My tips for playing correspondence chess on lichess

1. Turn ON confirmation for resignation
   I accidentally resigned a casual correspondence game against a
   friend when I meant to click on the analysis button. This is a
   no-brainer setting to turn on. I know I'm not alone here because
   I've seen other people's correspondence game results, and some of
   them are baffling.

2. Turn ON move confirmation
   Took me a few times to realize I needed this setting too. I got so
   used to casually dropping moves on the analysis board that every
   once in a while, I wouldn't realize I was on the real board!
   Thankfully, I accidentally played the move I was already heavily
   considering, so they weren't one move blunders. But they very well
   could have been!

   I've also seen a lot of one move blunders in correspondence
   games. Let's elevate our chess by...

3. Play variations out in the analysis board
   It's there. It's not cheating. In fact, one of the joys of
   correspondence is entertaining all of the lines that never get
   played (and that you probably wouldn't see in a rapid game)!

   When I describe correspondence to friends I always say it's like a
   game within a game. Every time it's my turn, I go through all the
   candidate variations and possible moves I can think of: each line
   is like a game that may or may not happen.

4. Make and submit your moves on the analysis board
   This is an extension of the aforementioned tips. Essentially, the
   analysis board is king. You've spent all that time working through
   variations on it, so why throw away your work right before you're
   about to make a move? Don't go to the real board. Just make your
   move and submit it (without adding conditional premoves).

5. Use the opening explorer strategically
   There are 3 tabs in the opening explorer:

   • Master games
   • Lichess games
   • A user's games

   I haven't found the latter useful at all, yet.

   Master games are probably the best indicator of decent moves to
   consider in the opening, but they are not exhaustive.

   Lichess games are tricky, and I'm seeing now that it's best to
   strategically tailor/filter what kind of games are shown. Are
   bullet and ultra bullet games by 1600's useful? Probably not.

   This is another aspect of correspondence chess that I'm beginning
   to enjoy. When you play blitz, you play your pet line or opening
   theory you may or may not know that well. At my level, it's quite
   likely neither my opponent or I have any idea what the correct
   moves or ideas are in a particular opening.

   Correspondence is my chance to play a game that could possibly
   resemble one played by a higher rated player, who actually knows
   how to play the first several moves.

6. Take notes on positions
   It really helps to evaluate lines by jotting down ideas offline. This is
   where I began to feel correspondence is a game within a game.

7. Play solid moves
   Correspondence is not bullet. It is far less likely that you're
   going to swindle someone with a crazy sacrifice, or even entice
   someone into a tactical line 5+ moves deep. In my vast experience
   of 9 rated games so far (lol), it just doesn't happen. Your opponent
   will see it, or at least see enough of it to want to avoid it.

And this brings me to the biggest "tip" (which is mainly for myself):

8. Study positional chess

I've gotten a few books to help me on this front. On half of my moves
I think to myself, "there are no tactics here, what am I supposed to
do? How do I steer my opponent into a bad position or into a tactical
one that's beneficial for me? What is my plan here?" The last straw
was seeing the computer analysis of one of my games as +5.5 with equal
material. And I didn't seize the opportunity because I didn't realize
how winning my position was.

Those are some of my thoughts on correspondence! gl hf!