I want to learn chess.

[KingDan]

Anyone up for a game, I play on chessclub.com and freechess.org handle KingDan on both.

Btw, e4 pwns. C4 is for pussies.

[dhaimon]

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1. the average guy is going to be your drinking buddy or something, and you 2 are't going to have the concentration to play chess. you can have a 'quick game of whist' or something, but there's no such thing as a 'quick game of chess'


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What? You never played bullet?

[DavidC]

Well...

Let's see.

First, learn tactics, because that's how games are won and lost.

Second, learn strategy, so that you can figure out what the hell's going on in the openings (this is stuff like pawn structure, and other things that I can't remember, it's been a while..).

To be honest, strategy is just long-long-long-term tactics, when you boil it down. It's just easier for a human mind to do strategic judgement than it is to accurately calculate tactical moves 30 moves in advance.

Third, learn openings. They're nice to know. Learn a few common ones first. But ultimately, let strategy be your guide.

For whatever reason, I love King's Gambit, and that weird one that starts with 1.e3

(Not sure what this is called, but it eventually brings both bishops to the center for a king-side attack).

This kinda makes me want to play chess again...

... wish chess.net was still free. Yahoo blows. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Anyone know of a good place to play online?

[DavidC]

... oh yeah, and learn all the checkmates (and I mean ALL the checkmates). In a timed game, you miss out on a lot if you have to figure it out as you go, rather than just memorizing them.

[zephed]

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1.e4...

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More like 1.c4. It pwns everyone.

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I'm just a newbie, I'll look into that though. Thanks. I guess this will get you off the hook for that crappy post about Led Zeppelin.

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I'm pretty sure 1. e4 is better.

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Depends. Especially at the lower levels everyone's familiar with e4, but they won't be with c4. You can get a bigger advantage by taking advantage of their weaknesses.

At a master level I think e4 is better.

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So, in your experience it is a good low-limit chess move?

[zephed]

Also, does anyone know of any flexible computer AI programs? I've downloaded a few free programs and there is one thing or another I don't like about them.

I want to play against a computer that can adjust it's "skill" level down to my level.

I'd be willing to shell out a few bucks.

[JaBlue]

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My personal recommendation is don't get too involved in the game. There's just way too much memorization and boring crap involved in my opinion.

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This opinion is way uninformed. I would wager that I will beat PopinJay afer playing 1. a3 which will stop all possibility of memorized opening variation.

While it is true that opening theory is constantly changing, it is not true that it requires memorization or being boring. Opening theory develops from actual games played. How could it be boring to go through those games if you like chess? As for memorizing the opening lines, it is a common mistake that poor players make that they simply try to repeat the moves rather than understand them. If you understand the opening you will have no need for memorization.

[JaBlue]

Would you do a serious analysis - as if it were your own game?

Generally it takes me 4-6 hours to analyze my games and it is hard work, so why you would offer this service is beyond me. But I may have to cash in on it to compare results next time I have an interesting game [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[Chiron]

Has anybody ever played "bughouse"? God that was fun to play with the other kids, back in my chess tournament days.

[CallMeIshmael]

Have you tried the Chessmaster series?

Its the most popular commercial chess software.