next-move-discussion

[fast thistle]

So what are we thinking?

I voted for 1.e4 because it normally leads to more variety in positions, without realizing that it's very likely we just go into the Caro-Kann lol

But hey, I'd much rather play against our opponent's best than his worst

More fun that way

[compact gale]

Voting has been live on chess.com for 11 days now. 1 e4 has 68% of the vote (45000 vote lead)

[scenic nest]

a3

[scenic nest]

finally 68

[hollow edge]

NF3

NF3

[fast thistle]

1.E4!!!!

[hollow edge]

Nitrogen trifluoride

[velvet nexus]

[flint aurora]

e4 or ban

[scenic nest]

https://tenor.com/view/jerma-sus-chess-play-chess-pawn-gif-20671832

[fast thistle]

1.E4 is forced resignation in 64 moves

[distant ledge]

1.Na3 :)

[hollow edge]

e4 in big 25 🥀

[pseudo rock]

From our side

[round pebble]

Lets play the best move im this position

[fast thistle]

In the case he does play caro. Which variation would you all be more inclined to play?

[thin mica]

D4! Let's play the London system against the London system enthusiast!

[fast thistle]

1.E4

Vienna

[scenic nest]

@ripe cloud why @visual tendon not boosting ;-;

[ripe cloud]

agreed he’ll likely go into the Caro haha or maybe surprise us with e5 to test a vienna

[thin mica]

Advanced

[hollow edge]

lets play caro with white

[fast thistle]

Let's play the Vienna

CARO IS FREE DUBS GUYS

it is like his favourite opening

[thin frost]

1. c4 ^^

[fast thistle]

For white

[fast thistle]

Oooooh didn't consider e5, you are right

Oh wait that is the Trompowsky

[fast thistle]

Exchange or Classical

[scenic nest]

https://tenor.com/view/gotham-chess-that-takes-skill-gif-25397660

[fast thistle]

TAL

[ripe cloud]

he’s literally THE caro player besides jovanka 😭

[hollow edge]

yea lets play trompowsky

[fast thistle]

Advanced Tal

[fast thistle]

That's what I play normally against it. But of course, 1200 games play very differently

[scenic nest]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1075206519655768096/1182369215274041354/nitro.gif

congrats

for nitro

click

😄

[hollow edge]

lets play grob and troll gotan ches

[ripe cloud]

tal is fun but welll get cooked methinks

[limpid zephyr]

Fantasy

[fast thistle]

That would require him to play a knight move I think

[fast thistle]

Let's cook him with one of his courses

[fast thistle]

yeah he likely has good prep there

He has one on the Tal

[fast thistle]

To this day I still don't know how to play against it with black 😭

[pseudo rock]

Panov

[fast thistle]

Just regular exchange should be cool or classical

[scenic nest]

https://tenor.com/view/nitro-rick-roll-gif-24863685

[fast thistle]

Wait will he play the C5 Caro

Depends on what type of position we want right? What are y'all looking for? Slow and positional. Fast and tactical?

[onyx leaf]

d4 lets go for d4, c4 Nc3 Nf3 e3 Bd3 0-0

[fast thistle]

Tactical

because like the world team CAN'T miss tactics

[pseudo rock]

You think we got a chance on a positional game?

[fast thistle]

Well if it was a world full of me's, we would

[dusky mountain]

2 things he'll do
either caro kann or sicilian sveshnikov

[fast thistle]

Against the Sicilian let's do the Mengarini

he has a course on it

[fast thistle]

Well I think we can gain a lot of insight, both positional and tactical, if we think together

I am not afraid to play either

[limpid zephyr]

I don't really play it but maybe 2N Attack (Caro)?

[hollow edge]

watch them get mated on 18th move

100k people enrolled, 65k stockfish users

[fast thistle]

We have 2000s and 100 so it evens out

[hollow edge]

20k torch users

[fast thistle]

we are about 1500

[hollow edge]

Watch 100 elos blunders pins and forks

[fast thistle]

They can't

unless we have 1400 100 Elos

[ripe nova]

I think e4 is better because of this reason

[pseudo rock]

There will not be that many 100 elos

[fast thistle]

Also we will cook him with one of his courses

For the Sicilian, he has a ton of courses on that

[ripe nova]

Let’s play the vienna!

[fast thistle]

I am subscripted to Chessly so I can check

[ripe nova]

I am too his e4 repetoire is quite wide

[fast thistle]

Okay against the Sicilian he has the Mengarini, the b3 Sicilian and the smith Morra and the Alapin

[fast thistle]

Yep

Guys, I have a great idea

[fast thistle]

"I taught you everything you know. But I didn't teach you everything I know." 🗣️

Against the Caro Kann, we can play the Hillbilly attack

He has a course on it and everything

also Magnus plays it

what do you guys think?

[ripe nova]

Advance variation from his e4 course?

[hollow edge]

the bishop move?

[fast thistle]

Yep, The Hillbilly Attack is one of his courses

[fast thistle]

I do have time, I can brush up on the theory if needed

I play the Tal against the Caro yet I have time to study

I have a semi-photographic memory so I can try if needed

we have to decide if it is e4 first though

[limpid zephyr]

This is a trash variation

[fast thistle]

Magnus played it

[limpid zephyr]

Magnus also played 1.g4 in TT today

[fast thistle]

good point

[fast thistle]

Did he win that game? Lmao

[limpid zephyr]

He did

[fast thistle]

I am pretty sure we should just do the Tal

Mainline Caro is boring

[ripe nova]

I meant the h4 variation

[fast thistle]

Guys... I don't think that Gotham is going to blunder his bishop

[fast thistle]

Yea, the Tal

[limpid zephyr]

I would wait for Levy to play c6 before going too deep into details

[fast thistle]

He is either going to play C6 or C5

[fast thistle]

No. We shall solve the entirety of chess before he moves

[ripe nova]

I think we should try the vienna if he lets us just for fun

[fast thistle]

against e4

That way, we can't lose

[fast thistle]

Yes

[limpid zephyr]

Conditional premoves

[fast thistle]

BTW which courses have you completed

[ripe nova]

32 piece TB

[fast thistle]

Would be funny if we play the dark Vienna against him tbh

Paulsen or d4 Vienna

But the d4 Vienna is quite risky

I guess

[winged mulch]

Did the game start?

[ripe nova]

I think the regular vienna is good enough

[fast thistle]

We are voting

[fast thistle]

Alright then

He will probably play the mainline

I learned the theory like a couple of months ago and never used it

[ripe nova]

Counterpoint: he will probably play a sideline to get us out of theory

[fast thistle]

If he uses a sideline he HAS to add it to his course

so it is a win-win really

lol

[ripe nova]

On god

[fast thistle]

Counterpoint: he will probably play the mainline, thinking we think he will play a sideline to get us out of theory. And this is why this is the best chess course in the world 🗣️

Hope the reference is appreciated

[ripe nova]

Imagine he blunders into a bad line to show why his courses are good

[jagged narwhal]

Get gud and play e4. We will crush his caro kann

[fast thistle]

Yep

TAL

[jagged narwhal]

yess! we will humble him 💪

[sick kernel]

Whats current position

Yes lets play into his caro kann

[fast thistle]

He started with

after we played

[sick kernel]

he's white?

Huh?

[fast thistle]

I am pretty sure that he is black

[sick kernel]

Whats the position on the boardd

[fast thistle]

I am saying that no one played yet lol

[sick kernel]

Bruh

I wanna see my novelty against the caro in the game

[limpid zephyr]

(We are white)

[sick kernel]

But most people wont see this chat anyway

[fast thistle]

gg we already blundered

At my level I just play the Tal they all premove e6

[sick kernel]

I play the tal too

[fast thistle]

It works at 2000?

Awesome

[compact gale]

https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700

This is the chess.com game link

For the GothamChess game. We are White and have been voting for 11 days.

[compact gale]

We are already voting for our first move as White.

On chess.com.

[fast thistle]

I know but it starts in 3 weeks

[inner belfry]

Play Catalan are yall crazy

Not playing 1.d4 is brain dead

[compact gale]

Yes, this first move we have lots of time. I think on Sept 30, our 24 hour clock will start. Follow the game link posted above.

[fast thistle]

e4 is more fun

1.d4 is boring

[inner belfry]

Ofc you’re 1400 rated

Winning is fun

[fast thistle]

The world team is NOT going to miss tactics

what are you talking about?

[sick kernel]

I spent like 50 hours making a new novelty in the tal

[bold wharf]

Let's play ruy

Lopez

[sick kernel]

With the aim of making caro players suffer

It works like a charm

[winged mulch]

Huh

[sick kernel]

Sup

[winged mulch]

Sup

[inner belfry]

Tbh maybe e4 isn’t bad only hoping levy plays c6

But why not play Catalan lmao

[sick kernel]

1. ...c6 already an inaccuracy fr

[sick kernel]

Can we convince the world to play catalan 💀

[inner belfry]

We will die trying

[limpid zephyr]

We want to win not draw

[sick kernel]

Theyre def gonna go either QG or London

[fast thistle]

Let's be realistic, most people don't know that it exists

[inner belfry]

What is this Catalan slander

[sick kernel]

Tbf gotham made a video on the catalan

[fast thistle]

He doesn't have a course on it

so it is less funny

[inner belfry]

Gotham has made a video in everything

[sick kernel]

Yeah

[inner belfry]

He’s bad

[sick kernel]

Gothams grunfeld is so good vruh

[inner belfry]

I can already see winning with light squared compensation

[fast thistle]

If you play the Gruenfeld you HATE yourself

[inner belfry]

Is it

[limpid zephyr]

Every Grünfeld is good compared to yours

[sick kernel]

Why? 😭

[sick kernel]

Bro that was just a mishap

[fast thistle]

Memorising 400 lines of theory is not healthy

[sick kernel]

My theory was fine

[limpid zephyr]

Proof it with a Grünfeld otb win next time

[sick kernel]

Grunfeld is NOT memorizing 400 lines of theory

[inner belfry]

Tbh “the world vs x” is just a bunch of 500-1500 rateds following like sheep

[sick kernel]

Bet

[fast thistle]

520, My bad

[inner belfry]

Let me play you as white

[sick kernel]

Grunfeld is slightly more complex than the london system

[fast thistle]

the average is somewhere around 400

[inner belfry]

Lmao

[sick kernel]

The way gotham teaches it

[fast thistle]

How do you even compare them

The London system has like 1 line of theory

2 if we include the Jobava

[inner belfry]

Not jobava London

Jobava is great

[sick kernel]

Grunfeld has like 10

[fast thistle]

Yep

[sick kernel]

Not 400

[inner belfry]

2nd greatest gods gift to earth

[sick kernel]

If you consider just the ideas

[inner belfry]

1st one is air fryers

[fast thistle]

I play it occasionally (I don't know theory)

[sick kernel]

Youre kidding bro london has more than 1 line

what if 1. ...c5

What if Nf6 c5

[inner belfry]

Cry yourself to sleep

[inner belfry]

Also

[sick kernel]

what if QID setups

[inner belfry]

Pray

[fast thistle]

You play the Trompowsky

[sick kernel]

Ew trompowsky

Mid

[inner belfry]

Goofy statement

[fast thistle]

Bro Gotham literally worships that opening

[sick kernel]

Actually, tromp is good for a positional player

Tromp is like the ruy exchange

Bishop pair for doubled pawns

[inner belfry]

He also plays an inaccuracy on move 3

He’s dead lost if 3.. c5

[fast thistle]

He is higher rated than you though

[inner belfry]

Doesn’t mean his tromp isn’t ass from what I’ve seen

[sick kernel]

2. ...d5 againdt trompowsky neutralizes ts

[inner belfry]

I saw d4 nf6 bg5 d5 nd2

[fast thistle]

Someone add Gotham

we need his opinion on this

[inner belfry]

I prolly butchered squares

[sick kernel]

Wth

nd2 is crazy

[inner belfry]

I swr I saw that from Gotham

Or something like that

Either way tromp is ass

[sick kernel]

Its mid not ass

[fast thistle]

What do you even play against QID setups anyway

[sick kernel]

Considerable

[inner belfry]

Well it’s equal

So ig it’s mid

[inner belfry]

a3

[sick kernel]

No idea, im a e4 player (sigma)

[fast thistle]

Which?

[sick kernel]

Italian

[inner belfry]

Wild

[fast thistle]

I was asking about the opening

Oh wait

NVM

[sick kernel]

Italian

[fast thistle]

I misunderstood

[sick kernel]

💀

[inner belfry]

The world is cooked

[sick kernel]

Italian carries you to gm level bro

[inner belfry]

This is who we have on our team

[fast thistle]

Can a person misunderstand something in peace

[inner belfry]

It’s satire dw

[sick kernel]

You can switch playstyles with italian too

If ur feeling freaky play deutz or dubov gambit

[inner belfry]

It looks like jobava so it has aura

[sick kernel]

if ur feeling positional play the main-line guioco

[inner belfry]

Deutz get out 😭

pianissimo is aura

[fast thistle]

Let's play the Chicago gambit against Gotham

[sick kernel]

Lets play the tralalero attack

[inner belfry]

I’d just play advance caro since white can hardly go wrong

[sick kernel]

Yes advance caro i love

[fast thistle]

😻

[inner belfry]

Polls should work with like a quadratic mean of chess elo

Or higher order polynomial

[sick kernel]

Wild

[inner belfry]

Get out 😭

[fast thistle]

I main this OTB

2700 FIDE btw

[inner belfry]

Totally

[fast thistle]

Just because of the opening

[sick kernel]

Gotham is shaking in his boots bro

[inner belfry]

2700 centipawn loss

[fast thistle]

I wish him good luck

He is going to need it

He doesn't know Chicago gambit theory

[inner belfry]

If we don’t play 1.d4 i vote resign

[fast thistle]

What if we play the Petrov

[sick kernel]

Beating gotham in his caro is the only way

[fast thistle]

Play the Petrov but for a win

[inner belfry]

E4 is so aesthetically unpleasant

[sick kernel]

Offer draw

[inner belfry]

Shake hands immediately

Nobody wants to play petrov

[fast thistle]

The Petrov is winnable

[sick kernel]

Not in a master level correspondence game bro

[fast thistle]

If your opponent has a seizure mid game or something

[dusky mountain]

wait this isn't chess talk

[inner belfry]

It would be funny if someone copied that and pasted in chess talk first

[sick kernel]

In my level petrov is deffinitely winnable both sides

Id say white has a more pleasant time

Almost always

[inner belfry]

Obv

Where does white not have a more pleasant time

[fast thistle]

Let's play the Stafford

[inner belfry]

Until they go wrong

[fast thistle]

Rosen VS Gotham

[inner belfry]

As white?

What colour even are we

[fast thistle]

Oh wait

I forgot

We are white

[inner belfry]

Reverse Stafford if he plays nf6

[fast thistle]

I am too sleepy for this

[inner belfry]

Unrealistic

[fast thistle]

Let's play the Barnes

and he will respond with the Caro

[inner belfry]

premove d4 c4 nf3 g3 bg2

Idc

[fast thistle]

If we get d4 most people will play QG anyway

[inner belfry]

I will find every last one of them

[fast thistle]

Semi Tarrasch QG is slightly drawish

isn't it?

[inner belfry]

Black gets an IQP

White is pleasant

The world will have a losing position by move 10 tho

[fast thistle]

the 100s are going to carry us bro

trust me

[inner belfry]

It should be a bunch of 2000s vs Gotham

[fast thistle]

Would be funny if they play an early queen attack

[inner belfry]

I’ll gracefully include those lower rated (2000)

They can stay

[fast thistle]

This is actually possible

[inner belfry]

Can we even vote resign

Or will this be dragged out

[fast thistle]

Hopefully

I am NOT playing the early queen attack against an IM

[inner belfry]

If we start nf3 it’s a guranteed Catalan

Tho

If people play like sheep

[fast thistle]

What if they play the Reti

d4 nf6 nc3!!

1-0 for us

[inner belfry]

Start with nf3 to force the masses into a reti / Catalan

[inner belfry]

Bruh

[fast thistle]

whats the diff between the qg and reti catalan tranposition

[inner belfry]

Bc it’s a popularity poll

1. d4 d5 people vote London

If somehow it’s 1. Nf3 it’s easier to get a Catalan

By sheep mentality

[compact gale]

The "sheep" have already decided we are playing 1 e4.

The game is live for our really long first move.

[fluid canyon]

WE are playing 1. e4 e5 2. ke2

[fast thistle]

https://tenor.com/view/we-breaking-bad-walter-white-gif-14928204287258878513

Don't know about you, but I am playing 2. Kxe8. ChatGPT style

[fluid canyon]

😭

[sharp magnet]

We agree

What if we go for bongcloud and resign on move 3

Shortest gotham video of all time

[zinc onyx]

I highly vouch for playing King's Indian Attack

Guys we are white in this game

[hallow abyss]

we gotta win imagine

[sharp magnet]

We wont

Itll be like the vishy game

[inner belfry]

yes WE twin 🤑

[inner belfry]

uninstall chess

[inner belfry]

content farming

[autumn basin]

Are y'all really going to play ke2?😭

How many matches do we have

[compact gale]

One game only

Per titled opponent

Only one vs World match at a time.

[sharp magnet]

Definitely wont happen

The 600s will play h3

[zinc onyx]

Nah we really need to play King's Indian Attack. Otherwise we're going to have a severe disadvantage in the opening

[sharp magnet]

Wym

[thin mica]

Who's we? What do you mean who's we? Us alright, me and you as a team!

[junior apex]

play the bird or else I’ll chop off all of your legs

[wanton bobcat]

1… b4 for the win

[autumn basin]

Yes!!! Save us 600s

[autumn basin]

😨

[severe sorrel]

e4

[wise lotus]

Hi guys! How are you all?

[grizzled sky]

He’s gonna play e5 probably

[deep anchor]

e4

[fast thistle]

Trueeeeeeeeeee

[celest knoll]

Nah, if we play e4, what if he plays c6

1.c4 needs to be played

Or 1.d4

[jolly snow]

1. d4

We Catalan him

Easy Victory

[fast thistle]

I have seen a lot of people mention the Catalan. Does Levy struggle against it?

I don't know much about his opening choices other than he likes the Caro

[limpid zephyr]

No. People only mention the Catalan because Magnus liked to play it a few years ago (not anymore)

[fast thistle]

Oh.

I like to play against my opponents best anyways so

@limpid zephyr That means I'll play very sharp lines against you from now on 👀

[elder hearth]

e4

[limpid zephyr]

Looking forward to it

[sharp magnet]

d4

[agile pawn]

Nf3

bro trust

NF3 is the best

[limpid zephyr]

e4 is the most fun

[agile pawn]

I can deal with E4 but please no d4

d4 sucks

[inner belfry]

We mention Catalan bc it’s the best opening

[inner belfry]

Real

[compact gale]

Yes, that can easily happen and has. It does not matter if 10000 players see a tactical problem, if 70000 obtain an early vote lead on a tactical error and do not even read the team chat.

It is hard to outvote a move which has the lead since it has the bigger arrow and is the top of the vote tally.

[inner belfry]

It should be a weighted mean

[compact gale]

by rating?

It is not weighted.

All the players have an equal vote. Those are the rules. The move with the most votes when the move timer expires is the one made.

So vote chess is not just selecting the best moves, it is also a social game of convincing other players on chess.com to vote for the move(s) this discord team decides to promote.

[raw zenith]

e4

f4

[compact gale]

<@&1377312389040443522> Poll is up on ⁠#next-move polls for "Opening Strategy: Do you prefer to stay in mainstream book (opening theory) for as long as possible?"

[junior apex]

You can ping the world team?

[grizzled sky]

World team admins role

[junior apex]

average

[grizzled sky]

They’re an admin for world teams so yea

[compact gale]

<@&1377312389040443522> Poll is up on #next-move-polls for "Assuming 1. e4 wins our vote, what moves by Gotham should we consider for a recommended response by our team? Multiple answers encouraged. The higher voted moves here will be more likely to be considered."

If you have one not on the poll, choose Other and let us know here what you wanted to add.

[lyric schooner]

where do i vote on the move

[compact gale]

On #next-move-polls

[flint aurora]

was gonna say who gave bro power to ping but he an admin 😂

[lyric schooner]

is the move poll not up yet

[lyric schooner]

subham carry us

also why dont we just go d4 to avoid his caro, i know all the 600s are gonna fumble the bag

[compact gale]

There are two polls up now.

[lyric schooner]

neither are for our move though right

[pseudo rock]

It will just go to something like a dutch

[lyric schooner]

even better

d4 sidelines for black are worse than e4 sidelines imo

[compact gale]

Do we want a poll on our first move? 1.e4 already has 67,894 votes (68%). #2 voted 1. d4 has only 21,427 votes (21%)

[lyric schooner]

where is that poll

[compact gale]

I am asking whether we need that poll since 1. e4 will win almost certainly.

[lyric schooner]

how many people are signed up to vote

[compact gale]

There have been 13 days of voting already. The "real" voting happens here: https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700. These Gotham channels are for planning what the team will recommend on our next move. This move 1. e4 is baked in at this point (my opinion and experience)

[lyric schooner]

but from the looks of it 1.e4 will be our move for no good reason

[lyric schooner]

oh damn

i mean overall it dont matter bc most people will cheat anyways

[wanton bobcat]

play the Polish bruh

trust it will win us the thing

[compact gale]

The Master Games database has it as the #1 most popular opening for White played in 1,941,187 games.

[junior apex]

I’m chopping off everyone’s legs except those who doesn’t vote for the Bird

Levy literally has the highest winrate with the Bird

There’s simply no reason to

[lyric schooner]

appeal to popularity

[compact gale]

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._e4

I am not suggesting it, I'm just reporting that the vote is essentially over. The networks have called the race for 1. e4 😉

Check the vote talley at https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700

Let's put it this way, would anyone want to bet against 1. e4 at even odds?

Or even 10 to 1 odds?

OK, who wants to poll it anyway? I'll gen up a poll for that. Give me some yes/no emojis

Gotham plays 1. e4 more than any other move as White.

[compact gale]

Just sayin', that's a lot of popularity ..

[lyric schooner]

what do you mean bet against

[compact gale]

I'm not offering an actual bet. Just using the term informally. By bet against, I mean would you take an even odds bet against a move other than 1. e4 winning on Sept 30 when our turn ends?

[junior apex]

e4 is basically guaranteed to be chosen

And if c6 we can go for the Alien Gambit

sending respects to my man Witty

[lyric schooner]

worst idea ever

[lyric schooner]

oh sorry i misunderstood, my answer is no

[compact gale]

You're sure I can't interest you at 10 to 1 odds? 😉

[lyric schooner]

sadly i dont trust in the public to make the right choice

[compact gale]

Our job is to give the chess.com players good advice. Ditto for our coaches: NM Dane Mattson and WIM Ayelen Martinez

To play like a team, not just a gaggle of individuals.

Created a post for discussion on #1415399746943844483 about what to play on move 2 after 1 e4 c6

(We are testing whether a forum or a text channel is better for next-move discussions.)

[flint aurora]

gotham will play either c6 or d5

[compact gale]

most likely. He does play .. e6 or .. c5 about 25% of the time tho.

[severe sorrel]

Yes please let’s let the legacy live on

alien gambit 👽👽👽

[worn apex]

so what's the plan after e4

[compact gale]

TBD! You can participate in the #next-move-polls or #1415399746943844483 and help decide!

[twin quest]

e4 c6 d4 d5 Nd2 dxe5, Nxe5 Nf6 Ng5 h6 Nxf7!!!!!!!

Babee aliens exist

[compact gale]

His most common response to 1. e4 is .. d5, not .. c6!

[worn apex]

c6 is a possibility

[twin quest]

Hell play caro and not scandi trust

[worn apex]

d5 is probably more important

[twin quest]

Scandi is kind of refuted as he plays Qa5 scandi Qd6 scandi is the only decent one at top levels

[worn apex]

kinda true

was thinking maybe play fantasy variation if caro kann

dunno how good it's in high level tho

scandi is eh prob better for us in terms of development

[compact gale]

How many players have used a forum channel like #1415399746943844483 before? Answer using a thumb up or down emoji

[twin quest]

Just alien gambit bro

[ripe nova]

Tal variation and just use his course. Use his weapons against him

[twin quest]

You're dumb bro gotham doesn't reveal his prepped limes in the courses

[ripe nova]

It makes for good content👍. This isn’t a World Championship game, it’s for fun

[limpid zephyr]

Life or death game

[twin quest]

And alien gambit is the definition of fun

[sick kernel]

do we really need to prepare for that move 💀

[fast thistle]

Have you ever played chess...with your life on the line!?!?!

[hardy forge]

with a bunch of rooks in your mouth

[tender grove]

good luck getting a team of 500s to refute an opening that many strong players can’t

[compact gale]

Posted on #1415399746943844483: https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1415930431307518073

---

Note well that in our polls, you can remove your vote to change your vote before the poll expires, unlike on chess.com where your vote is final once confirmed.

[compact gale]

Posted in #1416176233267462357 message

[compact gale]

Posted in #1416180476867252284 message

[blazing path]

guys we should chess good

[lyric schooner]

Why can’t we all discuss in the forum

The issue is that the forums are admin only and from what I’ve seen so far all the admins are 1000-1800 so their ideas will be lacking the further the game goes on

[compact gale]

I'll check into the permissions for the forum. It was intended that all world team players would be able to respond to a post on #1415399746943844483

@lyric schooner Were you trying to respond to a post or trying to create a new post on the forum?

[lyric schooner]

respond

[compact gale]

Working on this. Apologies and thanks for bringing this our attention. I was wondering why there were no responses by the world team.

[vagrant pelican]

Thank you for your patience. We’re players like you with just additional permissions to create polls etc and facilitate discussion. The actual permissions are controlled by chess.com mods. The issue has been raised to them

[lyric schooner]

no problem, i was just a bit curious as to why the forum was locked

[lyric schooner]

Its all good, just wanted to let you guys know in case it was an accident that the forum was locked

[compact gale]

@manic vortex what other move did you have in mind for Gothams response to 1 e4?

[compact gale]

Is anyone interested in a poll of our first move alternatives? (1 e4 has a large lead). Please indicate yes or no with a thumb up or down.

[slim knoll]

g6

😄

[manic vortex]

I mean, there's also a slight chance he trolls and goes g5

[lyric schooner]

can we fix the forums so we can have non ai analysis

[compact gale]

I was hoping the chess.com mods and admins would answer our request this weekend. But, since the game has not officially started yet, we may not get a response until Monday.

[idle ether]

We can, if everyone here is happy with that (?)
I was using AI to help me write, mainly because of a communication disorder ( it is often hard for me to get my thoughts down / out the way I want).

---

Additional Comment(s):

It was my own analysis/research/idea(s)/understanding of the opening, but I got the AI to help write about it better (IMO).

[lyric schooner]

my issue isnt ai use, my issue is that ai, especially chat gpt is pretty cheeks at chess

while the accelerated panov can be agressive, if you let it go to a modern panov which is very forcing and can be extremely drawish, which we dont want against a bad player like gothamchess, but might want against someone good like carlsen or kasparov

[frail berry]

Sup YALL

[compact gale]

Good news, the permissions on #1415399746943844483 have been corrected to allow <@&1377312389040443522> to respond to posts in that forum. Can someone (who is not an admin or moderator) please test if they can respond to one of the 4 existing posts, and let us know if you were successful? Also, please test if they can create a new post in that forum.

[blazing path]

seems to work for responding

[slender ridge]

Yeah

[blazing path]

and Im pretty sure I can make a fourm

[wise lotus]

Hi guys. Hru all doing?

[indigo badger]

Guys what's position?

I just slept around 2-3 days

[compact gale]

Thanks for verifying. What about creating a new post on the forum, as opposed to a response to an existing post?

[zinc mauve]

Hello, I can’t seem to find the channel you referred to before. Do I need a role to access it?

[wanton bobcat]

If you will play the Polish then sure :((

[compact gale]

I believe you need to join <@&1377312389040443522> by going to #info-vs-theworld and finding the section with React with !! to join the world team .. and react to that with the !! emoji.

[heady plover]

Will this event work exactly like the Magnus Carlsen vs The World event?

[tribal ferry]

Yes.

[analog plank]

I really was expecting some goofy opening to be played in levy vs the world 💔

[modern badge]

i took this role cause the color looked cool

will it be mentioned this often?

[hollow edge]

Sir, stop mentioning us

like you can just say "World team" role

that'd not disturb

[compact gale]

Sorry about that 🤭

[muted prism]

E5

[compact gale]

We are white.

[compact gale]

Can someone verify if they can add a new top level post on #1415399746943844483 ?

[limpid zephyr]

Yes, that works

[muted prism]

E4 expecting caro kann

or lets play the eng

[ocean path]

No one is going to listen some 400s are gonna vote some bad moves and we are gonna lose 🙁

even Vishy V/S the world that had happened

[muted prism]

everyone is going to use stockfish tho

https://tenor.com/view/magnus-carlsen-bro-wtf-chess-fide-gif-24116029

** JUST PREVENT HIM FROM PLAYING THE CARO KANN **

[tender grove]

pretty sure you’ll have more people brainlessly voting for the most popular move

[hollow holly]

e4!

[compact gale]

1. e4 has a huge lead at https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700
   It has 68% of the vote and it will win.

[muted prism]

true

[ocean path]

real

😭

[compact gale]

Please do participate in the 2nd move posts (After 1 e4 <likely Gotham response> on the #1415399746943844483 . We will poll for 2nd move recommendations soon.

[lavish crystal]

David F, hi. I am in the votechess server leadership, you probably recognize me, but now what are the next steps to folllow up on what Sam said?

[empty idol]

Test

[vagrant pelican]

Can you clarify what are you talking about?

[lavish crystal]

"
I'm very sensitive to this issue, but I think there are some things we can do that will really help:

We would give all moderators in this Discord the necessary permissions to moderate the Vote Chess channels in the Chess.com Discord. We can also provide moderators a 1-year diamond membership in appreciation for what you do.
We can promote the Discord discussion group in the official game, announcements, chess.com/events page, etc.
We can make announcements to the Discord community of over 100,000 members when it's their move.
We would ban links to other Discords (which unfortunately would include this one), Telegrams, WhatsApp Communities, etc. where we can't effectively guarantee fair play.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts here. As organizers, we very much want to build a great institution here with Vs The World matches, and Fair Play protections are a key part of that.
"

Sam Copeland in our servr

*server

[wise lotus]

Hi guys! hru all?

[elder garden]

good

[hollow holly]

When people say “play” instead of move unironically, either their english is bad on they are like 400

Maybe a 1000 says play

[humble horizon]

hello! i am rated pretty low and am very casual but i'm happy to be here for vibes and to give support where i can

[compact gale]

Polls are usually set to 24 hours, but we won't always have that much time before we need to post our recommendations on https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700 . On this extra long first move for us, I have set the poll to expire in 3 days. Note that you can change your vote in these polls before the poll closes.

If the move you prefer is not listed, choose Other and post what your move is on #next-move-discussion. You can pick a unique emoji for your move, let us know which emoji is associated to your move, and add the emoji to the poll. This allows other players to support your move by voting Other then bumping the count up on your emoji. This trickery is needed becuase we cannot edit a poll after it is posted.

---

Poll is up for "What shall we play on move 2, if 1. e4 c6 is played?" on ⁠ #next-move-polls

Poll is up for "What shall we play on move 2, if 1. e4 e5 is played?" on #next-move-polls

[tender grove]

premove Nf3, resign if he plays d5

[compact gale]

btw, premoves aren't supported by the vote chess software.

[tender grove]

screw that, premove it anyway

[compact gale]

Poll is up for "What shall we play on move 2, if 1. e4 c5 is played?" on #next-move-polls

4 Polls are up for Move 2 after Gotham replies to our 1 e4 in #next-move-polls

[tender grove]

if he plays a french I vote for 2.b3 nevermind im still premoving Nf3

[compact gale]

Good luck with premoving. (This is not daily chess.)

[tender grove]

don’t worry I’ll convince everyone to vote Nf3 no matter what

[compact gale]

**Please do promote your poll choices in **#1415399746943844483.

We will need to describe why we have chosen a move for the poll winner. So far, we are preparing our move 2 responses to 1 e4 (c6 or e5 or c5 or d5) based on our poll of likely responses by Gotham to 1 e4.

---

Should we look at responding to 1 e4 e6? Levy plays .. e6 11% of his games after 1 e4, more than triple the times he plays .. c5. [Master Games database]

[compact gale]

@tender grove What Other move did you have in mind for the 1 e4 d5 poll?

[tender grove]

Nf3

[compact gale]

So pick an emjoi to represent Nf3 and react with that emoji to the poll. Tell us which emoji you used. That way other people can also support that move.

[tender grove]

meh no need he won’t play d5

[compact gale]

Why do you think so? Masters database has him playing the Scandinavian more than any other response to 1 e4.

[tender grove]

trust the process

[compact gale]

For 1 e4 d5 2 ? Poll

[compact gale]

@outer grotto what other move did you prefer in the 1 e4 d5 poll?

[outer grotto]

d4

[outer grotto]

Sorry for late reply

[compact gale]

If it was Nf3, you can bump the count on the octopus, emoji, otherwise we will choose a new emoji for your move and react to the e4 d5 poll

[outer grotto]

Okay

[compact gale]

Do you want to choose the emoji and apply it to that poll?

Since your move is different

[outer grotto]

Alright what about this one it's simple

[compact gale]

Ok, I'll react with that emoji then?

[tender grove]

😔 looks like people want to play normal moves

instead of premoving

[compact gale]

How do we premove? I claim it is not supported in vote chess.

[tender grove]

you don’t actually have to premove, just premove in spirit

[compact gale]

Done. That makes two Other moves on the 1 e4 d5 poll.

[outer grotto]

Yep

[compact gale]

Did you vote for a first move on https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700

[tender grove]

im not on the team, I still believe that we should only have titled players voting

also I don’t want to be properly part of the team when they inevitably hang a piece on move 10 like they tried to do against magnus

[compact gale]

That's so, the hard part is playing like a team. We have 2 titled coaches coming online when the game officially starts.

We are getting close to having recommendations ready to publish. Waiting for polls to close.

[compact gale]

Not only must we play as a team, we need to publish and promote our recommendations on chess.com. Engaging with chess.com (only) players, for instance using memes to compare moves, demonstrating why bad moves are bad, etc.

[compact gale]

**2 exd5 has won our poll for 1 e4 d5 with 11/13 votes. The poll is generally final and all of our team should vote and promote this move on https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700 . I had intended to give us 3 days instead of 1 day, but 1 day will be all we have going forward. We will likely publish all 4 poll results together as our Move 2 recommendations in the new few days.

Since this is the first binding poll we have had, I'm asking if there are any concerns about this?**

---

**2 Nf3 has won our poll for 1 e4 c5 with 12/13 votes. The poll is generally final and all of our team should vote and promote this move on https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700 . I had intended to give us 3 days instead of 1 day, but 1 day will be all we have going forward. We will likely publish all 4 poll results together as our Move 2 recommendations in the new few days.

Since this is the first binding poll we have had, I'm asking if there are any concerns about this?**

---

Move 2 Polls are closing in 6 hours for 1 e4 c6 and 1 e4 e5

Reposting since no responses before:

Should we look at responding to 1 e4 e6? Levy plays .. e6 11% of his games after 1 e4, more than triple the times he plays .. c5. [Master Games database] Please respond with thumb up or thumb down. (fixed my typo)

[compact gale]

Let's discuss: https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1419760762838319144

[compact gale]

Let's get some discussion going for 1 e4 e6. If we don't, and he does play 1 .. e6, something aggressive looking like 2 Qg4 might get the lead, and once a lead starts it is very hard to prevent the move from winning the vote.

So let's have our response ready if he moves quickly.

[compact gale]

**2 Nf3 has won our poll for 1 e4 e5 with 17/19 votes. The poll is generally final and all members of our team should vote and promote this move on https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700 . We will likely publish all 4 poll results together as our Move 2 recommendations in the next few days.

Since this is the first binding poll we have had, I'm asking if there are any concerns about this?**

---

**2 d4 has won our poll for 1 e4 c6 with 11/15 votes. The poll is generally final and all members of our team should vote and promote this move on https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700 . We will likely publish all 4 poll results together as our Move 2 recommendations in the next few days.††

Since this is the first binding poll we have had, I'm asking if there are any concerns about this?**

[tender grove]

2.Nf3, 2.d4, 2.b3 are all fine

[compact gale]

Let's continue this in https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1419760762838319144

[tender grove]

I can’t access that

[compact gale]

Ah, you should join "The World Team" role by going to https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1374799507111415828, look for the section "React with to join the team and get the <@&1377312389040443522> role!" and click the emoji right after "Good luck!"

[hardy island]

why did you ping everyone 😭

[wise lotus]

frrrr

[compact gale]

Oops, I did it again! Accident, I was just copying from the https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1374799507111415828

While I have everybody's attention, make sure you have "The World Team" role.

[compact gale]

Follow the directions above to add "The World Team" role.

[cobalt kernel]

You pinged only those who have the world team role

[compact gale]

Hah! Good point. 🤭

Poll is up for "What shall we play on move 2, if 1. e4 e6 is played?"

Discussion for that here: https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1419760762838319144

**It is important that we give reasoning for why we are suggesting moves. It is important to promote your ideas so that others can appreciate them. **

Please read this: #info-vs-theworld message

**and note especially: 2) all chess move suggestions must include at least some written analysis explaining your reason for suggesting the move. **

[hollow zephyr]

play ng3 and do the kings indian attack he forgets how to move the pieces when you play the reti (trust)

[keen star]

<@&1377312389040443522> hi

[tender grove]

I know you

or i recognize the pfp at least

[ripe nova]

Bro accidentally pinged thousands of people

[compact gale]

Its not thousands yet, but it is hundreds

[tender grove]

discord will ask you to confirm before pinging a role with too many people

[compact gale]

It hasn't warned me. I'll inquire about that.

[hollow edge]

I will ping mods next time

[tender grove]

hmm ok maybe im wrong, I’ve technically only seen that apply to everyone/here pings

[compact gale]

Now that would really be large!

[flint anvil]

bro stop pinging

[compact gale]

**This group is currently several hundred players at present. On https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/386700 there are 119,002 Players. We are getting close to the time we publish our Move 2 recommendations to the much larger GothamChess player group. If we are to have any significant influence on the larger group, we need to act together and explain our reasoning. So we will need an explanation for the following 4 poll winning moves before we publish: (Note that a 5th poll for 1 e4 e6 is in progress)

1 e4 c6 2 d4:

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3:

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3:

1 e4 d5 2 exd5:**

[tender grove]

you mean e6

explanation for all of them can just be “main line”

I don’t think we need to overcomplicate turn 2

[compact gale]

We are also trying to educate. A short explanation of the attributes that distinguish each poll winning move from the alternatives as well as referencing Opening Theory and that this move has the Master Games players endorsement by playing it the most often. But short and sweet. Sounds like a prompt for an LLM chat model.

OK, couldn't resist actually trying that with ChatGPT

1. e4 c6 2. d4 – This is the main line of the Caro-Kann Defense, and the move 2. d4 stakes out the center, joining the e4-pawn to create a powerful pawn duo. This central control gives White maximum space and flexibility for future development.

Among all options on move 2, 2. d4 is by far the most played at master level, making it the gold standard response. It clearly distinguishes itself from alternatives like 2. Nc3 or 2. d3, which delay central tension or aim for quieter setups. In contrast, 2. d4 immediately challenges Black’s setup and aligns with classical opening principles.

Opening theory recognizes this move as the gateway to the main lines of the Caro-Kann (e.g., the Advance, Classical, and Panov-Botvinnik Variations), all of which have deep theoretical backing and frequent appearances in high-level games. The fact that top players consistently choose 2. d4 further reinforces its strength and soundness.

---

and another version:

♟️ 1. e4 c6 2. d4 – Enter the Caro-Kann Main Line!
White builds the classical pawn center with e4 + d4, grabbing space and opening lines for development.

Why this move? ✅
👉 It challenges Black early
👉 Opens the door to rich, tested theory (Advance, Classical, Panov)
👉 It’s the most played choice by masters – for good reason

Compared to slower options like 2. Nc3 or 2. d3, this is the move that says:
🎯 "I’m here to fight for the center!"

🔍 Backed by opening theory.
🧠 Trusted by top players.
🔥 Let the Caro-Kann battle begin.

#ChessOpening #CaroKann #ChessTips #ChessEducation #MasterMoves #1e4

---

My prompt was:

Construct a short and sweet chess playing explanation of Whites 2nd move 1 e4 c6 2 d4. We are also trying to educate. A short explanation of the attributes that distinguish each poll winning move from the alternatives as well as referencing Opening Theory and that the move has the Master Games players endorsement by playing it the most often.

---

Opinions? Edits? Alternatives?

[muted prism]

[inner belfry]

You should know that LLMs spit out gibberish in terms of chess openings

Here it obviously didn’t have room to mess up because it basically did nothing

„Rich tested theory” „Panov”

https://tenor.com/view/emoji-crazy-crazy-emoji-emoji-crazy-emoji-are-you-crazy-gif-17566518746599549444

[heady plover]

i always go for 1. d4 for white

[compact gale]

I challenge ourselves to do better fully expecting that we can. I am tempted to shorten it. Our results for all 5 moves will be published on the Gotham game team chat well before our turn ends as the recommendations of this team.

[compact gale]

So it's your turn to improve this recommendation. Let's go!

[compact gale]

1 e4 has an unassailable lead over 1 d4.

[winged rune]

what are y'all thoughts on the Accelerated Panov Attack after he goes into the karo-khan? It's rare so he isn't as prepared. It is also incredibly easy to play for white.

[tender grove]

I figured Breyer would give better odds

but you guys seem to want to play d4 anyway so i guess that’s fine

shirov and short are still possibilities

[wanton bobcat]

If Carokann why not fantasy

[pale rover]

just play two knights on french

Mostly for sharp positions

also if carokann why did we not choose breyer variation

just wanna get some thoughts on that

[compact gale]

Continue this on https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1419760762838319144

[pale rover]

need access

[compact gale]

@pale rover Follow these instructions: #next-move-discussion message

[compact gale]

There were 3 Other votes for the 1 e4 e6 poll. What were they? @sterile vine , @fossil summit , @blissful violet

[sterile vine]

oh

uhh oh yeah my move was Na3, SODIUM TIME BABY

[tender grove]

fantasy could be okay

[hardy forge]

fantasy is peak

[lyric schooner]

fantasy aint even good for white if black knows theory

[slim knoll]

If caro kan then 2 knights attack

That'd be so fun

[pale rover]

caro breyer

[coral hornet]

yea exactly

[slow breach]

I'm really looking forward to our match starting next week. As we learned from the Magnus match, we need to do our best to anticipate likely moves by Levy and come up with both a compelling move we find promising and share "anti-candidate" moves first. What I mean by that is we are going to be facing quite a substantial "bullet vote" of people immediately moving. We need to do our best to raise awareness to this issue and prepare a concentrated effort on a single path. There may be several reasonable candidate moves, but if we don't sync as a group regarding one candidate move, the "bullet move" vote will become far more likely to succeed.

Keeping this point in mind, 1. e4 c6 seems like the most likely outcome. My sense is we should think carefully about what type of position will feel "easier" to play as a community. In my view, 3. e5, the Advance Variation, may be the most critical test of the Caro Kann, but I think it will involve quite a bit of nuanced, concrete analysis to make it work. This suggests to me that if we go down this path, for example, 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 (I imagine Levy may consider 3...c5!?, when we will need to be ready to consider 4. dxc5! or 4. Nf3), selling 4. h4! may prove to be quite a challenge. Since Levy has courses recommending the Fantasy Variation with 3. f3, there might be some popularity with that move. I'd personally prefer to avoid a move like 3. f3 that requires very concrete understanding to play reasonably. 3. exd5 may be a simpler line to play, but perhaps we might not find it as testing as other options. I'm mapping out possibilities after 3. Nc3, as 3...dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6!? may be quite likely. In this situation, the "bullet move" 5. Nxf6+ is also a good move. After 5...exf6, then we need to look out for "bullet moves" like 6. Bd3 that could blunder a pawn. The imaginative opening author Nikolaos Ntirlis is advocating for 6. Be3!? , which may be a great move to better understand and explore. We would need a concentrated effort to get that vote across the finish line as this is not an intuitive (bullet) move.

Long story long, no matter what opening we choose, we will need to anticipate likely "bullet moves" that will need to be voted down as quickly as possible (6. Bd3? is one example in the mainline, blundering a pawn) by a unified vote surrounding a predictable opening move. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll look forward to connecting next week. 🙂

[pale rover]

I agree
Levy will most likely play one of his courses as he wrote them and therefore knows them well

I would recommend something that does not require ultra theory but still remains sharp like the Nd2 in the caro after 2. d4 d5

Though that line also can have quite an extensive theory

just dont go fantasy variation would be my recommendation if we don’t go for a two knights/breyer

[slow breach]

I think Two Knights is a good choice @pale rover , although I sense if we play 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5, it will be very hard to prevent 3. exd5 (a sensible enough move) from running away in the polls. Similarly, after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5, 3. exd5 might get a very early voting lead, so we'll need to have a very active voting group ready to advocate for the same move. Since 3. Nc3 and 2. Nd2 almost certainly lead to the same variation, in order to avoid splitting the vote, I'd suggest making sure people quickly unite around 3. Nc3 if we decide to follow that direction.

We almost blundered material against Magnus several moves in a row, and the vote was saved by a very dedicated and early voting response / outreach campaign in the game chat. 🙂

Once an early lead is established, many voters follow the most popular choice and "go with the flow" for better or worse.

[pale rover]

thats true

[compact gale]

**We have already done polls for

1 e4 c6, 2 d4 won.
1 e4 e5, 2 Nf3 won.
1 e4 d5, 2 exd5 won.
1 e4 c5, 2 Nf3 won.
1 e4 e6, 2 d4 has a large lead.**

[compact gale]

Our turn clock expires in 46 hours. Monday, Sept 29 at 12 PM UTC. That is morning time for time zones with negative UTC offsets like North and South America.

[tender grove]

<@&745328830649991179>

[compact gale]

Planning to publish this on team chat later today.

[compact gale]

Posted to team chat. Let me know any suggested changes.

[fast thistle]

Move 2: Qh5, because scholar's mate is something he doesn't expect

[compact gale]

Against all 5 Gotham replies? Doesn't matter since polls are all complete.

[topaz crag]

shouldnt we have something for the modern like g6 or d6

[compact gale]

These and Nf6 are rarely played by Levy. All 3 total about 3% of his 1 e4 games as black. It takes significant time and effort for us to consider each additional black response. We already have the top 5 responses covered. React up or down for this suggestion.

[chrome skiff]

What about playing Vienna

I know he likes that opening and knows everything, but its very easy to play

And in the worst case we get an equal position

(of course, this all applies only if he plays e5)

[rapid kraken]

I don’t mind the Vienna if we get 1. e4 e5

[unique cliff]

We got e4 , e6 , I think D4 , And we should go into French , advance Variation

[compact gale]

According to Sam Copeland (creator of the GothamChess game) our early move clock expires in 12 hours. But you probably are not expecting our clock to reset to 24 hours for the official start on Monday Sept 29 at 12 PM UTC. So our move 1 e4 won't be played until Tuesday Sept 30 at 12 PM UTC 36 hours from now. Then GothamChess's clock will start.

---

Another surprise is that GothamChess has requested that this be a closed-poll game. You will not be able to see vote counts and move arrows until after you move.

[tender grove]

that’s helpful for us 100%

we won’t have people auto voting the most popular move

[severe sorrel]

we gonna lose now 🤣

[pale rover]

[elfin ocean]

Hmm

[unique cliff]

We are Cooked 🥲

[compact gale]

Early voting has ended and our clock reset to 24 hours for the official game start.

GothamChess's turn starts this time tomorrow. He will be co-hosting a broadcast from the event:

Chess.com Returning To Judit Polgar's Global Chess Festival For 2025 - Chess.com https://share.google/Szs4NDbcY5LDCoZCQ

[unique cliff]

@compact gale Since we Going into French , So are we Planning to Play Exchange variation or advance One? , I think personally we should go for Exchange Variation , Because Most of the Players Will not be able to vote , Correctly after levy plays c5 , So Probabaly Exchange variation will be good

[compact gale]

Not sure why you think we are going into the French. That will be decided tomorrow by GothamChess. Do you mean 2 .. d5 instead of .. c5?

[unique cliff]

1.e4 ,e6
2.d4 , d5
3.e5 , c5

But for now let's see what he plays

[slow breach]

I'm really happy to see the nice example David F shared describing our move, likely Levy candidates, and a verbal description explaining the reasoning behind the moves. I think if we keep "refreshing" this updated analysis on the front page that should be a great way to expose more players to how we need to comunicate as a team.

[compact gale]

Question: Is anyone not aware of or not able to access #1415393752712876032 ?

[slow breach]

There might be an argument for the coaches to continue to post here to gain the msot visibility and then we can copy coach messages to "coach-forum." We can also add specific new topics as a coach as we see fit, but regarding the most visibility of coaching comments we should probably engage here and pin relevant comments to the coach-forum?

[compact gale]

I confirmed with Anitta that both channels are equally visible. So we could skip the extra work of copying by posting once to #1415393752712876032

[compact gale]

Coach Dane is suggesting we consider a variant of the Tartakower Variation of the Caro-Kann. Let's discuss it here: https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1422257636434382868

[vagrant pelican]

Per Master’s database, he’s more likely to play 4.. Bf5 (12 games) compared to 4.. Nf6 (2 games). May be that’s why he doesn’t get into this variation at all

I haven’t faced Caro Kann much myself but based on GM Sam Shankland’s lesson on chess.com, Short variation seems good for white.

Master’s database gives 43%-29% win for white/black respectively on Short variation. On levy’s own games, data is very thin - just 1 draw

[slow breach]

Quite true - we cannot exclude 4...Bf5 as a possibility. There is what Levy plays "OTB" (master database), and what Gotham Chess players online. I am personally predicting 4...Nf6 as a "streamer special" so to speak, but I appreciate the reminder that he can deviate. If he does play 4...Bf5, then after 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4, we'll need to have some theory prepared, but as long as we navigate this line as a team, we should be able to reach pretty playable and comfortable positions against this old-school mainline variation (This used to be the mainline before 4...Nf6 became super trendy).

Interestingly enough, Ntirlis also suggests an interesting Be3 line here as well: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Be3!? Not to suggest we must follow Ntirlis, but this is another "concept driven" idea. White will prepare Bd3 to offer a trade of light squared bishops followed by castling queenside. Once the initial opening theatrics come to a close, we should hopefully enjoy a comfortable game where we will try to squeeze him based upon our space advantage (pawn on d4 and the advanced h-pawn) that should afford slightly more active piece play. Of course, I don't want to get too carried away here - we haven't even played our first move yet! 😉

It will also be interesting to see how quickly Levy plays. I suspect he'll be a bit more "on pace" than Magnus, and he might make some replies pretty quickly (we'll see). So, for example, if he plays 4...Bf5 quite quickly, we'll need to make sure we have our opening game-plan ready so we can communicate early and often with the team and try to get ahead of the "bullet moves in the dark" that we won't be able to see in advance.

[compact gale]

A topic like this is better in #1415393752712876032 or #1415399746943844483 where there is a topic for this: The Tartakower Variation of the Caro-Kann.

[compact gale]

Our cadence is to have next move recommendations for expected alternative replies published before our turn ends so they are available if GothamChess moves quickly.

We already have those recommendations for Move 2: https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1421671587513368597

[compact gale]

Poll is up for "Straw poll: What do you prefer to play on move 3 if 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 is played?"

[topaz crag]

Nd2 pls

[compact gale]

Go vote at #next-move-polls

[hardy island]

Nc3 and we just go into the Alien Gambit

[pale rover]

Nd2 or Nc3, dont care

[heady plover]

why dont we play the advance caro

[vagrant pelican]

We are doing a straw poll for it at #next-move-polls

Also, are there any other moves (other than 2.. d5) by black we should consider if 1e4 c6 2d4 is played?

[tender grove]

2…d6 and 2…g6 are the only other reasonable moves

probably not worth considering

[autumn sparrow]

Nc2

[compact gale]

Our 1st move will be played in 8 hours 5m. Then it is GothamChess's turn. He may move quickly.

[vagrant pelican]

Nc3 - Coach Dane’s suggestion seems to be leading in our polls

[compact gale]

Remember this is a straw poll only. We will poll it for real on our move 2 if 1 e4 c6 is played and 2 d4 is winning.

[topaz crag]

wait is e4 already locked in?

[tender grove]

yes

[elfin ocean]

Can you vote on chess.com instead?

[compact gale]

It is still our turn for Move 1 for 4 more hours.

[compact gale]

Finally! 1 e4 has been played. It is now GothamChess's move!

[compact gale]

2 d4 is off to a strong start!

[crude gull]

Guys, don’t offer a draw in move 2 lol

[compact gale]

Vote for 2 d4 quickly!

[vagrant pelican]

If 2.. d5 is the only move we need to prepare for then not sure if we should have the same poll again

[vagrant pelican]

It’s ridiculous

[hardy forge]

I thought levy would play his new sicilian but ig not

[compact gale]

2 .. g6 is played in 2% of Master Games

[static ivy]

lets go for the icbm variation

[hardy forge]

levy will for sure fall for it

[slim knoll]

Wwre playing right into the hands of a international master

May the lord have mercy upon our souls

[compact gale]

White: The World - 128514 Players

[topaz crag]

i think we don't play e5 after d5

gotham knows c5 really well and i think that we could just lose the pawn depending on how well the world plays

the chessly course has nasty stuff in it

[compact gale]

That is Coach Dane's thinking

[topaz crag]

like e4 c6 d4 d5 e5 c5 nf3 and if gotham plays nc6 black can just immediately get equality after c3 takes takes bg4

[topaz crag]

what do they recommend we play?

[compact gale]

Check #1415393752712876032

[inner iron]

Be aware that Levy could very well play Na6.

[compact gale]

Seriously?

[inner iron]

Yeah, with the idea of moving Nc7. Esp when we're playing d4.

[slow breach]

Hi all! I posted some basic analysis in the game chat. Here's a link to confirm you can also access the analysis here (basically sharing the decision branches after 3. Nc3): https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3cnq6q717c/analysis

[compact gale]

Discuss Move 3 after 2 d4 d5 at https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1422606913081835530

[slow breach]

Just a heads up here that I am seeing quite a few references to playing the Fantasy Variation (3. f3) in the game chat. This is a line Gotham loves and has suggested, so there will definitely be quite a spotlight on this move. I think as a team strategy this will be quite risky, and I do not think these positions will be easy to play (Levy's positional set-up will remain solid while White is taking risks and must justify this risky move with dynamic, concrete play - something I think will not favor the world). Although we can discuss 3. exd5, 3. e5 and 3. Nc3 all as reasonable options, if we split the vote too much, we might see 3. f3 surprisingly taking over against a divided vote. I strongly recommend we unite around 3. Nc3 so we have the best chance to get a solid, playable position that should also put Levy under some pressure.

[compact gale]

So you are saying we should consider 2 d4 Na6, is that right?

I don't see that he has played that in the Master Games db

[inner iron]

It wouldn't be the best move, however, it has been played by Levy more than once.(Magnus also took this same position, though he played that as his first move.) This main concern for me, is that if he plays that, and "the world" plays Bxa6, then that won't be good for us. (We know how "the world" LOVES to trade pieces whenever they can, and i'm sure levy knows this since he reviewed the Magnus vs the world game and is most likely aware that we'll snatch up pieces whenever we can.

We just want to make sure that IF he makes a quick move, like he did with move one, that we have time to respond before the masses start voting to grab that knight as soon as they can. If we do, then we just gave him the bishop pair, lost ours, and gave him an advantage on move 3.

[compact gale]

OK, lets react with an emoji for that move and identify that as 2 Na6. Do you want to choose it and react and let us know here?

---

@keen star What was the candidate move you want us to consider?

[vagrant pelican]

We’ll need to divide and conquer if we have to prepare for multiple moves. @inner iron do you want to come up with our responses to 2.. Na6?

[inner iron]

🧐 can be the emoji for the 3 Na6 move.

[slow breach]

I just posted this in our game chat: I suggest we try to get on the same page regarding how we are going to handle 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5. Before I share some specific comments, I'd like to suggest uniting around 3. Nc3!

There are tons of playable options, but I suggest thinking carefully about what sort of position will allow us to play fairly normal development schemes that can allow us to find reasonable moves as we reach the middlegame. In my view, the "streamer special" 3. f3 is a really fun, entertaining line, but this immediately compromises a solid position in favor of dynamic piece play. This means the long-term chances should favor Levy's more solid position, whereas we will be under pressure to justify our play with very sharp, concrete lines. I think this will be a very difficult position to play as a team and we will need to find far from obvious, counterintuitive moves fairly early to justify our play.

3. e5 is a great option to challenge the Caro Kann but Black has two good paths (3...c5 and 3...Bf5) that will require some immediate concrete knowledge. This is definitely an interesting path, but I don't think it will be so easy to play as a team as we need to know some very specific moves.

4. exd5 is perhaps the simplest choice we can consider, which will then allow us to play fairly standard developing moves and reach a reasonable position. I'm not sure simplifying this early will allow us to pose any serious questions to Levy out of the opening, so if we want to put him under a bit more pressure I think 3. Nc3 is the way to go, although this also feels like a playable type of opening that doesn't immediately put us under pressure to come up with concrete moves to justify our play.

My personal bias is toward 3. Nc3 as I think overall these positions will be more predictable (Black only has one good response - 3...dxe4), and that we can play mostly standard, predictable developing moves to reach a comfortable game. I think this line can allow us to enjoy a bit more space and active piece play supported by a solid pawn structure. We don't have to justify our opening play with super concrete moves in the early stages of the game and I think it is a good move to maintain tension and put Levy under a little bit of pressure.

In any case, this is just my own opinion, and we have some other great coaches and an entire community to share your ideas and insights as well. I just ask that we carefully consider not what is just theoretically playable, but what we might find to be practically playable as well. h

[hollow holly]

I want to go for e5 since levy is prone to playing side lines

And i know he plays Bf5

At least i think

[compact gale]

I don't think we have heard yet from our other coach, @latent cedar

[hollow holly]

c5 doesnt male sense because after Nf3 we reach main line territory

After Nc6 which is inaccurate we play dxc5 and with c3 coming we are better

So i want to get into something super sharp by playing the tal

[inner iron]

I'm not sure what we'd play... I'm not sure us following up with Nc3 is the best move either if he plays Na6, but it is a possible candidate. So I'd say, bxa6 would be bad, Nc3 is a possible candidate, Bf4, Nf3. your basic continuation to fight for the center...

[vagrant pelican]

Btw, in the interview today, Levy said he doesn’t want to get into lines he doesn’t know. Another reason to try Tartakower variation suggested by Coach Dane

[slow breach]

Regarding 2...Na6, I think we should just focus on sensible developing moves. Svidler played a nice model game - note once Black plays ...d5, suggesting ...Bg4, Svidler immediately prevents this idea with h3! https://www.chess.com/game/live/5546672304

[coral bramble]

PSvidler (2900) vs. Gusarov91 (2577)

Move List

1. e4 c6 2. d4 Na6 3. Nf3 Nc7 4. Bd3 d5 5. h3 dxe4 6. Bxe4 Nf6 7. Bd3 g6 8. O-O Bg7 9. c4 O-O 10. Nc3 a5 11. Re1 Ne6 12. Be3 Qc7 13. Qc2 Nf4 14. Bf1 Bf5 15. Qd2 Ne6 16. g4 Ne4 17. Qc1 Nxc3 18. gxf5 Ne4 19. fxe6 fxe6 20. Qc2 Rxf3 21. Qxe4 Raf8 22. Bg2 R3f6 23. Re2 h6 24. Rd1 g5 25. d5 exd5 26. cxd5 Rd8 27. Red2 c5 28. Qc4 b6 29. d6+ 

[slow breach]

This will be an example where we would need to unite around a single reasonable move, like 3. Nf3, so that we overcome the "bullet move in the dark" response 3. Bxa6

[compact gale]

Please react to the poll by bumping up the count on that emoji

[inner iron]

Ok I did, did I do that correctly?

[compact gale]

The time to unite is this turn. We are deciding what candidate moves to reccomend a response to with a poll currently.

[slow breach]

If we go down the 3. Nc3 path, the only other move I can imagine Levy considering is 3...g6 that Hikaru has played in Titled Tuesday. The only concrete information we need to know here is to play 4. e5 in the unlikely event he plays this move and we are surprised by an unexpected move and need to align quickly over a move.

[compact gale]

No, Please react to the poll with that. Just click the emoji reaction I added, so it will have a count of 2 after you do that.

[slow breach]

I predict (and could of course be totally wrong) that we'll see 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 . Here we need to make sure we unite early and communicate often that 5. Nxf6+! must be played, especially to avoid another "streamer temptation" of the unsound "Alien Gambit" that is already being suggested in chat: 5. Ng5? intending Nxf7.

I'm just adding several comments here as I am taking Thursday off and will be mostly unavailable, so want to make sure I'm preparing the team with possible ideas before taking the day off and anticipating limited weekend activity (I'll do my best to check in as often as I can)

[inner iron]

Ok, done.

[compact gale]

It would be nice to have an easy to find record of the 3 Nc3 conversation. The #1415399746943844483 is good for that since it keeps topic posts together and easy to find. https://discord.com/channels/387637011965804544/1422606913081835530

[inner iron]

I looked at this more and Na6 isn't something that Gotham plays... He played against it twice... (and lost) but in all likelyhood, he's a lot more apt to play d5 as it's mainline. If he played Na6, people might stop buying his caro-kann course... With this many people playing, it's probably better to keep it simple and not suggest "far out" moves that MIGHT get played.

[slow breach]

I see "No Access" and #unknown regarding these comments, David F.

[compact gale]

What about more common alternatives to 4 .. Nf6 such as .. Bf5 and .. Nd7?

[slow breach]

I included that in the analysis I shared.

[slow breach]

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3cnq6q717c/analysis

Are my notes visible regarding 4...Bf5 and 4...Nd7?

[compact gale]

Yes, re-reading that now

So we would consider those move 4 alternatives for Gotham on our move 3.

If we agree to move 3 Nc3

Is the idea behind 4 .. Nd7 to avoid a doubled pawn after 5 .. Nf6?

[slow breach]

Just to note, I think move three is going to be an incredibly critical moment and a good example of having to predict what the crowd may gravitate toward without discussion. 3. e5 is the most popular move you will in the databases, so that will receive some attention and is by no means the end of the world (just way more concrete than I'd like when trying to coordinate moves with the community). Anytime there is an offered capture, simplifying will always be a front-runner (see a capture, make a capture for better or for worse as we learned in the Magnus game). This is also quite acceptable if it happens. 3. Nc3 is also popular, but not currently as popular as 3. e5. I cannot quite anticipate how serious of a following 3. f3 will have, but there will definitely be some "loud" supporters in the chat about this move. In my view, 3. f3 is the most difficult opening to play well as a team (anti-positional and very sharp). We will greatly risk splitting the vote over several reasonable moves, so just want to make sure we're ready to handle that possibility as the third move will greatly influence the direction of the game and our ability to reasonably manage the opening to middlegame transition.

[slow breach]

Exactly the point. This move is quite out of fashion and think it's unlikely he'll play it as it is certainly playable but requires a lot of work to maintain a delicate balance. I think 4...Nf6 is the most likely option and 4...Bf5 wouldn't exactly be a surprise. 4...Nd7 would surprise me.

[compact gale]

Do you know if @latent cedar will be around to cover that time?

[slow breach]

We'll do our best to stay as active as possible, but it's hard to predict precise availability at all times.

[keen star]

Whzt

[compact gale]

In the move 2 poll you chose Other

[keen star]

What were the moves

Play f4 fr

[compact gale]

1 e4 e6 2 d4, what is a black move that we should consider other than 2 .. d5 or .. g6

I don't see your Other move anymore, I guess you removed your vote, so nevermind!

[keen star]

Idk

[somber badger]

candidates to prepare for: 3.Nf6?

tbh I don't know if it's playable, maybe ignore me

[compact gale]

**I think the Gotham moves to consider are 2 .. d5, .. g6, .. Na6 from our move 2 Gotham poll
So I'm thinking it might be time to gen up some polls since we have only 18 hours to go.

For 2 .. d5, we have 3 e5, Nc3, exd5, Nd2, f3 from the Master Games db at 1% or over of games played.
Sound OK?**

[pale rover]

d4 winning in polls atm

Looking at it

I think nd2/nc3 has no difference in the grand scheme of things

[compact gale]

We will need to choose one to recommend

[pale rover]

the only difference is if: 3. nc3 c5?!

if not takes

actually nah thats just bad

oh i remember the other line

e6?!

nc3 iirc is slightly more pressuring in the long term and doesn’t block the bishop

but almost certainly it will be 3. Nd2/Nc3 cxd4

[sharp magnet]

While I do agree with your reasoning 3.e5 could be less risky

[pale rover]

do not play nc3 on g6 😭

play c4

[compact gale]

say why?

[pale rover]

so

c4 applies better pressure to the center than with the knight

and black has not played d5 yet

so now after d5, we can take with a flank pawn instead of the center pawn

[compact gale]

While the polls are up, explain why you are voting for the move you chose. Convince others to join you. Show some analysis.

[pale rover]

also if black goes with the bg7 plan, we can place the knight behind the pawn and still have a defense of the e4 pawn with it

[slow breach]

Objectively 3. Nc3 and 3. Nd2 are basically equivalent, but for the purposes of our team match, I am strongly attaching "??" to 3. Nd2?? for psychological / practical reasons. 3. Nd2 is more subtle (blocking the bishop, less centrally active) and will only serve to split the vote. 3. Nc3 is more straight forward and we need to unite around one knight move or else we'll be subject to a pawn move taking over the polls (3. e5 or exd5 would be fine, but the streamer special is calling with 3. f3 gaining visiible support in the chat). With this in mind, if we're going to defend the pawn with the knight, I think 3. Nc3! is essential

[pale rover]

ok

yeah i will just vote Nc3 then to avoid splitting it and letting smth else win

[compact gale]

Only one will win here and be the one we promote on the team chat. The poll alternatives show which one you endorse.

[compact gale]

This is a safe space. 😉

[slow breach]

Yes, I think 3. Nc3 is the way to go here if we're going to "sell" the knight move. Suggesting 3. Nd2 to the community feels rather odd and many people may be turned off by such a move (visibly more passive than 3. Nc3).

[compact gale]

Remember that you can change your vote before the polls close.

[slim knoll]

Nd2

Take him out his theory

I personally play Nd2 its perfectly fine

[compact gale]

Why is that better than 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2?

[compact gale]

We can't split here. There will be only one poll winner for each possible response from Gotham.

[hollow holly]

Nd2 after Na6

Black hasn’t played d5 but i will go for the setup I learned

With Nd2 Ndf3 Ne2 Bd3 etc

[slim knoll]

Nd2 is a very flexible setup after Ne2 you can play for f4 or c4, basically Nd2 is a waiting move, you can play the French setup with Ne2 or a normal game with Ndf3 g3

I think nd2 is better to play than e5 or Nc3 because obviously he has probably prepared for that

And then also opening books are allowed in daily games so Nd2 would be fine

[compact gale]

Thanks for posting your Other move. We use emoji to allow multiple distinct Other votes. Would you prefer to pick the emoji and react to the poll with that? Or would you prefer I do it. It is best if you eventually do click the emoji if I create it.

We do this because polls are immutable once created, so this is a loophole that allows us to consider Other moves

[hollow holly]

Ok

[compact gale]

= Nd2 for the 2 .. Na6 poll. Please click the poll emoji to show you voted for it.

[compact gale]

@autumn basin If you click the emoji on a poll for a move assigned to an emoji, you should also select Other for your vote.

[autumn basin]

Oh wdym :0

I'm kinda confused mb 😭

[compact gale]

@autumn basin For the 2 .. Na6 poll. Did you intend to vote for Nd2?

[tender grove]

the skull on the Na6 move means "this move is never being played"

also am i crazy or are these literally the same poll #next-move-polls message #next-move-polls message

[compact gale]

Good question. The first poll was a non-binding straw vote. It was interesting/fun during our 1st turn to do that while waiting. The 2nd one is the "real" binding poll for our 2nd turn. We have had more time to think about it. The winner of that poll will be our The World Team recommendation.

[topaz crag]

i swear gotham just saw e4 and immediately played c6 in like 2 seconds 😭

i wonder if we played a catalan if we would have been able to just slowly win

[vagrant pelican]

He did it live while talking about it. Saying how this opening saved his chess life and that he would not like to get into positions he’s not familiar with

Our poll on 2.. g6 is currently split between Nc3 and Nf3. Don’t know if there are objectively big differences between the two moves. The opening database gives better numbers for Nc3. The other two polls Nc3 is leading. Can we think of Nc3 as a universal response for move 3?

[autumn basin]

Ohhhh very likely, I'm a bit sleepy, so mb if I did a mistake 😅

[compact gale]

This is recorded with the Judit Polgar vs 6 teams simul.

[compact gale]

Anyone that hasn't voted, please do so. Just 11 hours to go.

[compact gale]

Our 2 d4 d5 poll has 3 Nc3 leading with 19 votes, 3 e5 is second with 11 votes.

Our 2 d4 g6 poll has 3 Nf3 tied with 3 Nc3 both with 14 votes

Our 2 d4 Na6 poll has 3 Nc3 leading with 22 votes, 3 Nf3 second with 6 votes

We need reasons for choosing the poll leaders

[vagrant pelican]

All can use the same reason: developing a piece and controlling the center

From Coach Dane’s commentary:
“My personal bias is toward 3. Nc3 as I think overall these positions will be more predictable (Black only has one good response - 3...dxe4), and that we can play mostly standard, predictable developing moves to reach a comfortable game. I think this line can allow us to enjoy a bit more space and active piece play supported by a solid pawn structure. **We don't have to justify our opening play with super concrete moves in the early stages of the game ** and I think it is a good move to maintain tension and put Levy under a little bit of pressure.

In any case, this is just my own opinion, and we have some other great coaches and an entire community to share your ideas and insights as well. I just ask that we carefully consider not what is just theoretically playable, but what we might find to be practically playable as well.

[compact gale]

Why are we choosing the leading move over its leading alternate?

[inner iron]

Levy generally plays one of two moves after 2 ... d4 is played... Mostly he'll play d5 as that's mainline caro-kann opening book... his 2nd most played move is Na6... So, for the d5 move, we are choosing Nc3 over e5, Coach Dane suggested that we play Nc3 over e5, Not that e5 is a bad move, however, it does get complex and isn't as predictable as the Nc5 move. Since we are playing as the world and there are a lot of people involved, Nc6 seems to him like it will lead to positions that we as a team can handle more easily once we get closer to the middle game.
As for the Na6 move, i'm pretty much just developing pieces and fighting for the center. Not sure it matters that much if we play Nc3 or Nf3 as both could possibly get played soon. I'm thinking the follow up would end up being something like 2... Na6 3 Nc3 Nc7 4 Nf3... (I didn't look THAT much into continuation lines for Na6 as it's played less than 10% of the time by Levy. Again, he'll usually play d5.) I ended up voting for Nc3 over Nf3 because we don't want to split votes and end up getting a pawn move instead like c4...

[compact gale]

For 2 d4 d5, we need words that explain why we are choosing 3 Nc3 over the alternatives.

[inner iron]

Nc3 seems like the most logical move. It defends the e4 square against dxe4 and if levy plays a6, then it adds a second attacker to the d5 square. Its a developing move to aid in fighting for the center, but also protects. other alternate moves don't do that... for instance Nd2 would protect the e4 square, but if levy plays a6, then that knight doesn't also attack d5, so a little more passive than the Nc3 move.

[compact gale]

Our reason is based on what we think will maximize our chances of winning by choosing a line 3 Nc3 that is solid and strong over other moves like 3 e5 and 3 f3 that are double edged and require precise and subtle play which would we think would really challenge the World Team to avoid blunders.

[compact gale]

Why concerned about .. a6?

[split urchin]

We can play the rasa studier gambit after Nc3 and dxe4 which could give us an advantage

[compact gale]

What line is that?

[compact gale]

That could probably be condensed, but basically I was trying to paraphrase Coach Dane.

[inner iron]

Coach Dane said that black almost always takes with dxe4 after Nc3 is played but Levy plays a6 in a lot of his games rather than taking with exd4.

[compact gale]

I see that, 6 games in 2021 and 2023. I think we can address 3 .. a6 as part of our move 4 planning since 3 dxe4 is played 93% of the time and I don't think a6 is better.

[inner iron]

where are you seeing 93% for dxe4?

I can't ever see that percentage... I see that he played a6 137 times and that he played dxe4 94 times as black... and wins more often with the a6 move.

[compact gale]

Draft 2:

If 2 d4 d5, we play 3 Nc3 which develops our queen-side knight and defends e4. We prefer this move since it allows us to make simpler, reasonable developing movea to reach a comfortable middlegame and still press GothamChess's position. 3 e5 is also quite good, but much sharpter and double edged if not played precisely, which is a greater risk for us.

[compact gale]

lichess

[split urchin]

Why are we using lichess

Levy always uses chess.com

so we should check levy's chess.com databse

database

[inner iron]

That's what I had looked at, probably why I see a lot more games where he played a6.

[split urchin]

why a6 tho

looks like such a horrible move

[compact gale]

If 2 d4 Na6, we play 3 Nc3 which develops our queen-side knight and controls the central squares. Nc3 is favored by a greater number of games in the Master Games database.

[split urchin]

ikr nf3 is just better if na6 but nc3 is better if dxe4

[compact gale]

lichess has a deeper free opening explorer. I don't have Diamond membership for chess.com

[split urchin]

i do tho

want me to use it

[compact gale]

It's filtering is not as good, but it does show the percentage info

[split urchin]

whats levy's usename so I can check

[compact gale]

In this case, it doesn't seem to matter, chess.com gets far enough in this line

[compact gale]

I think Master Game database filtering uses real names (Levy Rozman). In chess.com, he is @GothamChess

[inner iron]

You can use the mastergame database with levy rozman, or you can look at Othergames under GothamChess. He has that account and is shown to be a diamond membership so you know he uses it quite a bit.

[split urchin]

he has a high win rate with caro

[compact gale]

He does but the 12 games are 2023 or earlier after 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3

**If 2 d4 g6, we play 3 Nc3 which develops our queen-side knight and controls the central squares. Nc3 is favored by a greater number of games in the Master Games database. **

(2 d4 g6 3 Nc3 has a small lead now -- 16 to 14 over Nf3)

I think we can use something similar to my bold recommendations above if we post now (early) or wait until 11 AM UTC Wednesday

I'm ready to pack it in for the night.

I think our turn ends at 1 PM UTC Wednesday

[inner iron]

If you search for levy's games, you have to look at GothamChess as it's a diamond membership and he plays a lot more games that are current under that username, but you have to change it to othergames rather than mastergames to see them.

[compact gale]

Hmph. Not working for me - No rated games

(Other players, GothamChess, Black)

GN GL

[inner iron]

one last quick question.

Do we have something here like #final voting decision that shows after he's played his move what our response was like we did previously?

Not sure if we wanted that, but thought I'd mention it before we got too far into the game moves.

[compact gale]

No. I created a topic "World Team Recommendations for Move N" in the #1415399746943844483 , and I think posted a link to it in #next-move-discussion

or I copied it both places

It also needs to be posted in GothamChess team chat ofc, before or after you get any feedback.

Should we do it now?

[inner iron]

We can wait til tomorrow, I'm getting a little tired.

[compact gale]

Yes, but it needs to post early, before 8 AM CDT, preferably 7 AM

@vagrant pelican may be around and able to help. I might check in hoping you don't need me. 😴

[empty idol]

Does anyone know what the
2 d4 d5 Nc3 is part of in terms of opening. Bit uncomfortable with the knight in the center after a trade(unless we plan to move around it?) so figured I should look into it

Best I got is the Carro main line but I don’t think that the whole name

Huh, turns out it is-I just hadn’t refreshed properly(was looking at a different analysis line and it didn’t update the opening name)

[inner iron]

I think that it's called the Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, but it depends on the continuation. It would continue with 4 ..Bf5 5 Ng3 Bg6 6 h4 h6 7 Nf3 Nd7 so your Knight wouldn't be in the center that long but would end up transitioning over to the king side.

If he didn't move Bf5, then it would just be the main line and could go into the advance, the exchange or possibly another variation...

[compact gale]

Coach Dane is predicting 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6 exf6. The Tartakower Variation of the Caro-Kann.

[topaz crag]

after d4 d5, we will play 3 Nc3 which develops our queen-side knight and defends e4. We prefer this move since it allows us to make simpler and more intuitive developing moves to reach a comfortable middlegame and still press for a win. 3 e5 is also good, but it is much sharper and difficult to play precisely, which is a greater risk for us

[vagrant pelican]

Posted recommendations on team chat. #1422867920849207296

[vagrant pelican]

I can see all the games and numbers @inner iron is talking about

[compact gale]

2 d4 is on the board. Waiting for GothamChess to move. Expecting him to move early.

[pale rover]

Na6 is a dumb move

[compact gale]

There was concern about a bad bullet move Bxa6. It's not that bad.

[inner iron]

There's gotta be a reason that it's his 2nd most played move though after d5...

[fading smelt]

how do I get the world team role

[inner iron]

It seems like it's just a transitional move to get his knight on c7.

[pale rover]

idk