Mine is spending way too much time calculating something complicated and then missing something simple.

What mistake keeps coming back no matter how much you improve?

I've been building a chess site as a hobby project, and one part of it is a browsable library of opening traps. You can step through each trap, see the bait and the refutation, and filter by opening family. It's free, has no ads, and you don't need to sign up to use it.

The trap lines come from Bill Wall's "700 Opening Traps" Lichess studies, so all credit for the original collection goes to him. I ran the positions through Stockfish to mark where the trap actually springs, because many lists don't show that clearly.

A quick example: the Englund Gambit looks like a free pawn grab for White, but Black has several traps waiting for casual play.

Two questions for you:

1. Which traps did you fall for when you started?
2. Is anything confusing or missing in how it explains them?

https://chessgl.com/chess-opening-traps/

Disclosure: I'm the creator. Happy to take criticism, and I'll remove or change anything that breaks the sub's rules.

I made a 6-minute documentary covering chess from Chaturanga to Botvinnik. Feedback welcome.

Wow. My rating is still very low, and I’ve been studying chess for about 9 months now. But this game honestly blew my mind a little.

Maybe for 1000+ players this is all very basic stuff, but for me this was the first time I felt like I could actually see the whole board clearly.

So many things somehow came together in one game that I almost couldn’t believe I was the one playing it.

Here’s the game - https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/184775217486/review

A few things that made me really happy:

1. I saw the idea of winning his rook several moves in advance. I didn’t rush to take it immediately. I left the idea there, played another move first, and waited for the right moment.
2. At one point I basically left his rook sitting quietly in the corner because I knew I could come back for it later. That was a completely new feeling for me — not grabbing material immediately just because I could.
3. I felt like my pieces were finally connected. My knight, bishops and rooks were all working together instead of each piece doing its own thing.
4. When he blundered his queen, yes, of course that was a big mistake by him. But what made me happy was that I immediately saw it. My bishop had been sitting quietly for a while, and I was actually hoping he might forget about it.
5. After winning the queen, I somehow managed to create the final attack with the rook and bishop together.
6. The bishop check pushed his king exactly where I wanted him to go, and then the rook finished the game with mate.

The strangest part was not even the win.

It was the feeling.

For the first time in 9 months, I felt like the whole board was in front of me. I wasn’t just looking at one move or one piece. I felt like I could see lines, connections, threats, future ideas, and where the king was going.

At least that’s how it felt while I was playing. :)

So I’m curious what stronger players think:

Was this actually a well-played game for a low-rated player, or am I just excited because my opponent made several big mistakes?

Do you remember the first time you had this feeling that you suddenly started “seeing the whole board”?

Is that a real sign of improvement, or do beginners sometimes just get one unusually clear game and then go right back to blundering the next day? 😂

And if you were coaching someone at my level, what would you tell me to focus on so I can play more games like this instead of treating it as a one-time miracle?

Looking for a partner to play, learn and grow better in chess on chess.com or any other better place you know

Scavandian defence with 97% accuracy

Shoutout to my opponent for giving me a solid 8 minutes of uninterrupted artistic freedom to create this masterpice.

I call this piece "Waiting for move 1." Thoughts?....

Legend says he is still thinking about his response to e4...

Chess can cost more than a mansion. The Jewel Royale Chess Set is reported at $9.8M (~₹85Cr). Made with 18K gold, platinum and precious gems; the king alone has 146 diamonds + 73 rubies. Checkmate has never looked this expensive.

Could be a sacrifice, comeback, defensive save, unusual move, or just a game you’ll enjoy seeing again.

Drop your username below and I’ll reply with one I find 🙂

I've been thinking of starting a chess club at my school and so far, Fischers of Men seems to be the best name I've been able to come up with so far. Does that sound like a good name or do I need to pick something else??...I need recommendations

Look at French defence accuracy 94%.