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DISCLAIMER : this article is not a discussion about the relative chess powers of humans and engines.
While listening to the very interesting show of GM Magesh last week, someone asked him why he wasn't using an engine to perform his analysis ? ... | Read More
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As my chess coach says, one book on the table induces work, but 20 create confusion.
In our times of ‘Too Much (chess) Information’ (Soltis), I thought it would be useful for people who can’t afford a coach, or want to supplement his teachi... | Read More
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The question of whether you should spend time studying openings or not is the Nessie of chess improvement forums.
Rather than take sides on this dangerous topic (I’m neither an integrist of the “thou shalt not study openings” dogma, nor an ... | Read More
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Where do you stand on the chess maturity ladder ?
1. Not putting pieces en prise
2. Setting up simple traps
3. Focusing to avoid simple traps
4. Knowing your chosen openings basic ideas... | Read More
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When I was younger, I took some correspondence chess classes where the author claimed that Russians used to practice calculation with positions that were just too hard to be fully calculated. The point wasn't to find the truth of the position, but... | Read More
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Now for something completely different.
Though I'm usually no big fan of chess variants and unorthodox problems, I can't resist sharing the very entertaining and puzzling problem a chess friend has shown us at the club today.
Normal chess rules ... | Read More
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GM Nigel Davies kindly invited me to write articles for his blog, the Chess Improver.
My first post relates Mamedyarov's fantastic performance at the Istambul Olympiad and includes an annotated game where he shows the power of the passed pawn !
... | Read More
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This is from an OTB tournament game, where after ~5 hrs. of play I had to make some important decision after my opponent's move 45...Bxf3. I had enough time on my clock and energy left, and I decided quickly enough.
What would you have played as ... | Read More
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Patterns are extremely important in chess. Knowing them helps us generate candidate moves, dig deeper into the calculations of variations, and create beautiful combinations by literally speaking, combining various basic elements of our chess vocab... | Read More
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There are at least 3 Knight forks hidden in this game.
Can you find them ?
| Read More