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  • Two Mirror Games

    I recently played in the Bosna 2012 tournament, which took place in Sarajevo. This was yet another bleak tournament for me, the ninth in a row. In the sixth and seventh rounds I played two games which had an odd symmetry, which I thought would be ... | Read More

  • Don't Play a Move If You Can't Back it Up!

    Misspumkin (1895) – Darkschyte (1586), Chess.com 2012 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.h3!? Darkschyte said, “I think it’s not pleasant for him to meet …Bg4 but it wasn’t necessary to create that weakness, because …Bg... | Read More

  • Anand-Gelfand in Moscow

    The title of "World Champion" is the most coveted award in chess. It is desired by millions, but reached by only the chosen few. Behind each champion there is a story of years of hard work. Some great chess players never became world champions for... | Read More

  • Tactical Patterns Everyone should Know. Sacrifice on the e6-square.

    It is a very common situation: the opening is almost over but your opponent's King is still in the center. One more move and the King castling will mark the official end of the opening, but sometimes one move in chess is an eternity and what looks... | Read More

  • How Do You Win a Chess Tournament?

    I recently (April 27-29, 2012) played in the Maryland Open chess tournament in the Under 2000 section. I played well and won the section with a 5-0 score. This earned me the title of 2012 Maryland Amateur Champion, the 4th time I have won the tit... | Read More

  • Typical Rook Endgames

    (Four versus Three on the Same Flank: Part 2-Defense)  In the previous article we saw the dangers that the defender faces in these seemingly easy endgames. If you remember, the main one was that the strong side might create a passed pawn in the... | Read More

  • Behind the Stone Wall

    An easy approach to the walls must be provided against: indeed they should be surrounded by uneven ground, and the roads leading to the gates should be winding and turn to the left from the gates. – Marcus Vitruvius Pollio A wall is not a nat... | Read More

  • Chess Assistant 12:An Introduction

    System Requirements Essential:IBM-compatible PC,128 MB Memory (RAM), Hard Disk (1GB of free disk space), VGA Graphics, Windows 2000 / NT / XP / Vista/7, DVD-ROM drive, Microsoft-compatible mouse Recommen... | Read More

  • Death-Match Rules

    Chess.com Death-Matches are grueling, all-out battles of wit, speed, skill, and endurance.  To see a list of past winners, check here. To view recordings of past Matches, go here. Here are the current rules guiding them: 1) The match lasts ... | Read More

  • Death-Match Historical Archive

    Death-Matches are grueling, all-out battles of wit, speed, skill, and endurance. For the rules governing these matches, check here. To view recordings of past Matches, go here. This article will maintain a list of all previous Death-Match Win... | Read More

  • Death Match Video Archives

    This is the video archive of past Chess.com Death Matches. Look below to watch the live video coverage from each Death Match.  Read the Death Match Rules See the Results of Past Death Matches Death Match 4: Hansen vs HoltPart 1 P... | Read More

  • English Opening, Botvinnik System

    Glob said: “While I played a lot when I was younger, I stopped playing chess for several years. I got back into chess via chess.com and after playing for a while here (chess.com rating around 1500), I decided it was time to play some classical g... | Read More

  • Concrete Approach

    When referring to general chess principles, approaches and structures in my articles I always add a disclaimer warning that a lot depends on the particular situation. A certain method might work in 9 cases out of 9, only to fail in the 10th. A gen... | Read More

  • A Knight to Remember

    I haven't posted a Reshevsky game in quite a while, so here goes... This game of his is notable because he manages to get one of his knights to the sixth rank. It then stays there for the rest of the game, and completely disrupts Treysman's plans... | Read More

  • Twins

    Good tactical skills are all about pattern recognition. If, for example, you have solved a dozen 'back rank checkmate' problems, then I can guarantee that next time you play a tournament game and your opponent doesn't create a luft for his King by... | Read More

  • Typical Rook Endgames: Winning with 4 v. 3

    (Four versus Three on the Same Flank: Part 1-Attack)  As the rooks are the most clumsy chess pieces and as they tend to get in the game very late, one of the most common endgames that arises on the board is the rook endgame. Therefore, st... | Read More

  • A King on the Run

    When you see games published involving king hunts, there tends to be only one result: at the end there is a spectacular checkmate. But what about those games where the king gets away? Does that ever happen? Of course it does, and this often prov... | Read More

  • New in Chess 1/2012:Review

    New in Chess Magazine:1/2012 Paperback Edition:98 Pages http://www.newinchess.com/ "With big strides Vladimir Kramnik went for the players’ exit of the auditorium of the Pashkov  House. With barely sup... | Read More

  • The Pawn Center: Strength or Weakness?

    NachtWulf (1587) – Tnhayseed (1616), [C02] Chess.com 2012 (TC: 1 in 3 days) 1.e4 e6 Nachtwulf said: “French. I play it as black, but rarely get the chance to practice against it as white.” 2.d4 Obviously best, but those ... | Read More

  • Tactics Festival - Part III

    In Part I and Part II we were discussing the first four rounds of the Russian Team Chess Championship ’12. A few important clashes have happened already, but the most critical rounds are usually the final ones. The teams were competing not only ... | Read More

  • Read your Opponent's Mind!

    Let me start with a disclaimer: I cannot read other people's minds. It would be extremely helpful in many different activities but especially so when you play chess.  The good news is, sometimes you don't even need to guess your opponent's th... | Read More

  • Twenty Three Years Later

                    "The uniqueness of the forthcoming match, as I see it, is in the fact that for the first time in the modern World Chess Championships history the match between the legitima... | Read More

  • Test your Endgame Skills: Kramnik Level

    Today's article is a set of positions that illustrate the technique of converting material and positional advantages. The protagonist of all the examples is GM Kramnik, who is particularly prominent in the field of converting advantages. We will u... | Read More

  • New in Chess 2/2012:Review

    New in Chess Magazine:2/2012 Paperback Edition:106 pages http://www.newinchess.com/ “In a jovial mood, rivals Magnus Carlsen and Levan Aronian exchanged jokes at the opening ceremony of the Tata Steel... | Read More

  • ChessBase Magazine 145:Review

                      ChessBase Magazine 145(DVD+Booklet) December 2011 http://www.chessbase.com/ This issue of the ChessBase Magazine includes games from the World cup, European Club Championship and Grand Slam Final eve... | Read More

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