jwb

memorizing specific end games is about as useful as memorizing specific openings. Once again, good luck if that is your strategy. Human memory is severely limited when it comes to rote memorization. You are much better off understanding the principles behind why said end games and openings follow a consistent pattern.

jwb

How many end games are there total?

jwb

Many people think that chess is a sport of memorizing moves and tactics, because they see people do the same moves over and over and over in many games, from openings to even end game tactics.

However it's not because we memorized the games, not by any means. For example until today I have not memorized even one single game in my life, yet I have beaten masters before. But if you showed me a game where a certain tactic is played I would still know it even if I didn't memorize the game itself.

In short, memorizing is something that happens to a chess player when he plays a lot, you will intuitively know moves without having to think, you will know what will lead to where in many scenarios (as long as you don't hit the 2000+ bracket)... And the main reason is because you had trial and error and learned these same tactics they are using by heart.

https://chess.stackexchange.com/ques...-chess-ability

jwb

Once you get more advanced then yeah but if you don't have the principles down then good luck with just trying to use rote memorization to memorize end games and openings.

you just made it sound like it's simple to be great at chess if you just memorize a bunch of **** but "what's the fun in that." really it's just a matter of as you play more certain patterns emerge and that's why specific openings and end games have names to them. For the most part those openings and end games would be arrived at with a proper understanding of the basic strategic and tactical principles in the first place.

jwb

... endgames aren't the only part of the game based on theory. The entire game has basic strategic and tactical themes to it which lead to the predictable patterns you're referring to in end games and openings. You can try through rote memorization to memorize each one but I think to the extent that chess instructors encourage you to study them it is to analyze the themes underlying them rather than to just memorize a series of specific sets of instructions.

jwb

And you can try to memorize openings. And memorize the names associated. you're better off trying to get the basic principles down before you bother with that ****. Most of them follow basic tactical patterns that make them more intuitively obvious than trying to go with rote memorization.

jwb

you can be really good without knowing how to open?

YorkeDaddy

I agree with both of you in several ways but I think this statement is what I agree with the most. For instance before I had ever heard of a "London opening" I figured out that it can be powerful to to get key pieces like a Bishop and a Knight out towards the middle of the board as soon as possible. Therefore an opening play for white like D4 is good and logical because it opens up the diagonal for your Bishop to get into the game. I didn't have to memorize this, it just made sense.

That's a very surface level example. On the other hand I think it's a lot more important to study endgames than openings. It is nowhere near as obvious or intuitive to execute a lot of the checkmates that are out there. At least for me anyway. A situation like King/Bishop/Knight is extremely difficult to find the checkmate. There are memorization helpers I've used like "to checkmate with just a King and a Rook, create a right triangle" like is mentioned in this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate#King_and_rook

These kinds of memorization helpers feel extremely important to not blundering endgames

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OccultHawk

YD, since you have a premium account can you check if Chess.com has chess960 or FischerChess (same thing) - with a premium account and if possible if it can be utilized with a mobile device?

Please.

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jwb

Same. I use to play the london opening against my phone all the time and i had no idea it was the london opening till i saw a youtube video about it.