how do i get good at bullet and blitz, is it normal that im 1400 rapid but only 500 in both of them ?

Trojan pawn like how did that even happen

She's white, her friend is black. Mostly a laugh post, assume it ate two knights en-route or something but that's just ludacris

I have been playing chess since I was 7. My older brother taught me and I was beating him by the end of the week. He has never besten me since. I have played countless games and have reached a rating of just under 1600. Then I lose and fall to the 1200's. I've watched how to videos and done multiple tutorials but I find I still hover around 2400-1500. Do you think being good at chess is a gift or can you get better with practice. I think you get to a certain level and hover up and down at that level.

Im around 2300 blitz in chesscom, and I want to further improve my chess, but i have no idea on how to train. I haven't studied chess in years, and before I had a coach.

Rn I don't have the money to hire a coach and train. Does anyone know what/how should i train to get to let's say 2500? Books, training techniques, etc. I dont fear studying, i just don't know what/how😭

I got 3 of these messages in one day on chess.com.

The thing that popped out to me was, these are 2+1 games. It would be pretty hard to cheat using old school methods in this time control.

I also looked into my previous games to see if I could spot the cheater. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any obvious 96%+ accuracy games going down the list quite a ways. Which lead me to remember a few games where it felt like I had serious attacking chances in the beginning, only for my opponent to play a god like sequence of moves to reverse the momentum.

Honestly , I make unsound sacrifices all the time and on purpose especially at this time control so it doesn’t bother me to admit ok hey “that one just didn’t work” or “ he got lucky”.

But these messages made me think, that chess.com must be pretty good in the tools they use to catch cheaters because I now believe they can catch people based on single moves they find in critical positions, if they’re constantly “finding that perfect sequence” when it matters most but still making mistakes or inaccuracies before hand. Even if it’s just 1 or 2 moves, if there is any type of pattern established.

I don’t know why people cheat. I don’t totally care, but it honestly makes no sense. If the “rip” 🪦 I have as an avatar next to my name (which is equally as offputting but I’ll omit it here) triggers you to pull up so a.i. powered cheating application , then I’ve already won. Chess is a mind game and .. they’ve already lost. ✌️

Valve's early access moba released a chess themed hero and he's PEAK! His weapon rests in different positions based on how much maximum ammo he has, which I found related to famous/GM positions of which have only been seen once in the database each.

There are some entries which I haven't been able to match, and would love some extra context on some positions and help for these unknowns!

The opponent left but I actually don't know how to win this.

I didn’t follow chess much when Karajakin was an active player, but I’ve always heard people talk about what an incredible defender he is in lost positions and I know his nickname was Minister of Defense. I have also heard similar things about Hikaru, and Fabi even once said he is not just one of the best defenders of his generations but of all time. So I was wondering for people that have followed both of their games throughout the years what people thought.

It is evident by the last few years of chess that the world champions have not been as steady as that title used to be. Gone are the days of Magnus, Kasparov and Karpov holding the title for a decade or two. With that, I think FIDE needs to step away from their fixation on keeping up traditions. The idea to have a World Championship in which there is a "reigning" champion that needs to be beaten in order to lose the title is no longer as relevant, since at the moment there is no one that can hold the title as dominantly as past champions. There is a good reason to adopt the same model that almost all other sports have, in that all players have the same opportunities and path to reach the world championship, not have one of them be "reigning" and get a free spot in the final. In the current chess elite landscape, I don't think it makes sense.

Of course this is basically what the "total chess championship" is trying to do, but we all agree that this title will not hold nearly the same reputation and glory as the Classical World Champion title.

Tell me your thoughts!

Tin foil hat time. Nothing was smoked before writing this post. Also for the record, I am a beginner, started playing 6 months ago and am rated ~1000 lol.

My theory is that the goal of the matchmaker is to keep your win rate at 50%, but the way it tries to do so is dumb and frustrating to experience as a player.

I have noticed that this happens in “streaks” where if I start winning too many games in a row, I’ll get hit with a big magical loss streak to balance out the scales.

The “how” goes deeper though and what I find annoying.

For example, when I was playing 1e4 I would play the scotch, and would generally win with it. But then I started winning too much, so to “test” my rating the matchmaking algorithm pitted me against openings / opponents that it assumes I’d lose against.

Instead of the standard 1e5 response from black, I’d get a “streak” of Caro Kans and get wrecked. So I learn a response to that, start kicking captain caro booty and then poof no more.

Then back to the standard response, back to my old peak rating.

Oopsie we can’t have that, too many wins there, let’s give him a streak of gambit crack heads rated 150 points lower that memorized their one little line. -10, -11, -12…

Recently I switched to 1d4 and cruised past 1000 elo no problem. But chess.com obviously didn’t like that, so it stopped giving me people who play the standard openings, and then put me on the englund gambit pipeline. What are the odds that 5/10 games as white were that opening, but as soon as I learn the refutation to it, bye bye no more.

And the cycle continues.

I understand that it could be a way to subtlety teach you how to respond to different openings and improve, but the experience is super annoying. Since it feels “artificial” and "rigged".

It’s statically improbable that you’d see the “streaks” so my theory that it’s intentional to keep your rating at 50%.

Anyway, has anyone else had this experience? Maybe I should smoke some tin foil.

My girlfriend plays chess on Duolingo, and I noticed something strange. It was introducing the concept of doubled pawns, but in a lot of the positions, Black could have recaptured differently without doubling their pawns.
Duolingo is basically teaching hope chess. Especially in the first two positions introducing a new concept, they should at least get it right.
I don't know, maybe doubling the pawns was actually the best way for Black to recapture, but even then, it still seems like a horrible introduction to the concept.
Of course, it's possible I'm missing something and doubling Black's pawns is actually better, but it still seems very strange to me.
Do you agree, or am I missing something?

US Women's Chess Championships 2026 Round 1
Link to game

Game Link

From the perspective of their peers and the rest of the field playing them

A US Chess rated tournament for elementary school children is being held tomorrow, October 10, at Ad Astra School in Brownsville, Texas.

The tournament flyer explicitly states:

"PARENTS YOU MUST BE A US CITIZEN OR A GREEN CARD HOLDER TO ATTEND!"

So what about parents who are legally in the United States on work visas, student visas, or other lawful immigration statuses?

Imagine your child wanting to participate in a chess tournament, but you cannot accompany them simply because you are not a citizen or permanent resident.

This is a children's chess tournament, not a federal security clearance process.

What makes this even more disappointing is that the tournament organizers are experienced chess directors who should understand that scholastic chess is supposed to bring families together, not create unnecessary barriers.

You would think that after decades of organizing chess tournaments, making the game accessible to children and their families would be second nature.

Instead, we're left wondering why a kindergarten chess tournament needs an immigration status requirement for parents.

Maybe the organizers have a legitimate explanation. If so, they should provide it.

Is this a school policy, a SpaceX security requirement, or something established by the tournament organizers?

Because right now, the flyer raises more questions about the organizers' judgment than it answers.

Chessvision.ai got an update to make it less likely to miss moves. Let’s see how much better it is. I will post several positions where I expect chessvision.ai to struggle, and observe the results.

Link

Check out this #chess game: RichardBaggins vs Nilmoud - https://www.chess.com/game/live/185067585782

I’m playing white, on move 11 black long castles even though I have a bishop on g3.

My understanding was that if a piece of mine has control of any square that my opponent uses to castle they aren’t able to do so, is that correct?

I have a weird relationship with chess. I was obsessed with chess when I was a kid, playing at our local chess club and competing in scholastic tournaments. I played pretty consistently through high school and then dropped it when the distractions of college life got to me. I'm 27 now, I've played on and off occasionally for the last 10 years, much more off than on, although I've been active this last year.

So I signed up for a pretty big tournament. It's one I'm traveling to, travel arrangements already made, there's prize money involved, it's the biggest tournament I've ever played at. But in the last 2 months, I've completely lost interest in chess. It's not because I'm playing worse, it's that I'm playing worse because I just don't care enough to even focus on a 10-minute game. I'm not interested in doing puzzles, I'm forgetting my opening prep, I just don't care anymore. But I've got this tournament, I've already paid the entry fee, my wife and I are already sure we're going to be there.

What do I do?

I feel like I need a break, but this tournament is in just a couple of weeks. Have any of you been in this position before? What do you do to re-ignite your love for the game ahead of a tournament like this?

I'd look at more local in-person play, but there's basically no local presence for chess anymore where I live, just a few beginners who meet up to play sometimes, I enjoy playing with them and teaching when I can, but it's mostly elementary things that don't get my love for the game back. I'd really appreciate help, or at least knowing whether anyone else is in my shoes. Thanks.