Round 3: likesforests vs 1200
After a good night's sleep I was ready to rumble. More than once I stopped to admire the trophy that might soon be mine.
Round 4: 1500 vs likesforests
I'm up against a Russian who hasn't competed in a US tournamen...
Thanks for all the advice and well-wishes going into my first 30/90, G/60 tournament. I brought a CD player but never found occasion to use it--there were too many exciting things happening on my board and around me! The first games went well.
R...
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzovich. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
Open Files: Two Illustrative Games
NN - likesforests, chess.com 2008
We already know wha...
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzovich. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
§2.1 Introduction to "Open Files"
The rook is the most difficult piece to bring into play....
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzovich. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
§1.6 - Avoid grabbing pawns in the opening
Nimzowitsch spends a chapter explainin...
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzovich. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
§1.6 - How to Manage the Center
Today I'm trying something interesting. I'm blend...
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzowitsch. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
Review
We had a small break after lesson 2 "An Exchange Followed by a Gain of Tempo"...
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzowitsch. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
§1.4 An exchange followed by a gain of tempo
Imagine you're running a race agai...
We're learning chess strategy from the classic My System by Aaron Nimzowitsch. I'm your guide, likesforests. Grab a cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy. :)
§1.1 You develop a piece by moving it off the back rank and tow...
On July 25th I'll begin publishing a weekly series based on 'My System', a classic chess strategy book by Aaron Nimzowitsch. Many masters consider studying My System a key step to becoming a stronger player.
- Articles will feature a discussion...
Several people have asked me to post some of my games from the World Open. They were G/45 and despite placing in the top 5, the games weren't pretty. Blame it on the time zone or the hotel food. Maybe I just need to study tactics more. Round ...
With 5 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses I was in the top 5 in my section at the World Open 2008.It was satisfying. I do not suck at chess. I played Russians, Chinese, Americans, and an Indian... older folks with experience on their side, younger f...
I'm competing in the World Open in a week or so. My practice games make me wonder whether it'll be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde who actually shows up in Philadelphia. For example, here are a couple games I played this week: &...
Questions, comments, and especially criticism are welcome. Remember to click the Move List button to see all the interesting variations.
Q+P vs Q is more common than Q vs P, but it receives less coverage. That's probably because it is complex, and in fact humans knew little about this ending until the advent of tablebases revolutionized its study. Rook and Knight pawns usually ...
Happy Holidays! I bought a Palm Z22 and loaded Palm Hiarcs (ELO 2506), Morphy's 472 known games, and 24 issues of Endgame Corner. It's a great chess combo that lets me study while on the go. Cost: $145 Battery Life (playing): ...
This is an exciting ending played by my friend dktransformation. I think it's practical and it contains interesting positions, mistakes, and nuggets of wisdom that we can learn from. I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to ask questions, offer a...
This is my final article on the Frontal Defense. We look at positions from real games. These are complicated positions, so don't feel bad if you miss a move. The above commentary is completely my own, but Danielian-Miles is discussed in mor...
We're going to look at Frontal Defense on the knight file today, and then examine some interesting games between strong players. A. Knight Files The Frontal Defense on a knight file works the same as on a central or bishop file, ...
Now that you know how wage a Frontal Defense, we're going to learn how to quickly evaluate whether a position can be drawn via this method. A. The defending rook needs at least 3 squares of checking distance to hold the draw. B. If t...
The Frontal Defense was invented by Tarrasch. It's a method that a defender can use to draw a R+P vs R ending when his king is cut-off from the pawn. This technique is only effective if the pawn hasn't crossed the middle of the board. ...
This is one of the few ways to draw when you're two pawns down. I found an interesting resource on the Internet for mastering this ending: Rook endings with rook and bishop pawns In this free lesson Peter Joseph covers 32 R...
For players under 2100, Rook vs Bishop is won 40% of the time. The drawing technique is counter-intuitive, so if your opponent doesn't know it, you have chances to win. As usual, we begin by looking at the right moves. To ...
Queen vs Knight is a simple win, but when you reach it you may be tired and in time trouble. You also must watch out for forks! Below, a strong player blundered into a draw: Key Idea: Forks only work if your king, queen, and his knight are all on...
This article may be too simple for some readers, but in my Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop and Centurini Position articles I frequently said Q vs B is an easy win. Then I witnessed this tragicomedy, and thought maybe I should offer a couple tips! ...