Ep. 117 (S7 Finale): Online Chess "Doomsday Feature" to Stop Your Losing Streak

07/07/24 • 22 min

This week's episode is our Season 7 Finale (Season 8 coming soon...). In this light, laid-back, rapid-fire episode, Neal reacts to the enjoyable chess.com article 7 Hot Takes That Are Just True by Pedro Pinhata, a Sr. Digital Content Writer for chess.com.

Mr. Pinhata's 7 Hot Takes:

Stalemate Being A Draw Is Awesome
Chess.com Should Come With A Doomsday Device
Online Chess Is Better Than Over-The-Board
People Who Play 1+0 Bullet Are Not OK
1.d4 Is Better Than 1.e4
The London Is The Best Chess Opening
You Should Never "Never Resign"

📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at [email protected].

🎯 Our Links:

Mr. Pinhata's 7 Hot Takes:

Stalemate Being A Draw Is Awesome
Chess.com Should Come With A Doomsday Device
Online Chess Is Better Than Over-The-Board
People Who Play 1+0 Bullet Are Not OK
1.d4 Is Better Than 1.e4
The London Is The Best Chess Opening
You Should Never "Never Resign"

📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at [email protected].

🎯 Our Links:

Previous Episode

Ep. 116: The Truth About Bishops & Knights for the Club-Level Chess Player (Game Analysis #10)

This week, Neal discusses another instructive tournament game. We cover the following and more:

"Frustration" moves
Attacking the fianchetto pawn structure
When those h3/h6 pawn moves are good (or bad)
Moving the same piece twice early on
Useless one-move attacks
Bishop vs. Knight

Game Referenced: Neal vs. 1697 (G/90;d10)

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 b6 4. h3 Bb7 5. Nf3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. c3 Re8 10. a4 a5 11. Qc2 Rc8 12. Qd1 h6 13. Re1 Bf8 14. Bh2 e5 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nc4 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 e4 18. Be2 Nc5 19. Ne5 Qxd1 20. Rexd1 Bd6 21. Nc6 Bxh2+ 22. Kxh2 Re6 23. Nd4 Rd6 24. Nf5 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Kf8 26. Rd4 Ne6 27. Rd2 Rd8 28. Rxd8+ Nxd8 29. Nd4 Nb7 30. Nb3 Nd7 31. f3 exf3 32. gxf3 Ndc5 33. Nxc5 Nxc5 34. Bb5 Ke7 35. b4 Ne6 36. Kg3 Kd6 37. Bc4 c6 38. f4 f6 39. e4 axb4 40. cxb4 c5 41. Bxe6 Kxe6 42. bxc5 bxc5 43. Kf3 c4 44. Ke3 g5 45. fxg5 hxg5 46. Kd4 c3 47. Kxc3 Kd6 48. a5 Kc5 49. a6 Kb6 1-0

📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at [email protected].

🎯 Our Links:

Next Episode

Ep. 118 (S8 Premiere): Chess Improvement Realities (Also, The King’s Indian Attack Opening System)

Welcome to Season 8! Neal begins by discussing the state of the podcast and some harsh truths about chess improvement that are arguably not mentioned enough. The final segment is a discussion of the King's Indian Attack, an easy-to-learn, theoretically sound system-opening for White after 1. Nf3 or 1. e4. It can be played against any Black defense, but is particularly effective against the French, Sicilian, and Caro-Kann.

Referenced:

Sample Lines: