Chess Thread

Nicodemus · Post Post #34 (isolation #0) » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:30 am

In post 26, Thestatusquo wrote:Another thing I find helpful is there is a youtube channel called thechesswebsite where he does run throughs of common openings/openings that he likes. It's not by any means a comprehensive understanding that he's providing, but it's usually a pretty good introduction to the basics.

I've been watching a few of this guy's videos recently, and while it is nice to see the strategies in action, the guy narrating the positions gets pretty annoying after a while. I had no idea it was possible to say "obviously", "simply", "just a simple development move", or "at the same time" so much in a 10 minute timespan, but this guy proved me wrong and then some.

Nicodemus · Post Post #42 (isolation #1) » Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:42 pm

Anyone thinking about going to the Chicago Open? I'm kinda considering it at the moment, because I could play in the U1100 section even though I think I'm quite a bit stronger than that now. It would be $120 just for registration though, and then I'd have to find someplace to sleep. Idunno, probably not worth it.

Nicodemus · Post Post #44 (isolation #2) » Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:35 am

Thanks! I'd say the chances of me going are less than 10% at the moment, but if I do the chances that I'll need a place to crash are about 90%, so that is really appreciated. Oh, and the registration is only $85 if you're rated under 1100, but I'd have to pay for USCF membership as well. If you're over 1100, it would actually be $200. Here's the info page I'm looking at if anyone else is interested.

Nicodemus · Post Post #47 (isolation #3) » Mon May 28, 2012 4:40 pm

Just got back from the Chicago Open. Did pretty well, although I lost one game I definitely shouldn't have. Ended up getting 5 points out of 7, good for a nine-way tie for fifth and a check for $66.67. Also, I made a seven year old kid cry and you really can't put a dollar amount on that, so I came out well ahead this weekend.

And a big thank you to Shea (pronounced Shay) as well for letting me crash on his couch and not even trying to rape me or anything.

Nicodemus · Post Post #49 (isolation #4) » Mon May 28, 2012 5:01 pm

Yeah, I actually had to use my birthday money from my parents to cover entry, gas, and food for the weekend, but I'm still happy I went. Haven't played in a tournament for a long time, and this was a great one to get me back into the scene.

Nicodemus · Post Post #58 (isolation #5) » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:27 pm

Amrun wrote:Nico, I think we would get along smashingly in real life.

^_^

The rules of chess are actually pretty easy to understand - you can probably learn them in under 10 minutes. After that, it's really just a matter of playing a lot and getting more familiar with the game. A great thing about chess is that to go from not knowing the game at all to being decent is actually fairly easy once you understand the rules and some of the basic ideas in the game. I would recommend watching both of these videos, and then trying to play a couple games online and see how it goes.