Submitted by
WIM energiaon Fri Feb 3, 2012 12:00am.
The topic of today's article is piece sacrifice in bishop vs. knight endgames. The most typical scenario is to sacrifice a piece in order to get a passed pawn. This is common because in endgames the price of a passed pawn can be much higher than t... Read more »
133 reads | 2 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Feb 2, 2012 12:00am.
If you follow my column, you will notice that I have not often been covering the most recent games from top-level tournaments. I don’t really want to annotate the same game that other commentators (and their computers) have already picked ap... Read more »
4533 reads | 25 comments | 7 votes:
Submitted by
IM Silmanon Wed Feb 1, 2012 12:00am.
“I read Winning Chess Strategies and RAYC 4th Ed. this year and then decided to enter my first OTB tournament in 20 years: the 2011 U.S. Class Championship.
“GM Timur Gareev, at over 2700, was heading up the master section, while I was sett... Read more »
4981 reads | 14 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
WGM Natalia_Pogoninaon Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:00am.
While most of us prefer to be on the attacking side, quite often we end up under the opponent’s pressure. In fact, the nature of the pressure can lie in the chess realm and/or in the field of psychology. By chess pressure we mean a long-last... Read more »
4822 reads | 28 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserperon Sun Jan 29, 2012 12:00am.
It's been two month since we did our first tactical Super-Test, so now it is time to check your chess skills again and compare them to the best players in chess history! Let me remind you that unlike typical tactical tests, here in most of the pu... Read more »
9671 reads | 36 comments | 14 votes:
Submitted by
GM dbojkovon Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:00am.
Aotearoa, or "the land of the long white cloud", or simple New Zealand as most of you know it hosted an exceptional event- the Queenstown Classic Chess Tournament. It is exceptional first of all for its occurrence-- only once every three years-- a... Read more »
2811 reads | 18 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
WIM energiaon Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:00am.
No two pieces have faced off more often, or with greater acrimony, than the bishop and knight. With today's article we are starting a series on bishop versus knight endgames. Here are a few examples that show different scenarios that can happen in... Read more »
6192 reads | 17 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:00am.
Tactics naturally flow from “tactical weaknesses” – an unguarded piece, an exposed king, two heavy pieces on the same line, etc. Often this weakness is out in the open and the only question is if it can be utilized. But occasiona... Read more »
6923 reads | 27 comments | 8 votes:
Submitted by
WGM Natalia_Pogoninaon Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:00am.
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 »
6557 reads | 50 comments | 14 votes:
Submitted by
FM FM_Eric_Schilleron Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:00am.
The Tradewise Gibaltar Chess Congress, the strongest Open ever, is underway and the excitement is building. The top seeds are truly inpressive:
1
4102142
Svidler, Peter
g
RUS
2749
bio
2
13401319
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
g
AZE
2747
bio
... Read more »
1988 reads | 7 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
IM Silmanon Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:00am.
Vivasyriaa (1651) – JoLou77USA (1259), chess.com 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6
Ah, the Philidor Defense! There's a lot more to this interesting opening than most realize.
3.d4 Nf6
Gambit lovers occasionally try 3…f5.
&n... Read more »
6015 reads | 24 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserperon Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:00am.
Last week we analyzed games where it was wise to spend a whole tempo and play h2-h3 (or h7-h6 for Black) to avoid a very unpleasant pin. But sometimes it is a good idea to play such a move even if the pin is not our concern at all. In order to u... Read more »
5888 reads | 21 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM jfriedelon Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:00am.
There is a common debate on the subject of what separates the different echelons of chessplayers. Some say it is tactics, others strategy. A lot of folks are of the opinion that opening knowledge is very important. Others claim ... Read more »
7027 reads | 34 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
chessbibliophileon Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:00am.
http://www.chesspublishing.com/content/
“Have you lost faith in the Benko?"
"You no longer write about it” My friend Max said, reminding me of an introduction I penned long ago. Now Max has a way of asking uncomfortable questions that insis... Read more »
1388 reads | 0 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
WIM energiaon Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:00am.
It was the first round of the North American Open in Las Vegas and I was paired against the top 50 player Vallejo Pons, rated over 2700. Usually I don't get to play foreign chess players because they don't often come to play in American Opens. Val... Read more »
7475 reads | 31 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:00am.
The Benoni Defense was first mentioned – and got its name – from an 1825 manuscript by Aaron Reinganum, Ben-oni, or the Pawn-Sacrifice Defense in Chess. The word “benoni” means “son of sorrow” in Hebrew. Accordi... Read more »
7854 reads | 13 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
IM Silmanon Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:00am.
2000 – 1900, Kolty Merope 2011 [A00a]
1.d4 d5 2.e4 e6
1900 said: “Instead of playing into a Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, I chose to transform the structure into a French Defense, with which I have more experience.” ... Read more »
4139 reads | 8 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
WGM Natalia_Pogoninaon Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:00am.
The final part of the report about the Women’s World Team Chess Championship features the last three rounds. These are especially important in terms of the tournament’s results. Usually by that point everyone is tired, and the cost of making a... Read more »
3536 reads | 25 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
benwson Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:00am.
This game features a rather unique attack. Korchnoi puts some pressure on Fischer's queenside, but throws away his advantage there with a few errant moves. This allows Fischer to attack his opponent's king without nay opposition. With the aid of a... Read more »
1963 reads | 7 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
GM Gserperon Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:00am.
Today I am going to talk about the h2-h3 (h7-h6 for Black) move in an opening.
Let me tell you right away that in the majority of the cases when my students (mostly kids) play this move, it means only one thing: they find themselves in an unfamil... Read more »
11766 reads | 53 comments | 12 votes:
Submitted by
WIM energiaon Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:00am.
For the past few weeks we were busy exploring opposite-colored bishop endgames with other material present on the board. Today I will deviate from the topic by showing you my recent endgame experience from a tournament in Las Vegas. I cannot call ... Read more »
3615 reads | 10 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:00am.
Everyone has heard the saying “an attack on the wing should be met by a counter in the center”. Or, if you haven’t – now you have. But what does a central counterattack look like, and why is it so strong?
Every attack uses up some kind of... Read more »
8005 reads | 26 comments | 10 votes:
Submitted by
IM Silmanon Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:00am.
checkmateibeatu (1200) vs. jetfighter13 (1130), friendly game, chess.com 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4
jetfighter13 said – “White has an impressive center built up, my ... Read more »
4822 reads | 26 comments | 9 votes:
Submitted by
WGM Natalia_Pogoninaon Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:00am.
From the battles of the early rounds to the middlegame of the tournament. Our team had to face two tough competitors – Georgia and China.
Lately we have scored well against Georgia, but this time that wasn’t the case. The match was a really c... Read more »
5391 reads | 14 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
chessbibliophileon Mon Jan 9, 2012 12:00am.
ChessBase Magazine 143(DVD+Booklet)
August 2011
www.chessbase.com
“Promise that you would not bore me writing on Kazan matches again,”my friend Max demanded on seeing this issue of ChessBase Magazine.... Read more »
1228 reads | 2 comments | 0 votes:
