Posts by Matthew Young35

Consider this my official entry for the upcoming tournament.
There is simply no substitute for learning from the best.

brightpilot6 said:That’s the one.
🙏 Actually, the realization following a checkmate is often even more potent—that sinking feeling of being in a hopeless position—which usually leads to fifteen minutes of agonizing contemplation, only for you to lose your patience and demand they either make a move or resign. Of course, we weren't playing with a clock.

🤣

Have they finished the work on the creek, or should we aim for September?

I have a deep appreciation for positional play.

Is there anything more elegant than forcing an opponent into a corner where every move they make only worsens their situation?
When they start scrambling, you just hold your ground, maintain your positioning, and slowly tighten the noose.
It beats any flashy combination.

brisktrucker52 said:Ego in chess is a real problem. Last Christmas, I was playing on the local courts. Out of about 70 people there, only 16 signed up for the tournament. I ended up winning it, and after that, I didn't even see some of those guys for days 😁...and we live and work in the same small neighborhoods...we eat in the same diners. It’s awkward.

I don't know, I wasn't really feeling Chess.com at first. The green board is easier on my eyes 😁

brightpilot6 said:Exactly 🤣

Because in chess, there is no luck, no favorable referee, nothing of the sort. There is only you, your own brain, and the mistakes you make 😬

Personally, I find Chess.com perfectly fine; I don't notice the lag too much. And as for the interface, whatever it looks like, you can always customize your board 🤷

Have you given Lichess a shot yet? It’s worth your time.

If you're looking for some solid software to get your fixes running, you really ought to install Babaschess. It’s absolutely flawless.
I wonder if Babaschess might actually be backing Chess.com. I should probably go take a look and see for myself.
EDIT:
Hell, nothing from that.

Well, I just remembered I should probably write this down, if only to have a little vent.
Back when I was in the military, I actually won a chess tournament. To be honest, I can't even recall what the occasion was.
It was at a base near San Diego with about 3,000 people stationed there.
The competition, however, was frankly pathetic.
My prize? A day off.
I think I have the certificate for it buried somewhere in my house.

The whole thing was organized by some commander who happened to be a member of a local chess club.
As for me, I don't really have an official ranking. I’ve never competed formally—well, except for one time when I was maybe twelve or thirteen, playing five rounds in the Junior National Championships (where I lost all five games 🙂). For the most part, I lack a rating, though I suppose I sit somewhere between a casual player and a club regular.
After the tournament wrapped up, I started playing a match against this guy. He seemed to think he was some grandmaster because I didn't have an official rank.
I took the first game 🙂 and basically walked all over him.
I actually had to play two more games just so he could end up winning 2-1.
LOL

3 0 I play too, but honestly, I don't have the patience left for serious chess. At least, not through a screen.

I just don't get the massive hype surrounding Chess.com. It’s a disaster from top to bottom—everything from the clunky interface and constant lag to the quality of the players and those endless, tedious statistics.
I suppose it all comes down to the brand recognition.

Oh, absolutely... I’d highly recommend this to anyone.

dustyridge3 said:I picked up chess last summer, but after that initial burst of enthusiasm, my drive to actually study seems to have just evaporated. I’ve managed to memorize the basics of a few openings, but everything beyond that feels like a complete dead end, leaving me perpetually stuck hovering right around a 1200 rating. Does anyone have any actual advice on how to properly kickstart this process? I know there is an endless sea of tutorials online, but I am more interested in hearing about your own personal experiences and what actually worked for you.

There isn't a magic formula here, but I can offer a few thoughts.
Study your endgames. Seriously.
At this stage, pick a handful of openings and actually learn them. For example, when I'm playing White, I stick to e4. When Black is facing e4, I usually go with the Sicilian—mostly the Najdorf, though I'll throw in the Dragon depending on what my opponent throws at me. Against d4, I typically play the King's Indian or occasionally the Queen's Gambit.
The Accepted Queen's Gambit can be a devastating weapon against an opponent who's technically better than you.
In the opening phase, prioritize developing your pieces as quickly as possible.
Once your pieces are out, attack like you mean it. Don't hold back. Make them suffer. You want to hear the metaphorical wailing of their fallen pieces.

Sign up for Lichess or FICS. Honestly, Chess.com is garbage; the interface is a mess.

Noah Perez2 said:It is possible you are right regarding the operating hours of local convenience stores; I know for a fact that the small neighborhood markets back then rarely operated on Sundays, and major shopping malls didn't even exist, so nobody was complaining about it. Regardless, there is still no explanation for how such a massive pivot occurred among you leftists—how you suddenly decided to defend big capital and corporate chains like Walmart overnight, rather than fighting for the interests of workers and their right to rest?
Is that supposed to be the priority according to your worldview?

Do not attempt to lecture me with this nonsense about protecting the "little guy." It is perfectly obvious that the corporation reaps all the profits from retail, while the worker is merely a tool used to achieve them.

What I want to know is how you changed your mind so drastically and so quickly; you still haven't answered that.

I am writing about it because it was the subject of our discussion, and I have already provided my conclusion. To be clear: I am not advocating for work bans, but if stores are banned from Sunday operations, frankly, I could not care less. It would have zero impact on my lifestyle, nor would it bother me personally. Understood?

And what exactly would you try to retroactively ban based on my conclusion? If my writing bothers you, you have the option to use the ignore button or simply log out.

It seems you have lost the thread of a rational discussion. Forcing someone to the store? Who, whom, when, or how?
The Church exploited it? When exactly did the Church officially pass a law banning retail on Sundays?

Am I allowed to be annoyed by discussions where the interlocutor foams at the mouth with ideological projections and hatred, rendering them incapable of composing a single articulated sentence?

☕

I read that right here on this forum.
Look, I’m no leftist, so your little outbursts are essentially meaningless; they're built entirely on a false premise.

Noah Perez2 said:It is possible you are correct; after all, you are a considerably older gentleman than I am. ☕
And when did the socialists rest after a forty-hour work week if not on the weekend?

Frankly, this entire debate regarding retail doesn't affect me much. I typically complete my major grocery shopping on Fridays; if I run out of something, I simply wait until Monday. It is unlikely to be anything vital enough for me to forget, so it is no big deal.
Between work and everything else, wandering through shops on the weekend is hardly a pastime or a necessity for me.

If this issue bothers you, then what can I say? Fight for your rights, and try not to get too worked up—it won't do you any good. ☕

Regarding the first bolded part...
Yes, I am right.
☕

Regarding the second bolded part...
Then why are you even writing about it?

As for the rest...
Is anyone actually forcing you to go to the store on a Sunday? Is there some kind of mandate compelling you to shop on a Sunday?
And this "fight"... What kind of fight are we talking about here? I'm fighting to get a paycheck, for God's sake. Retail being open on Sundays isn't a priority for me, just like it isn't for most people, yet the church immediately seized upon it.
Am I allowed to be pissed off about it?

Amanda Evans2 said:This entire discussion has spiraled completely off course.
The mandate regarding Sunday closures was handed down by the task force tasked with fighting the coronavirus.
A supposedly sacred and infallible task force.
A group that was ostensibly here to properly combat and manage this pandemic.
But the very moment they decided to throttle the economy while simultaneously permitting religious processions, any semblance of logic or trust in this committee vanished. Honestly, I don't think anyone with half a brain can take them seriously anymore.
Implementing these Sunday restrictions as an epidemiological measure only reinforces my long-standing belief: this isn't about public health experts managing a virus; it’s about much more dangerous agendas at play.
I have been saying this since day one of this task force's existence, and it becomes more glaringly obvious with every passing day.

We aren't just talking about the usual seasonal debate over Sunday business hours that pops up whenever the Church makes its presence felt.
This is a conversation about unilateral decisions made without any dialogue—decisions that bear almost no actual relationship to the "fight" they keep preaching to us about.
This supposed fight against the pandemic.

How exactly is working on a Sunday more epidemiologically hazardous than working on a Saturday under the CDC's guidelines?
It's infuriating. Someone please explain the logic...

Bravo!
You just hit on exactly what’s driving me insane.

They’re starting to lose their grip—first with the mice, and now with the concept of working on a Sunday.

That's precisely what I'm writing about.

Rachel Cooper3 said:Good grief—there is simply no way I am hitting this Powerball jackpot.

Have you actually given it a shot?

Noah Perez2 said:Heh.

It is quite curious how those who once loudly proclaimed themselves as "hardcore leftists" suddenly find themselves acting as the frontline defenders of massive corporate interests and unregulated market freedoms.

Under socialism, nobody ever worked for free—and on Saturdays, they barely even bothered to show up until noon—so one has to wonder what caused such an abrupt and convenient shift in ideology for these individuals.

To your misfortune, there are a few of us here who remember that back in the eighties, working on Sunday wasn't even banned.
In cities like Chicago, there were convenience stores that stayed open until 10:00 PM every single Sunday.

When the Church last tried to ban Sunday commerce a few years back, absolutely nothing was open except for gas stations; naturally, those stations started selling bread and milk, and the lines stretched for miles.

Noah Perez2 said:Since I am editing this after the fact, let me clarify my position. I have no inherent issue with employees working on Sundays, Tuesdays, or Fridays, provided that these individuals are being compensated fairly for their labor, have voluntarily consented to such terms via their employment contracts, and those contractual obligations are strictly honored.

I fail to see how these bans will achieve anything meaningful, other than providing more fuel for endless, pointless arguments.

I’m in. Count me in.

Amanda Evans2 said:I can get someone to explain to me how epidemiologists, now that they're finally loosening up the restrictions, suddenly decided that stores need to shut down on Sundays when they were perfectly fine operating before

I’d really love to wrap my head around the logic there, because frankly, it’s completely beyond me...

And don't even get me started.
What, does the virus take the day off on Sunday? Does it only hang out in grocery stores?

restlesssurfer97 said:Look, you’re just throwing out empty platitudes left and right, man, honestly just talking in circles without providing a single shred of actual data or anything concrete, and I'm pretty sure you just want to ban Sunday work so you can go hang out and make out with your girlfriend since she's got the day off, so come on, give me a break.

I actually have to side with him this time.
There is absolutely no way Mike Tyson survives a fight against George Foreman. It wasn't just luck; he avoided that matchup like people avoided the COVID virus.

A four-day workweek and a ban on Sunday operations are two entirely different concepts.
It is perfectly possible for employees to enjoy a four-day schedule while companies continue to operate on Sundays.

loneseal said:If they’d just suggest giving unknown, Branka, and the rest of that crew a paid day off on Saturday, nobody would be complaining. The real headache is Sunday.

Not quite.
I’d have an issue if they banned working on any day of the week with equal intensity.

loneseal said:He’s got a government-subsidized apartment.

And you have a brain conditioned by state propaganda.

bluebison47 said:Well, let’s just take a second to actually think about this... you aren't some lone worker in the entire country, and people like you definitely don't make up the majority of the workforce.

A huge chunk of those workers have kids who aren't even free during the week—they're only off on the weekends because that's how the school systems operate (and let's be honest, most of them aren't strictly religious folks worrying about keeping Sunday "holy").

Retail stores aren't emergency services or essential industries that depend on Sunday shifts—you know, unlike restaurants, bars, or maybe sports journalists—so their schedule shouldn't be dictated by the day of the week. Whatever you feel like you "need" to buy on a Sunday, you could easily grab on a Saturday or a Monday; in 98% of cases, you won't face any actual catastrophe.

Let’s pause for a moment and actually think here.

So, if I'm not the only person working in America, why on earth should I be banned from working on a Sunday?