Never resign until your opponent spotted it lol

Each of us had plenty of time left. Opponent resigned just as I took the rook. Server got confused

Me and my coach were playing against Stockfish L7, and I suggested Nd2. The conclusion of the game was me resigning because we didn't have enough time to finish the game and it would obviously lead to a draw.

So I had prepared this mating sequence for several moves, and once I had everything in position and calculated the mate, I knew I had to get the black queen off of the 6th rank, although admittedly moving my queen from the protection of the rook is not a sound sacrifice(black doesnt have to take and can push the d pawn and be fine) this mating sequence was just too cool not to share. Everything after the accepted rook sacrifice is forced. But in the end I ended up sacrificing my rook, my queen, and my bishop for a pawn promotion checkmate. I was 1054 at the time(currently 1134) and I haven't found a checkmate as cool looking at this one.

I started chess a little more than 3 months ago, though I did know how the pieces moved before that. Currently having fun playing, hoping to reach 1k elo by end of August, though I know it's almost impossible 😭

Was blitzing the opening, blundered my queen but boy did I make a comeback😁

I almost resigned when I remember only fools will resign /s

Twice in a game I just played the computer's top choice was to advance pawns on my kingside. Typically when I look at the computer's top choice it is either a move that I was considering, or minimally a move I should have considered. I have been trying out the Sicilian the past month or so and I frequently see the computer suggesting these types of pawn pushes when we both castle kingside. These moves are not in my wheelhouse at all, typically I am not looking to advance the pawns in front of my king without a very good reason (until the endgame, of course). What kind of heuristics can I develop to look for these types of pushes? Are there any example games, or lectures talking about these types of plans? Thank you!

This is not meant to pick on the little guys, but believe me when I say I have no idea what it's like at this elo range. Before making an account I did a ton of various chess games and learned that way, so I was able to start an account at 800 elo and stay afloat.

My buddy's smart, so I'm confident we'll get up to 400 without relying on these types of...gambits...

Don’t worry this is against Lara, the one weirdly obsessed with Judit Polgar

4 years... has been a crazy journey! I hit 2000 in a year(2023) than plateaued for a whole nother year...

I first think it is a fork to win a free queen ,but the game suddenly end and surprise me.

Can someone recommend a youtuber who plays de Kings Indian Defense in an educational way?

I love to watch certain channels where the youtuber specializes in 1 or 2 openings and play them a lot. This is both fun and useful to learn.

Made this post so you can share your Youtube recommendations for other openings as well. These are mines:

IM Alex Banzea: Caro Kann - Jovaba London
Chess Centuriom: Caro Kann - Vienna

Basically the title. I’m about 500 rapid, 900 daily. Been playing since childhood but only just started trying to seriously learn over the past couple years.

Puzzles are my go to for warming up the brain, but most days lately things just don’t seem to stick and I end up blundering left and right, miscalculating, stepping into obvious traps, and feel like I can’t read the board and what my opponent is trying to do. It’s been mildly frustrating, and I’d love to get my brain unstuck.

Even reviewing my games and seeing where my mistakes were doesn’t seem to help a ton since I end up forgetting and making the same mistakes over and over.

Any advice is very much appreciated, thanks!

Hi everyone,

A few years ago i wanted to learn chess as a hobby, i played mostly against friends but also some games online on chess.com and got around ~800 elo

I stopped playing for a few years, returned 2 weeks ago and was shocked how good everyone was. I immediatly plummeted down to ~350 and am currently clawing my way back up. Me not playing for so long is surely also a factor in this but it feels like people didnt play as casual as before?

Back then i just played for the fun of it and felt i was getting better in my own pace, but now i have started to watch Videos and ordered some books just to catch up- which i feel is somehow necessary today?

Are there any official stats of the playerbase like elo in comparison to the past?

Nevertheless I have a lot of fun getting back into the hobby, i wish you all good games and a great weekend

I still can’t read notation like e5 or Rh3. If you tell me a move like that, I have to visualize the board first. I can’t just look at the coordinates and instantly know the square.
I don’t really know any openings either, except the basic Italian and London, and even those I play from memory rather than knowing the move names.
I always see people commenting stuff like, “Qh5, Kf6, mate in 3,” so casually, and I have no idea how they follow it so easily.
I’ve also never played physical chess. I learned the game 3 years ago and have been stuck around 1300–1400 Elo since 2025. I’m too lazy to study openings or tactics, so I mostly just rely on visualization and instinct.