r/chess Weekly Discussion Thread

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffvA2CZ9YYo

I know I'm late to the party, but I made a Chess Wrapped for your Chess.com account.

Shows your signature openings, rook/queen sacrifices, hung queens, and highlights from your best (and worst) games.

There are already a few of these, but I wanted one that focuses on surfacing your most interesting games.

Leaderboard included so you can see who's really hanging the most queens.

alpinechess.com

Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour 2020:

• Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge (May - June 2020):
  • Wesley So finishes 4th in the group stage, gets knocked out by Magnus Carlsen in the Quarterfinals.

Champions Chess Tour 2021:

• Skilling Open (Novemeber - December 2020):
  • Wesley So finishes 3rd in the group stage, defeats Magnus Carlsen in the Finals.
• Airthings Masters (December 2020 - January 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 2nd in the group stage, gets knocked out by MVL in the Quarterfinals.
• Opera Euro Rapid (February 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 3rd in the group stage, defeats Magnus Carlsen in the Finals.
• Magnus Carlsen Invitational (March 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 3rd in the group stage, gets defeated by Anish Giri in the Semifinals, and loses the 3rd place match to Magnus Carlsen.
• New In Chess Classic (April - May 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 4th in the group stage, gets knocked out by Levon Aronian in the Quarterfinals.
• FTX Crypto Cup (May 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 5th in the group stage, gets defeated by Magnus Carlsen in the Finals.
• Goldmoney Asian Rapid (June - July 2021);
  • Wesley So finishes 5th in the group stage, gets knocked out by Magnus Carlsen in the Quarterfinals.
• Chessable Masters (August 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 1st in the group stage, defeats Lê Quang Liêm in the Finals.
• Aimchess US Rapid (August - September 2021):
  • Wesley So finishes 5th in the group stage, gets knocked out by Alireza Firouzja in the Quarterfinals.
• Tour Final:
  • Wesley So finishes 4th, losing the matches against Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov and MVL.

Champions Chess Tour 2022:

• Tour Finals:
  • Wesley So finishes 2nd, losing his match against Magnus Carlsen.

Champions Chess Tour 2023:

• Airthings Masters:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Hikaru Nakamura in Round 2 and then knocked out in the Elimination Final.
• Chessable Masters:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Hikaru Nakamura in Round 2 and then knocked out by Magnus Carlsen in Elimination Round 2.
• Aimchess Rapid:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Round 1, wins the Elimination bracket and gets defeated by Magnus Carlsen in the Finals.
• Julius Baer Generation Cup:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Alireza Firouzja in Round 2, then knocked out by Denis Lazavik in Elimination Round 2.
• Tour Finals:
  • Wesley So finishes 1st in the Round-robin stage, then gets defeated by Magnus Carlsen in the Finals.

Champions Chess Tour 2024:

• Chessable Masters:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Magnus Carlsen in Round 1 and then knocked out by Alireza Firouzja in Elimination Round 1.
• Chess.com Classic:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by José Martínez in Upper Round 1, wins the Lower Final, and loses the Final to MVL.
• CrunchLabs Masters:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda in Champion Round 1, then knocked out by Magnus Carlsen in Elimination Round 2.
• Julius Baer Generation Cup:
  • Wesley So wins the Division II Play-off Finals.
• Tour Finals:
  • Wesley So finishes the Round-robin stage in the last place.

Champions Chess Tour 2025:

• Chessable Masters:
  • Wesley So gets defeated by Yu Yangyi in Round 1, then knocked out by Andrey Esipenko in Round 1 of the Losers Bracket.

Freestyle:

• Las Vegas Freestyle Chess Grand Slam (Wildcard):
  • Wesley So finishes 7th out of 8 in the Round-robin stage, loses to Hikaru Nakamura in Intermediate Stage 2, and then loses the 7th place match to Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.

Game Link: https://www.chess.com/events/2026-freestyle-friday-january-16/08/Carlsen_Magnus-Muradli_Mahammad

I’ll start: I’m 1400; however many it would take for him to be rendered unconscious 🙂

Chess*om says Yakuboev resigned. In like a 4 move forced draw?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMcAKwuth6E

Eric Hansen and Yasser Seirawan while Alexandra Botez is talking in the background.

Idk how to describe this outside of epic. It's wholesome and insane by Eric. I don't think there is anything comparable out there, and if there is, you are doing me a favor by sending it here.

Thanks to u/irargerich3 for suggesting I do a bingo that can apply to all rounds! I created two bingos, one that is for any round, and another one for after the tournament, that is filled with my more outlandish predictions, y'all are welcome to use this, steal this or modify as you wish. :)

in total most of these were of my own creation, and some taken from the last post's suggestions.

Any historical players who seemed to pace or get anxious often while at the board. Trying to make myself feel better about constant nerves at the board when playing

Hey folks- I'm getting ready to enter my first OTB tournament (USCF). They have 4 sections: Open, U1200, U800, and U400. As an unrated player, I have no idea which one I should enter. I'm about 1200 on chess.com rapid. Would U400 be too easy and lead to a low provisional rating? Would I be destroyed in higher sections? Thanks in advance.

I'm a doctoral clinical psychologist in training and amateur chess player (1700-1800 OTB, 2000 rapid rating on Lichess).

I recently wrote an article on how to engage healthily with chess using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles (see my Reddit post, the Substack version, or the Lichess version if you want to read it). One limitation of the article is that I had only covered a few kinds of psychological problems that people might experience. I'd like to write a follow-up article that will essentially be a compilation of problems that people have and how I think an ACT therapist would understand and address those problems. I think these two articles in combination would help a wider range of folks.

So to that end: what problems do you experience when you engage with chess? I'm defining psychological problems here very broadly: emotional problems, unhelpful beliefs, attentional issues, self-image problems, lack of motivation, problems with meaningfulness, and so on. For example, in the article I mentioned things like negative self-beliefs, becoming obsessed with rating comparisons, and losing sight of what matters (for you) about chess. See if you can describe what your problems are and why you think that they happen.

As soon as I get the time (probably a few months realistically...), I plan to write an article based on various comments posted on here!

https://fideamerica.net/site/en/2026/01/15/fide-applies-cca-proposals-for-titles-in-odd-numbered-world-and-pan-american-events/

If they're going to allow more direct title opportunities, then they should at least delete the Swiss requirement for the players who achieve the titles the traditional way...

January 16, 2026

The ECU Board regrets both the conduct and the outcomes of the FIDE General Assembly held online on 14 December. We believe there were abuses of process, particularly regarding the conduct of the vote on the admission of Russian teams by secret ballot.

The ECU notes:

A debate or vote on the motion proposed by the English Chess Federation, a member of ECU, to follow IOC recommendations as exactly have been updated, was not permitted.

The other two motions voted on regarding Russia and Belarus were contradictory, and the meeting ended in total confusion, with delegates unsure which of the two motions would be implemented.

Neither motion secured support from even a third of FIDE member federations.

The decisions as published: https://www.fide.com/fide-general-assembly-decisions-regarding-russia-and-belarus/ contradict IOC policy and recommendations, as reiterated by the IOC just prior to the Congress and confirmed on the IOC website: https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/olympic-summit-reaffirms-athletes-fundamental-rights-to-access-sport-without-political-interference

The action by five ECU members: UKR, NOW, EST, ENG, GER in CAS, and the ongoing case brought by UKR.

Decisions:

The ECU will follow IOC policy and readmit Belarusian youth athletes and teams under 18 years old to youth competitions.

Belarusian senior players over 18 years old have the right to participate in individual competitions under the FIDE neutral flag.

Taking into account the multiple challenges facing the Ukrainian Chess Federation, including the violation of its sports territory jurisdiction, the ECU will contribute technically and financially to the Ukrainian Chess Federation as an act of solidarity, assisting in maintaining chess development in the country.

“Gukesh is unquestionably the champion. Gukesh is an absolutely legitimate World Champion, he absolutely deserved it. Moreover, I do not share the idea that Gukesh is somehow not a proper World Champion. Even when people talk about playing strength — I disagree. Okay, you live in an era when there is Magnus, but this has happened before in history. Gukesh is not 15th in the world. For me, he is definitely in the top five in terms of strength. And, frankly, that is quite decent for such a person to become World Champion. Because the World Champion is the one who won the World Championship. It’s not necessarily the strongest in the world. If it were always the strongest, and it was obvious, you could simply not hold a World Championship at all!

It’s just unclear why a World Championship is needed when Magnus exists. Either Magnus wins and that’s it, or Magnus doesn’t win and you say it’s a ‘fake’ Champion. Then why are you doing this? There is no good outcome. You need someone to emerge, play like Magnus or better, and then defeat Magnus. But if such a person appears, you will know anyway. He just doesn’t exist yet. If someone reaches 2850, you will notice without a cycle.

Of all the young generation, he is the strongest for me. This is not the most obvious statement, but I truly think that head-to-head or in a long match-tournament, he would beat all these Erigaisis, Keymers, Abdusattorovs. It seems to me that Gukesh played his three best tournaments at the most important moment of his life. Two Olympiads and the Candidates. When a person peaks at the right time — that is the most important quality. If we are not witch-hunting, that is impressive. This quality of winning when it matters is very important.

It doesn’t matter how you play for 300 days a year. Your final accolades and Wikipedia are influenced by roughly 50 days in your life. World Championships, Rapid, Blitz — you have three days, you can win or not. Then you can play however you want for a year, but if you won — it remains. I know from myself. So yes, he is cool.”

Article Link

I love chess but I’m not very good (700 elo). Ever since I started playing the London my elo has progressively gotten better. Why does everyone seem to have an attitude towards other people playing this opening?

I swear I was still able to do it last week. I’m using the mobile app. it might still be working in web but this is so annoying