-
It never fails; in time with Magnus’ chessploits, the debate in Norwegian newspapers’ commentary fields rages red hot over whether chess is a sport or athletics, with no surprising conclusions: one agrees to disagree, definitions do not dimini... | Read More
-
Analyzing your games is one of the main ways of improving in chess. During this procedure you will be able to pinpoint your typical mistakes, as well as weaknesses & strengths. Your games are your business card in the world of chess.
Each per... | Read More
-
Castling is a move performed simultaneously by a king and a rook with the aims of ensuring the king’s safety and connecting the rooks. There are three ways you can castle: long, short and 'artificial.' The latter is when your king and rook event... | Read More
-
Nowadays powerful chess engines have become routine assistants of competitive chess players. Both amateurs and professionals use them to analyze their games, prepare opening lines, evaluate certain positions, etc. Most websites that broadcast game... | Read More
-
Today’s article will be based on a game that was played by me against GM Monika Socko at the recent European Club Cup. I will elaborate not only on the course of the game, but also offer general tips and approaches that can be applied in any che... | Read More
-
As an active member of the U.S. chess scene, I of course know of Ray Robson, currently the youngest Grandmaster in the country at 16. In fact, as an active tournament player I have even had the chance to meet him, and play ping pong and chess with... | Read More
-
Chess players often find themselves in a situation when they need to win at all costs, or at least draw. Most of the time it happens during last rounds, but there are exceptions. Knowing how to handle such moments is an essential skill for any str... | Read More
-
There are many different types of chess mistakes, but some of them are especially widespread. They keep occurring in one game after another and are popular with lots of players. These mistakes may be dubbed typical and fixed via purposeful work.
... | Read More
-
2nd Annual Brooklyn Scholastic Chess Championship
The Brooklyn Lyceum
227 4th Avenue Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
Trophies to to... | Read More
-
Let me speak from my heart…in English!
By “start of a tournament” we usually mean the first 2 or 3 rounds. They define the tactics for the whole event. However, unlike the finish, the first few rounds are less important. In a perfect world ... | Read More
-
Originally my column has been titled “Preparing for international competition,” so today I decided to be more to-the-point and cover one of the most important topics in this field – planning one’s tournament schedule.
Choosing where and... | Read More
-
Time is an essential component of each serious (e.g. tournament) chess game. Just like the moves, it can affect the course of the match substantially. Being able to control your time, avoid time trouble, and take advantage of your opponent’s slo... | Read More
-
One of the most efficient ways of improving in chess is analyzing one’s own games. The legendary world chess champion Botvinnik emphasized the importance of this activity and urged masters to publish analyses of their games in the media. I belie... | Read More
-
Every chess player fails to convert a winning position once in a while. Sometimes it happens even in situations when any move seems to secure the whole point. What is the reason for this?
Chess is a sport, so the following three aspects are impor... | Read More
-
In the following game we see how young super grandmaster Carlsen executed a "simple" three-step strategy:
1.step: Creating a pawn majority in center
This is the white reached after 10 moves. He has a pawn majority in center but pai... | Read More
-
Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
`If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.'
`... | Read More
-
Thousands of chess players dream of learning all the subtleties of the game of chess. There are different ways to do so, but all of them are related to one and the same question: How do we study correctly on our own, so that we don’t waste our t... | Read More
-
By browsing Chess.com’s forums, I noticed that there are numerous threads dedicated to improving in chess, certain training practices, coaching and other issues of that sort. Let’s talk a bit about who and what can assist us in becoming a bett... | Read More
-
Psychology is an integral element of chess. To win a game (tournament, match) one needs to be strong not only in chess, but in the psychological sense as well. Every chess player can recall moments when he/she could not recover from a terrible los... | Read More
-
Every day I get a lot of fan mail (thanks, guys!), and many of the messages are dedicated to the evergreen subject “how do I get better in chess?” I am trying to do my best to offer individual advice to everyone. However, there is a very wides... | Read More