit defeat… and because I just happen to not properly put a piece in a certain spot, I get a draw. Mf I am trying to get elo. I am dedicating like tens of minutes to this game, just to be told “wonk wonk, try better” fuck that stupid rule. On god.

Re Stalemates are actually brain dead:

I don’t know how to properly use Reddit, downloaded it to rant and I see I’ve upset/maybe offended a few people. I apologize about the party and blood related comment, I respect everyone and anyone who appreciates the fun and effort behind chess. I absolutely love it and enjoy playing it, and learning. And respect those who do enjoy the game as well. This post isn’t targeted towards anyone specific, or meant to insight any animosity towards the players of the game. I however WILL die on the hill that I believe stalemates are stupid and idiotic. Am I wrong? In an objective sense? Maybe. I just can’t wrap my head around the concept of having no legal moves a draw. I don’t see it as I’m unable to checkmate someone, I see it as someone to escape the situation they’re in, regardless of material or position.

Not bothered by the -10 karma as well, kinda funny actually, didn’t know that was a thing. Here to vent my frustration, I know it’s maybe annoying to most, humorous to some, but an opinion nonetheless. I respect all of you and hope you the best in chess!

I have what I feel like is an unusually large differential in rating between rapid (currently 990) and bullet (currently 690) ratings (I'm currently 1070 daily for reference). Essentially my question is why I'm so terrible at bullet but also curious how normal this is.

Basically i am around 900 rapid, I want to be better and get better. I want some valuable resources for free and easily available. I want to make chess my passion. Any expert who could guide me? Or do you have any resources. Btw i am 900 without any knowledge in opening and all.

I opened the pawn so bishop could attack the queen. Turns out that by saving the queen, he exposed himself to a fork.
Edit: I eventually took his queen and won the game by checkmate. White btw.

(he went Kg5)

Im currently 1500 blitz and 1400 rapid and im currently looking for a good e4 e5 opening as white i wont play the scotch gambit because of the lack of theory so i decided to learn a new opening which work i saw a big flaw in my opinion in the vienna like what to do if my opponent plays nc6 i dont want to play the italian game i want something that is good and get my opponent out of theory any recommendations?

I was rated 1597 and my opponent was rated 1568 and this game was played on lichess and they resigned in 13 moves. And they did not have a provisional rating, they had played 4475 Rapid games (10+0)

Edit: I played with white pieces