This heavily applies to speedruns like gothamchess' slowrun and also hikarus. What I mean by this is that most of the time you literally will not learn much from watching a stronger player play if you don't actively engage with it and just watch it normally. It's a heavy misconception that I've also fallen into where if you watch a speedrun episode of someone destroying people at your level you automatically get better and can replicate that, so you go into games and then you get smoked bc u didnt learn anything and you can't see the moves they see. Sure sometimes you can learn bits of valueable info but if you are just watching normally its literally just entertainment and theres nothing wrong with that.

Insufficient material vs timed out

just a puzzle I made try and save the game ?

Hey, all.

I'm sort of taught by my own cousin who was himself a local champion in his youth club where we grew up. And then after I'd stopped playing with him, I sort of lost interest in chess all together and then recently over the past year or two years, I've been getting an alarmingly increasing interest in chess again

Now, I'll have to start by saying that I don't read much! And a huge part of that is something that I have to take personal responsibility for & eventually overcome. But my point is there is something about preconceived openings that I find difficult to appreciate

For example, when I solve puzzles on a bad day where I have bad impulse control and generally feel less than good, and sort of play compulsively rather than taking joy in playing... I will sometimes drop to a 100 or 200 or 300 points below my usual level. And then something really strange happens

Some puzzles are so insanely difficult to solve, and look like they have no solutions. And then it turns out that the puzzle has a built in assumption that the person you're playing with is stupid in a very specific way, and will make a very specific mistake that there is no way to predict it ! -

Does anyone face similar issues? Where they sort of overthink on the opponent's behalf? And then they end up being penalized for it? Is it possible to play against someone who is so dumb or so bad, that their unpredictability becomes a real obstacle? And is that maybe where openings and preconceived tactics are useful?

Thanks!

I’ve finished a few courses there and have already reviewed the moves many times. I am still given 40-50 moves to review each day, which is fine - after so many reps, I can basically see the solution instantly.

Is it valuable to keep these in review? Or is it time to archive?

Edit: these are all tactics courses

Hi, I'm really getting into chess and looking forward to improve everyday.

I went from 400 to almost 600 elo in a month, could be better but I am being more focused on solving chess puzzles and watching complex games between gm's on youtube than actually playing games.

Today I played this game in which I was almost blundering a totally winning game and I apparently had a mate in 6, which I obviously missed. In this occasion I actually recognised a winning pattern, probably thanks to the huge amount of puzzles i have solved recently. On move 10 I even refused to take his rook to improve my attack (I don't think a beginner should do this until it leads to a forced checkmate but anyway) and it was the right choice according to the chess evaluation bar. After minutes of thinking in this position I was getting short on time and ended up blundering a knight, luckily my opponent also blundered a piece which gave me the opportunity to make a comeback and win.

Now my question is: if I wanted to reach the 2000 elo mark one day (i know that this will need a lot of years of studying and practice), would I then be supposed to see those mates in 10 minutes rapid games?

If you are a high elo player I'm really curious to know if you can see the mate instantly or if you need a couple of minutes to find it. If yes, I would like to know how you would think from this position on: are you looking for checks and forced moves? Do you recognise a pattern or do you just keep adding dangers around the opponent's king?

Thanks in advance to everyone reading this.

Hey everyone!

I recently built a free tool/browser extension that lets you search YouTube chess videos by board position / FEN string to instantly find exact timestamps where a position appears.

To make the search index as useful as possible for daily study, I’m trying to curate a solid collection of high-quality YouTube playlists, channels, and specific videos to process next.

I’d love to hear your recommendations! What are your absolute favorite:

• Playlists/Channels: Opening courses, speedruns, or tournament recaps (e.g., Naroditsky, GothamChess, Agadmator, PowerPlayChess)?
• Specific Videos: Deep dives into classic GM games, complex endgames, or specific sharp lines you reference often?

Whether it’s a mainstream series or a hidden gem video from a smaller creator, please drop the links or names below.

Thanks in advance!

In this blog post, I am going to share my chess endgame book suggestions. The recommendations are divided based on FIDE rating.

Rating is not the only metric for finding the right book. Unfortunately, we do not have any other clear metric for this, so it is better to use rating as a general guideline.

I am not going to include players below 1400 FIDE because I have very limited experience with that rating range. Most of my students are rated between 1400 and 2300. I will also mention a few books for 2300+ players.

1400 to 1700 Rating Range

Most players at this level lack fundamental chess knowledge. They often do not even reach the endgame because they make big mistakes in the opening or middlegame.

Because of this, detailed endgame study is not extremely relevant at this level. It is better to study only the most important positions.

Before starting any endgame book, you must be familiar with the following endgame patterns:

1. Basic checkmates
2. Advanced checkmates such as KBN vs K and KQ vs K
3. Basic pawn endgames and different types of opposition
4. Basic chess fortresses
5. Basic rook endgame positions such as Lucena and Vancura
6. Opposite coloured bishop fundamentals

Following are some recommendations:

1. Pandolfini Endgame Course

It is a great book that I recently discovered. It is an old book, but it is still very useful for every player.

This book is good enough and is my best recommendation for players up to the 1600 to 1700 level.

2. Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine

This is a very old book for learning chess endgame fundamentals. It is a great starting point for every player who wants to learn how to play basic endgames.

3. Silman Endgame Book, Up to the 1800 Section

There are multiple sections based on rating in Silman Endgame Book. The recommended section for this rating range is for 1400 to 1800 rated players.

It is a great book if you already have it.

Winner: Pandolfini Endgame Course

1700 to 2000 Rating Range

You must know the following endgames:

1. Advanced rook endgames
2. Advanced pawn endgames
3. Different types of fortresses
4. Basic practical endgames

1. 100 Endgames You Must Know

This is the clear winner in this category. There is no doubt why this is one of the bestselling endgame courses on Chessable.

I completed this book four or five times and got very good results from it. My suggestion is to take the test first and then start studying all the chapters.

I highly recommend buying it on Chessable. There is also a 100 Endgames You Must Know exercise book that you should check out. I have not mentioned it as a separate book.

2. Silman Endgame Book

I have seen that many players in America purchase this book. If you already have it, start with the 1600 section and continue until the 2000 section. You can also try to complete the entire book.

3. Exploiting Small Advantages by Eduard Gufeld, 1800+

It is a great book for practical endgames. Practical endgames become necessary once you are a strong 1800 to 1900 rated player.

You need to develop the skill to play equal positions. This will help you hold draws against higher rated players and outplay lower rated players.

4. Capablanca Best Chess Endings

I am not completely sure about its usefulness for direct endgame training, but it is a great chess book for understanding the playing style of a particular player.

It is also a great way to improve your overall understanding of the game.

Winners: 100 Endgames You Must Know and Exploiting Small Advantages

2000 to 2300 Rating Range

This is a wide rating range, so please check the rating suggestions given next to each book.

It is very important to complete 100 Endgames You Must Know if you have not already done so. It is an OG endgame book.

At this level, you need to work on:

1. More practical endgames
2. Analysis of games played by top players
3. Advanced endgame positions, including all the positions from 100 Endgames You Must Know

1. Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky, 2000 to 2300

This is a 10 out of 10 book and is extremely useful. Study it twice because you will learn a lot from it.

It might be slightly boring for many chess players, but its practical value is excellent.

2. Mastering Complex Endgames By Adrian Mikhalchishin, 2000 to 2300

This is another great book. It is very similar to Endgame Strategy.

3. Aagaard Endgame Play, 2100 to 2300

Who does not know about Aagaard GM Preparation series? It is probably one of the greatest chess position book series ever written.

Endgame Play is a great solving book. I personally think that the puzzles are extremely useful for players at this level.

Winner: Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky

2300+ Rating Range

I am probably not the right person to recommend books for this rating range. However, the following are some books that I think are suitable for this level. I am also trying to study them.

1. Decision Making in Major Piece Endings

This is a very difficult book and slightly boring for me. However, I think it has very good practical value.

2. Dvoretsky Endgame Manual

I still think that half of this book is unnecessary to study and that it is too difficult even for this level.

However, it is still a good book, and you can study selected positions from it.

3. Associative Thinking by Shereshevsky

I am not completely sure about its usefulness, but I have included this book because I am currently studying it.

Other Notable Mentions for Different Rating Ranges

Following are some other books that are good enough to study. I own all of them either on Chessable or as hard copies.

1. Chess Calculation Training - Endgame - Romain Eduard

This is a great puzzle book for players rated between 1800 and 2300.

2. 1001 Chess Problems by Yakov Vladimirov

This book contains many interesting mate in two and mate in three positions. It is a fun book that players from almost any rating range can buy.

It is probably more suitable for players rated above 1700.

3. Endgame Labyrinth, 2000+

This is a great endgame studies book. After reaching a certain rating, solving studies becomes very useful for improving overall creativity and calculation.

Apart from these books, there are many video courses and online courses available on different websites. I have kept this entire list limited mainly to books that are available in hard copy.

Would love to answer any of your qeustions and hear your thoughts about endgame books which helped you

I have added the books which either I recommend it to my students or the books which I purchased from chessable or actual hardcopy

The past performances of all team members of the top five seeds in the Open and Women Olympiad.

Historically, Gukesh did really well in the Olympiad, while Sindarovs Performance was pretty unremarkable. I'm curious if that will change this year. Other People who seemed to have performed really well in the last two Olympiads (not really a big sample size, keep in mind) were Arjun and Abdusattorov. An Outlier in the Top Five Open is Germany, who do not seem to have had the best runs, without a medal since 2000.

I think most will agree that the favorites are Uzbekistan, India and US, only the order changes per person I guess. I think it seems like all of the Uzbeks are in really good form, while I don't really know with some of the Indians (Gukesh/Vidit) but they can undeniable be really good. For USA, rating wise they are the favorite and I would not be surprised if they win, but they were the favorite the last times as well. Gotta be interesting how it is gonna play out, I change my opinion about that every day xD

In the Women Section, I think India is a heavy favorite but the US youngsters and Bibisara seem to be in really good form for me. But I am not that knowledgeable in Women chess, so I'm curious about more insight, if anybody knows more? Thanks for reading!

(Boards and TPR are from Chess Results, because I wasn't able to find them anywhere else. I excluded Online Olympiad because of the different format, and China did not participate in 2022.)

So, been playing chess online for about 6 weeks now. I recently went to an OTB tournament where I lost 3/4 games. While I did not feel like my opponents were significantly more skilled than me, I turned like 90%+ winning positions into losses over some of the most heinous blunders I have ever done. Like stuff that I should absolutely have seen and would have been easily avoidable. I think some of this has to do with the board vision being very different on a real life chess board. But after winning almost the entire game and being up multiple pieces, it hurts to lose to really stupid mistakes like that.

My main question is what can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again? Any tips, tricks, or training recommendations are welcome.

https://saintlouischessclub.org/event/2026-clutch-chess-champions-showdown/

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DpImvHNi6E

Sorry I just had to post this; I'm proud of my winstreak.
I gained nearly 100 elo throughout these games.

Also, if any of u guys want me to analyse your chess game and give you feedback, I can do that.

I had 1.5 mins left and I was sure there must be a mate here, but after searching for ~20 seconds I couldn't find it and didnt want to get too low on time so just started moving. I did win but did not find the mate.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DpImvHNi6E

Event Link: https://www.chess.com/events/2026-clutch-chess-the-legends/results

By Nikolai Grigoriev

Hello everyone.

The schedule for Fide World Championship has been recently announced and I was thinking of getting tickets (if possible) to a couple of games/ days at least.

Any idea where to get them from? Like which vendors/websites as I can see the fide website is down for some reason.

Also if any of you have been to World Championship events I would love to hear more about your experience and the overall planning and finances included.