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 »
2257 reads | 7 comments | 2 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 »
7116 reads | 35 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:00am.
As you probably could have guessed, I write my articles some days in advance of when they are published. I noticed that this article would be my last in 2011, so I wanted to do a farewell article to 2011. At the moment I am visiting Alaska, where ... Read more »
3767 reads | 30 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
GM arunabion Mon Dec 12, 2011 12:00am.
First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your most recent article. It was very well written. However, I have one question. All titled players that I know say that you should learn the ideas behind openings, more so than the opening lines ... Read more »
9697 reads | 22 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Dec 5, 2011 12:00am.
Hello Magesh and Arun: As my question subject suggests I have a problem calculating complicated chess positions. Although I can see a single line in considerable length, when the variations become complicated and the tree of possib... Read more »
10789 reads | 41 comments | 10 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:00am.
Greetings, in many of the openings that I play, I end up with a 4:3 kingside pawn majority while my opponent has 2:1 on the queenside. We generally both have at least one rook and a minor piece. What would you suggest is the best way to solve this... Read more »
5390 reads | 15 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
FM FM_Eric_Schilleron Fri Nov 25, 2011 12:00am.
from time to time we hear complaints that chess is doomed because opening theory has been exhausted. These complaints have come from amateur players and professionals alike. In response, many people have proposed changing the rules of chess in som... Read more »
3494 reads | 56 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM arunabion Mon Nov 21, 2011 12:00am.
I've been wondering this for a long time. In games for which it looks like white's (or black's) pieces are attacking a weakness which is throughly defended, a strong comentator on the game will say white's pieces aren't active. An example is an... Read more »
7378 reads | 24 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Nov 14, 2011 12:00am.
From: jetfighter13
My question is, when is it ok to underpromote, I sometimes do, but only when I even/win material, or put my opponent in check.
To help illustrate my point, I offer the following game:
Dear jetfighter13,
Under-promotio... Read more »
4728 reads | 32 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM arunabion Mon Nov 7, 2011 12:00am.
Hi Arun and Magesh, I have a question about the guicco piano for white. In this opening, black's main lines are all about making it as hard as possible for white to make or keep the centre with pawns e4 and d4. For example in 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 ... Read more »
6972 reads | 25 comments | 7 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:00am.
Dear Sirs,
Greetings of the day!!!
I am an intermediate level player ( I think??) and desperately want to improve my game.
I am facing a few problems with my chess studies & games, which I am sure that you can help me out !!!, are as f... Read more »
7541 reads | 23 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:00am.
Dear GM thamizhan,
I am busy going over some of my games, and I am mostly confused about the ideas behind pushing pawns on the castled king-side.
I think in this first position the idea is a fairly simple tactic. By playing h5 black is atta... Read more »
4798 reads | 14 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Oct 3, 2011 12:00am.
Dear Grandmasters Arun Prasad/Magesh Panchanathan:
My question may be too simple for you, but here goes: when reviewing my games, 80% of the time I lose because of knight blindness. I simply fail to see the potential my opponent's Knights have, a... Read more »
7717 reads | 48 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM arunabion Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:00am.
Dear Grandmasters Arun Prasad/Magesh Panchanathan:
I have questions and I hope you may answer them. I have not played over the board chess for a year and have mainly played blitz or rapid chess online. Before I took a break I managed to achieve ... Read more »
9323 reads | 38 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM arunabion Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:00am.
Dear GM Prasad and GM Panchanathan :
I am grateful to see the revival of this weekly column after IM Silman. Thank you! Hope you can answer a few of my questions below:
a) I understand that in order to become better one has to accept losing many... Read more »
8533 reads | 26 comments | 7 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Sep 1, 2011 12:00am.
Another of the “balancing acts” that chess players make is between the poles of consistency and flexibility. We all know that human chess players need a plan in order to play a decent game. We cannot calculate every single move the way... Read more »
6098 reads | 23 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:00am.
Dear GM Panchanathan,
I have psychology problems in the game of chess. My rating usually goes up and down from 1900 to 2050. One of my weaknesses is that I cannot control external feelings (i.e. fear, stress, overconfidence) when playing ches... Read more »
5773 reads | 26 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:00am.
I think the term “responsibility” in chess was coined by the late GM Alex Wojtkiewicz. Well, this term might be understandable without an explanation and didn’t really need to be “coined”. Nevertheless, it was Alex who I heard use this t... Read more »
5678 reads | 30 comments | 10 votes:
Submitted by
GM thamizhanon Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:00am.
by GM Magesh and GM Arun
From: Mustafa Rashid
In middlegames and openings I use the imbalance system to logically think through my moves which I find very helpful. I've studied a few books on the endgame but I still don't understand this phas... Read more »
4184 reads | 33 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
FM FM_Eric_Schilleron Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:00am.
Many chessplayers think they know all the rules, but being a chess arbiter involves more knowledge than people think. Now you have a chance to see if you know enough to referee chess contests in an online test. It doesn't cover everything, for exa... Read more »
3262 reads | 15 comments | 0 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:00am.
Success or failure in competitive chess is to a large extent due to one’s ability to balance several polar opposites – bravery versus caution; responsibility versus apathy, and consistency versus flexibility. I will discuss these topics in my ... Read more »
5799 reads | 25 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
GM dbojkovon Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:00am.
After the Canadian Open Championship, there was a week pause, and then the Canadian chess circuit continued with the Quebec Open from July 23-30.
In 1967, the Quebec chess federation was created in reason of the conflict between chess players fr... Read more »
3005 reads | 12 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
IM IMBryanSmithon Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:00am.
The opening phase of the game can be particularly influenced by the psychology of the players. Whereas in the middlegame and endgame you are usually simply looking for a good move – or the best move – in the opening you have many choices. Sinc... Read more »
7378 reads | 18 comments | 7 votes:
Submitted by
GM arunabion Mon Aug 8, 2011 12:00am.
Dear Mr. Prasad;
My friend refers me to this website as he told me I can ask questions to a grandmaster and they will answer in their article (very nice idea!). I had achieved expert strength last year. Then I took a break to study chess (daily s... Read more »
8115 reads | 31 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
GM dbojkovon Sat Aug 6, 2011 12:00am.
The Canadian Open Championship took place in Toronto in the middle of July (9-17). After reading briefly the history of the event, and discovering that my personal hero Bent Larsen won the event twice I started dreaming of adding my name to winner... Read more »
3058 reads | 10 comments | 2 votes:
