cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18315517

I wanted to share a personal experience that might resonate with some of you. I've been diagnosed with ADD and major depressive syndrome, and for a long time, I struggled to enjoy over-the-board chess.

The fast pace and constant need for focus left me feeling drained and frustrated – blaming myself for not being able to concentrate.

Then, I discovered correspondence chess! This format allows for a much slower pace, giving me the time I need to analyze positions and make thoughtful moves. It's been a game-changer. No more pressure, just the joy of strategic thinking without the stress.

Do you ever feel like traditional chess isn't quite the right fit?

If you struggle with focus or find the fast pace overwhelming, correspondence chess could be for you! Here are a couple of options to get you started:

• ICCF.com (International Correspondence Chess Federation): This is the official platform for serious correspondence chess with tournaments and rankings.

• Daily Chess on chess.com: This is a more casual option where you can play correspondence games at your own pace.

Let me know in the comments if you've tried correspondence chess, or if you're interested in giving it a go!

I stumbled upon Opening Master the other day and am quite tempted to buy the Golem subscription and use it with Scid.

Have you ever used their databases? If yes, can you share your thoughts please?

In particular:

• How is the quality of the compilation?
• Are there any annotated games in the database (like ChessBase)?
• Is it as large as they claim it to be?
• Does it receive proper regular updates?

Also: GTE. Chesstempo rapid.

Description: "Featured is a playthrough of a blitz chess game between Rodrigo Vasquez and Vladimir Kramnik from an Early Titled Tuesday event which was held on October 17th, 2023. Kramnik recently admitted, via a YouTube comment on this topic of fair play surrounding him, that he played several tournaments under someone else’s chess.com account. This act violates chess.com’s Fair Play Policy. Kramnik played under Denis Khismatullin’s account, “Krakozia”. I share reasons why this is a violation of fair play policy, how a player can be negatively impacted because of it, and provide Kramnik’s YouTube comments where he attempts to explain it all."

It wasn't a very long game but I had 0 inaccuracies, 0 mistakes and 0 blunders!

The London is the first opening I've learnt, I've been practicing it for a while now and I'm feeling like I'm getting good at it.

Maybe it's time to learn another opening. Any suggestions?

For black, between QGD and Slav/Semi-slav, which do you prefer and why? I am trying to understand what is appealing on both sides and why you make the tradeoff of potentially blocking in the your light square bishop. Personally, I respond with the Nimzo Indian as black, and when playing as white I hope for QGA or Catalan.

Showed up in my feed on another site.

I'm assuming it's expecting Qxb5, Nxc7+ with a royal fork. But what's stopping c6 or Nc6 instead, keeping the black Queen in a position to protect c7?

For those of you that haven't come across him, GM Sadler is active on mastodon (@gmmds@mastodonapp.uk), and posts some really exciting and interesting content on his YouTube channel (https://m.youtube.com/@SiliconRoadChess/videos).

I'd summarise his videos as using a variety of engines to produce unique, engine approved yet human comprehensible attacking ideas, often in opening/middle games, but he's also analysed some famous human endgames with these engines. While they're not necessarily good videos for beginners, I think anyone over ~1200 OTB will get a lot out of his videos.

If you want a good example video to see if it's for you, his/Dragon's Qd2 idea in the Pirc is a great example (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DuFfJwBgMD8), though I'd encourage you to flick through and find a video on an opening that you play.

I'm sure many here are already familiar with the Chess Page 1 youtube channel, but I've been watching them lately and figured I'd make a post for anyone else who might be interested. It's entertaining, and I love how they lay out the information. The editing and short format is easy to digest, and I find myself retaining more info from this than anything else I've watched.