A: As long as we are talking not about tablebases which are theoretically possible to construct, but about humans, there is no such thing as “the best defense”. Depending on your style, experience, memory, tournament situation and other factors you can choose this or that opening.

I actually find this question very important in the sense that a large % of all the e-mails that I am getting are dedicated to openings and move orders. People keep asking what to play on move 4, move 5, move 9 and so on, depending on their expertise. My point is that players below master level should pay more attention to general chess principles, middlegame/endgame ideas and tactics. It’s a sad sight when someone memorizes a line up to a certain point only to squander all the advantage three moves later, or even hang a piece. Don’t turn yourself into a robot. Learn the technique of finding the solution as opposed to trying to remember the answers. If you understand the ideas behind each move, you will be able to create your own chess theory, which can later be improved based on your own and other players’ games.

A: It does. On the one hand, such books do contain blunders and outdated advice. On the other hand, in annotations the great players of the past share their views about the game. Those are both interesting from the historical point of view and instructive. Besides, in my opinion, it is much more interesting to watch a top GM commentate on his own games (even if he goes wrong from time to time) than to view the emotionless suggestions of an engine which don’t teach you anything. As a compromise, you can a) read the book b) try to improve on the analysis c) turn on the engine and see if you are better than Capablanca/Alekhine/et al.

Q3: How far do super GMs calculate? 15 moves? More? What do they see in a position that amateurs don’t?

A: GMs know a lot about:
a) To what depth should one calculate? Sometimes there is a need to look many moves ahead. Sometimes 2-3 would suffice.
b) What candidate moves to consider? In other words, a GM sees more opportunities for both sides than a weaker player.
c) How to evaluate the positions being analyzed? Often the problem is not to calculate a line accurately, but to understand who benefits from this transformation - theoretically and practically. At top level most games are lost due to misevaluation, not miscalculation.
d) They calculate faster and have a large bank of well-known positions to which they can refer when analyzing. When a regular GM starts thinking about how to convert an advantage in the endgame, a titan like Kramnik says that it's pretty much over already and moves on. 

Also, you should keep in mind that humans can’t calculate ALL the continuations. Saying that you calculate “5 moves ahead” means that you are able to visualize the positions 5 moves ahead that you find critical & evaluate them correctly. There is no guarantee of missing something important.

A: It is not about titles, it is about a challenge. Most people want to play opponents who are rated about as high as them or above. If you are begging a GM for a game, ask yourself: would you like to play someone rated a few hundred points below yourself? And what about coming home from your regular job and having someone say: “Ok, you are a lawyer/doctor/factory car worker/…”. Go “read my contract/buy me a medicine/fix my car/…”. Would you be happy about it? I hope the analogy is clear.

A: First of all, the official website has a fantastic coverage. Secondly, we are looking for the perfect balance: on the one hand, we would love to highlight the main events. On the other hand, we don’t want to be like everyone else (i.e., posting chess news all day long without generating much proprietary content). Anyway, we are open for suggestions. Never hesitate to send us a message and advise what we could do better and how!

A: 5’8”.

A7: I will be playing in the Russian Rapid Chess Championship in St. Petersburg from May 20 to 23.

	1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 12:51 13 ìàÿ 2013 ã.
	:-) you are same as my height.. awesome

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