www.redhotpawn.com - safe for work - online chess

[benlav]

if you're keen, sign up and challenge me - benlav

It's simply online chess, but, you don't have to sit infront of a computer for hours on end playing. You might challenge me now, in an hour I make a move, then tomorrow you might make your corresponding move. Game could take a week or so, but you only do it when you have a quick minute. Might get a few moves in a day depending how you play. If you want to do sit down and 100% focus chess, this isn't it.

You can set it up so you get emailed when your opponent moves. It also has a handy iphone specific page (not an app).

So if you are keen, sign up and post your nick here for the world to see.

[Bobyoby]

Sounds like a good idea, I might give it a shot.

[Pyromanik]

Heh. I was going to make a system like this as a project a while back... I never got around to it.
Oh well, cool!

Interface could use a bit of a spruce up though.

[Munc_her]

The battle has begun

[Lone-Star]

redhotpawn... ohhh i see what they did there...

lol

[Tiwaking!]

I've signed up as: Tiwaking

I have tried using FICS before, but it kept crapping out during games (against a friend of mine who was on msn)

Edit: Dammit. I cant challenge you. You are playing six games already!

Edit2: Pyromanik. You and me, Birds Opening. lets go

Edit3: Belavs Games
Pyromanik vs Benlav: Close game, but Benlav is 'winning' here

1. f4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Nc3 e6 4. Be2 c6 5. Nh3

Benlav vs chattychick4nz: Benlav has already won this game. Can you see why?

1. e4 d5 2. f3 dxe4 3. fxe4 e5 4. Nf3 f6

The other games are inconclusive

[benlav]

Turns out I'm mr popular!

Will challenge you when i'm allowed to.

[Valvanite]

Id try it if i knew how to play chess.

something I never learned when i was younger. I had a Master system II

[Tiwaking!]

Id try it if i knew how to play chess.

something I never learned when i was younger. I had a Master system II

My only advice is: Give it a go!

Especially with this website, with the three day move limit you dont even have to care until its your turn to move.

The main problem with chess is that the players and fans arent very good communicators, so learning the game is like having your teeth pulled. Worse if trying to become GOOD at chess, because you hit the old brick wall of: "Great chess players are born, not made"


Chess: The 'Eve online' of board games

Chess attracts a rather large following from huge nerds, why is that?

Because Chess contains one of the biggest nerd draw cards, the 'cat-nip' of the nerd world, the cocaine of the intellectual

Problem Solving

The problem with problem solving is: If you are good at solving problems, you will never go back to them once you have the answer. You will never investigate the methods you used to solve the problem and, when asked, the usual reply is "Meh. I finished that one"


Chess contains the magic '70%/30%' split of Problem-Solving/Choice ratio. This means that 70% of the game is pure problem solving and 30% of the game is actual CHOICE

Okay. Im getting ahead of myself here


Tiwa and the Art of Gaming

Any decision in any game can be reduced to two incentives: PROBLEMS and CHOICES. This is the basics of the basics when it comes to game design

"Whats the difference?", you ask

A PROBLEM is something which has one BEST answer based entirely on what is required: For example "$2 + $2 = ?" is a problem. "There is an ice door in front of you, you have a flame thrower. How will you get through?" is another example of a problem

A CHOICE is similar to a problem, but there is absolutely no clear outcome/both decisions have incomparable value or that either option is fine (for good or for bad). For example "$4 can buy you either 2kg of Bananas or 2kg of Apples". This all comes down to wether or not you like bananas OR apples


Conclusion

Since Chess is 30% choice, this leads to a large and interesting number of variations that can occur. The best chess player on GamerHub (as far as I know) is frog. I may talk the talk but, like in RTS games, I get analysis paralysis


Speaking of which...

Before I do my next move, which wins big. I was pretty sure that Pyromanik was going to kick my arse in our chess game

1. f4 e6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bd6?

Not sure what he was thinking here

4. e5!

OM NOM NOM

[brucewillis2]

I'm disappointed. the title got me all worked up.

[Pyromanik]

I've signed up as: Tiwaking

I have tried using FICS before, but it kept crapping out during games (against a friend of mine who was on msn)

Edit: Dammit. I cant challenge you. You are playing six games already!

Edit2: Pyromanik. You and me, Birds Opening. lets go

Edit3: Belavs Games
Pyromanik vs Benlav: Close game, but Benlav is 'winning' here

1. f4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Nc3 e6 4. Be2 c6 5. Nh3

Benlav vs chattychick4nz: Benlav has already won this game. Can you see why?

1. e4 d5 2. f3 dxe4 3. fxe4 e5 4. Nf3 f6

The other games are inconclusive

1: We'll see.
2: No I cannot. Can he?

3: Looks like birds opening dominates foolish pyromaniks
You say you're not good Tiwa, but you seem to know an aweful lot.

Out of my 3 games, Benlav's is the only one I'm hoping for a shot in. lol.
The other is you, and I can see that going south quick.
And the last is a good mate of mine (aka Bigboss form these here forums), who has pretty much always dominated me, save on the very rare occasion, lol.

[Tiwaking!]

2: No I cannot. Can he?

The thing is, unless BOTH players miss the opportunity (which is unlikely in this case) then you can say that a person is 'winning' or 'losing'. Instead of making good on a threat, you can simply up the ante by threatening something else at the same time.

3: Looks like birds opening dominates foolish pyromaniks
You say you're not good Tiwa, but you seem to know an aweful lot.

Constant hidings from really good players will more or less teach you what you can and cant do. Also, there are some core 'ideas' to chess which, even if you arent a very good player, if you follow them then you'll always have a fighting chance

The 1. f4 Birds Opening is a very hard opening to play, but the ideas behind it are really simple: Control/prevent e5, pawn storm the king side, and protect f2 and h4, which are whites weakest squares.

1: We'll see.

Out of my 3 games, Benlav's is the only one I'm hoping for a shot in. lol.

The reason I called Benlav to be 'winning' here (1. f4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Nc3 e6 4. Be2 c6 5. Nh3) is because:

a) Benlav has not castled yet
b) Benlav controls and can control more space
c) The white knight on c3 is hemmed in by your own pieces

Fast forward to NOW:

5. Nh3 Ng4 6. Bxg4 Qh4+ 7. g3 Qd8 8. d4 h5 9. Bf3? e5 10. dxe5

Im going to call it currently Pyromanik is winning, just from material

How to play Chess: A primer

Good chess play consists of understanding two elements:

1) Space. The more places that your pieces can move to safely, the more space you have and therefore the more options your pieces have

2) Time (or Tempo/Tempi). The less moves your opponent can make, the more moves you have 'spare'. To paraphrase an old quote: Fighting isn't about winning, it's about depriving your enemy of all options except to lose. You gain time by either forcing your opponent to move (to avoid being eaten) OR making a move which performs more than one action (developing, defending or attacking)

Thusly: If you control the center with your pawns, this prevents the Bishops from attacking a castled king AND forces Knights to move down the sides of the board, which are the worst squares for knights as it deprives them of move options.

And the last is a good mate of mine (aka Bigboss form these here forums), who has pretty much always dominated me, save on the very rare occasion, lol.

Bigboss? I'll have to keep an eye on that game.

Ouuu! Thats a good looking game you've got there! Big queen side pressure AND a well controlled center. Thats definitely one thats going to be analysed later

As for our game.....um. Yeah :p OM NOM NOM!
Edit:

2: No I cannot. Can he?

Looks like he couldnt see it. Benlav....

1. e4 d5 2. f3 dxe4 3. fxe4 e5 4. Nf3 f6

The move here is: 5. Nxe4!

if 5. ... fxN then 6. Qh5+!

Black cant block with the pawn because of Qxe4+! Winning the rook in the corner. Black is forced to move his king which ends up being OM NOM NOM time for the white queen

[Pyromanik]

Im going to call it currently Pyromanik is winning, just from material

Wouldn't say that.

As for KratosNZ and I... you realise that I'm white, right?


I think a major problem of mine is I play too fast.

[Tiwaking!]

Wouldn't say that.

As for KratosNZ and I... you realise that I'm white, right?

Yes

Look more closely at the situation in your game. Although its not your turn, your weakest square is e4, but you still have the option of d3/d4. Blacks c bishop is sitting there waiting to be attacked by pawns and black hasnt coordinated an attack on your castled king yet

Our game, however, is almost at an end

[Tiwaking!]

Holy crap Benlav, did you see that Unicorn guys stats?!

Benlav vs Unicorn

Unicorns stats
Games Played: 6483

I've never played that many games of chess in my entire life. What a huge nerd.

Speaking of nerds, Im going through your game at the moment

Edit:
1. d3

I've had this opening used on me once before and I lost. Its called the Mieses opening and its not used very often

1. ... e5 2. e4 d6

A symmetrical opening. Symmetrical openings rarely favour black

3. Nb1c3 f5

Huge mistake. Blacks f pawn push is premature and does nothing.

4. Nc3d5? f4

Like I said, the f pawn does nothing but hem in the dark sqaures for its own pieces

5. Bc1d2? g5?

Better 5. b3 for a fianchetto. However: All of blacks opening moves have been pawns. Useless pawns at that

6. Qd1h5+ Ke8d7

Benlav puts the boot in

7. Qh5f7+ Bf8e7
8. Ng1f3 c6
9. Nd5b4 c5

9. NxB would have been better here, but black is getting its arse kicked so nothing is bad

10. Nb4d5 Nb8c6 11. g3 Ng8h6

11. Nxg5 would have been better since the bishop is pinned so cant take the knight

12. Qf7g7 Nh6f5??

Obvious blunder. OM NOM NOM

13. exf5 Qd8g8 14. Nd5f6 Kd7c7

Cruel. Cruel

15. Nf6xg8 Bc8xf5 16. Qg7xh8 b6

I would have resigned at move 13. Queen goes OM NOM NOM

17. Qh8g7 Ra8f8 18. Ng8xe7 Bf5d7 19. Qg7xf8 Nc6xe7 20. Qf8xe7 1-0

Man, what a thrashing

[Pyromanik]

Hah! man that guy's really bad for someone with that many games and a paid subscription...


Oh.
"prefer to play quickly."
I'd have though that they'd take it a little more serious after paying money...

[Tiwaking!]

Our game, however, is almost at an end

I spoke too soon about our game! You're putting up a hell of a fight

Hah! man that guy's really bad for someone with that many games and a paid subscription...


Oh.
"prefer to play quickly."
I'd have though that they'd take it a little more serious after paying money...

Plus there is a difference between 'prefer to play quickly' and 'prefer to play well'

He should stick to Blitz

[Pyromanik]

I spoke too soon about our game! You're putting up a hell of a fight

Plus there is a difference between 'prefer to play quickly' and 'prefer to play well'

He should stick to Blitz

1: yes, I can be a prick like that.

2: that's what I meant. Quick does not often mean well, unless a pro trains himself especially for it or something.
I tend to do the same thing when I feel bored or threateningly outclassed. But that's more of a "just get it overwith" attitude.

[Tiwaking!]

I tend to do the same thing when I feel bored or threateningly outclassed. But that's more of a "just get it overwith" attitude.

Good game Pyromanik!

Shit. That was too close. Am doing the analysis now

[nz_wing]

Anyone keen for a game now?

[Ngati_Grim]

I love chess but fear this would be another distraction.

My main issue is I play intuitively and prefer not to 'over-analise' moves...both a strength and a weakness!

[Tiwaking!]

1: yes, I can be a prick like that

1. f4 e6

I've never seent this response before, so I went with the 'Smother' approach of f4, e4, d4

2. e4 Ng8f6

3. d3 would smother my queenside play here so I just developed a piece

3. Nb1c3 Bf8d6?

Never put bishops in front of center pawns. Also: Be aware that when there are two pieces together like that, they can get pawn forked like so


4. e5 O-O

4. ... Bxe5 probably would have been the best option. Since the one idea of the birds opening is to pawn storm the kingside, castling king side early is a bad idea

5. exf6 gxf6?

5. ... Qxf6 was the best response. Castling kingside with now no pawns to protect the king and an angry, angry Queen coming hunting is a bad idea

6. Qd1g4+ Kg8h8 7. d4 f5

Smother attack complete: f4, e4, d4. Queen has to retreat though

8. Qg4h3 Nb8c6

In three moves it will be checkmate: Nf3, Ng5, QxP++

9. Ng1f3 f6!

This was an excellent block to Ng5. The right move at the right time

10. Bf1d3 Nc6b4

The bishop is pointing down the white diagonal. My idea was to sacrifice my way into attacking the h7 pawn. Nb4 always threatens the good old Nxc2+ King/Rook fork, but there really isnt any time for black to play that

11. Nc3e4!? Nb4xB

You chose the right move.

11. ... f4xN 12. Bxe4, which lets me keep my bishop and threatens mate in 1 unless f5, Rf7 or Qe7 is played

Its always good to keep your bishop pair and take away your opponents

The other move I was considering for here (which is where the fun began) was 11. Nh4! because of 12. Ng6+ which forks the King and rook (the pawn cant take the knight, its pinned by the queen)

12. cxd3 Bd6b4!?

This was a fun move!! I couldnt figure out the best response so thought "What the hell. We'll just eat each others pieces until one of us gives up"

13. Bc1d2 fxe4 14. Bd2xb4 exf3 15. Bb4xf8 Qd8xf8 16. gxf3 b6

This is one messed up position. However: Your bishop is pretty much stuck forever. Although I have two sets of doubled pawns, they are CENTER pawns meaning that unless you can free FILES to my king, you cant attack him with your pieces. The black Queen is actually pinned to the g7 square

17. Qh3g3 Qf8b4+ 18. Ke1e2 Qb4xd4

You cant actually eat any of my pieces. 18. ... Qxb2+ and I run to the safety of e3

19. Rh1g1 Bc8a6

One move away from checkmating me!

20. Qg3g7 1-0

Queen + Rook cannon is too big a weapon to stop

I love chess but fear this would be another distraction.

My main issue is I play intuitively and prefer not to 'over-analise' moves...both a strength and a weakness!

Its called "analysis paralysis" and happens in almost every game.

A good way to play chess is to think of it as something more familiar. Like.....hmmm....I dunno. Counter-strike


Chess is Counterstrike? Are you high?

Think of it this way: 5  v 5 on that accursed de_dust2. Terrorists move first. If one T 'guards' *cough* AWPS *cough* mid, he can warn the rest of the team how many defenders are going to B, or if any of them are rushing lower tunnels

This is the same as playing e4. Its safe and leaves open plenty of options for White

Playing f4 is like rushing long A. If you dont bring smokes and flashbangs then you're liable to get owned

Playing d4 is like rushing bombsite B. You can go in quickly, hold in the tunnels, run through lowers-mid-b, etc

[Ngati_Grim]

lol I'm fucked then.

[Tiwaking!]

edit:

Anyone keen for a game now?

A search for nz_wing comes up blank. What is your username?

lol I'm fucked then.

Make up your own opening strategy then. Or camp spawn (its called 'The Hedgehog' when you do that)/edit

Wouldn't say that.

As for KratosNZ and I... you realise that I'm white, right?


I think a major problem of mine is I play too fast.

So I was watching that game with interest and then it went to pieces!

11. bxa5?

WHY?! WHY?!

You're not using your pawns right! Pawns arent battering rams used to eat anything nearby, they're place-holders. Place holders!

Use them to deny opponent spaces, threaten pieces or as sacrifices to win

11. b5 would have reamed BigBoss's position


....live, you learn I suppose

[Pyromanik]

edit:

A search for nz_wing comes up blank. What is your username?

Make up your own opening strategy then. Or camp spawn (its called 'The Hedgehog' when you do that)/edit

So I was watching that game with interest and then it went to pieces!

11. bxa5?

WHY?! WHY?!

You're not using your pawns right! Pawns arent battering rams used to eat anything nearby, they're place-holders. Place holders!

Use them to deny opponent spaces, threaten pieces or as sacrifices to win

11. b5 would have reamed BigBoss's position


....live, you learn I suppose

No, not really.
This is pretty much how it always goes down. Right back to when we were kids, hahahaha
Why? Why: because the faster I play, the shitter I get.
I didn't see the queen lurking in the shadows
And I use pawns like that because they get in the way of the bigger pieces... never learnt a lesson I guess. I tend to move them when I don't want to move any other pieces... which apparently is often. But thanks for the tip, I shall keep that in mind from now on

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Like if I'd 19. f5 in our game... maybe... just maybe... (I hope I used that notation correctly?)