Online chess community where you can play chess, learn strategies and tactics, read chess news, see book reviews, find rules & tips, get free downloads, and more! http://www.chess.com/ 2007 Chess.com I'm Singing Those Old Dragon Blues!   Dan asked: My question is about White alternatives to the Yugoslav attack in the Sicilian Dragon. Basically, I hate it! I'd definitely prefer something that didn't explode all over the board. Problem is, i... http://www.chess.com/article/view/rsquom-singing-those-old-dragon-blues Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:45:53 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/rsquom-singing-those-old-dragon-blues The whiz kid was learning fast and enjoying himself. Anand captained Madras 'A' Team that scored 16.5 points out of 20 in the Tamil Nadu Inter District Schools Chess Tournament. There was a tie between Madras 'A' Team and Madras 'B' Team for th... http://www.chess.com/article/view/veni-vidi-vishypart-ii Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:17:47 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/veni-vidi-vishypart-ii In the following game, played in a simultaneous exhibition against a well-known senior master from Maryland, White plays a variation of the Bayonet Attack vs. the King's Indian Defense, throwing in 9. Nd2 before 10. b4.  A war is waged over contr... http://www.chess.com/article/view/kings-indian-mindset Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:06:57 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/kings-indian-mindset Vasily Panov (Nov. 1, 1906-Jan. 3, 1973) is known today for the Panov Attack in the Caro-Kann Defense. He won the Moscow Championship in 1929 and played in the USSR Championship five times. Unfortunately, not all of his games are found in database... http://www.chess.com/article/view/panov-hangs-his-queen-and-his-opponent Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:35:05 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/panov-hangs-his-queen-and-his-opponent   31st August, 1981.The tournament hall in Madras is abuzz with excitement. The first round of the traditional Kasturi Cup Tournament is about to commence. The event has   attracted 80 entries from all over India. The Premier section is made u... http://www.chess.com/article/view/venividivishy Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:20:38 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/venividivishy                 There were some comments inquiring why b4 is better than the normal Ne1 or Nd2. I am not saying it is better or worse, it is an alternative and time will show how good it is. Positionally, it makes perfect sense: whi... http://www.chess.com/article/view/part-2-bayonet-attack-experience-matters Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:44:24 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/part-2-bayonet-attack-experience-matters The Petroff Defense.  The name itself rings a "boring" bell to many people. Also called the Russian defense, the Petroff has a reputation of being a drawish opening. Considering the high percentage of draws turning out of this opening it is defin... http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-petroff-defense-by-gm-arun-and-gm-magesh Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:52:01 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-petroff-defense-by-gm-arun-and-gm-magesh Francois André Danican Philidor (September 7, 1726 - August 31, 1795) was born in Dreux France. His father was seventy-nine at the time! He was a French composer whose operas were successful and widely known in his day and who was a famous and re... http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-soul-of-chess2 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:44:26 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-soul-of-chess2 I don't work on my openings as much as I'm sure the very top GMs do (mostly because I have so many other areas of my game to work on), but I do try to spend some time every week looking at some opening line in depth. Back in August, in preparatio... http://www.chess.com/article/view/grandmaster-preparation Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:10:55 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/grandmaster-preparation As I noted in the previous article, "No Fire From This Dragon", English GM Jonathan Mestel recalls receiving a telegram from the British Chess Federation at the World Student Chess Olympiad in Mexico City in August of 1977 that read  "Miles says ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/beware-13-rdg1 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:28:26 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/beware-13-rdg1 Chigorin Ruy Lopez and the Mystery of Statistics   Niranjan Navalgund asked: My question is about the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chigorin-ruy-lopez-and-the-mystery-of-statistics Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:40:08 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chigorin-ruy-lopez-and-the-mystery-of-statistics Alexander Beliavsky (Belyavsky) was born December 17, 1953 in Lviv, Ukraine. He is now living in Slovenia. In 1973, he won the World Junior Championship. Beliavsky won the USSR Championship in 1974, 1980, 1987, and 1990. He was a candidate for th... http://www.chess.com/article/view/beliavsky-defeats-taimanovs-taimanov-with-4-queens-on-board Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:59:30 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/beliavsky-defeats-taimanovs-taimanov-with-4-queens-on-board Last week we discussed the old main line of the Four Knights Game, the one where Black simply plays symmetrical moves hoping just to equalize.  Modern treatments are getting more aggressive and sharp,which is why the Rubinstein Variation is the p... http://www.chess.com/article/view/openings-for-tactical-players-four-knights-gamerubinstein-variation Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:56:08 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/openings-for-tactical-players-four-knights-gamerubinstein-variation I know, your first reaction to the title of today's column could be : "What?? Four Knights Game for a tactical player??" And I can understand your scepticism.  Even Wikipedia says : "The Four Knights usually leads to quiet positional play", but t... http://www.chess.com/article/view/openings-for-tactical-players-four-knights-game Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:39:21 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/openings-for-tactical-players-four-knights-game   I would like to apologize for the error in the last column, which prevented the viewers from seeing the analyzed games. It is corrected now and you can go over the games. It has been almost a year since I started writing the weekly column and a... http://www.chess.com/article/view/bayonet-personal-experience-matters Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:00:42 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/bayonet-personal-experience-matters For anyone who follows professional chess at the top the level, it is obvious that the Alekhine defense is not a common choice at the Super GM level, and this is not without good reason. In many cases, White is able to get a reasonable space advan... http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-alekhine-defense-contd-by-gm-magesh-and-gm-arun Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:55:07 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-alekhine-defense-contd-by-gm-magesh-and-gm-arun Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 - 15 June 1925) was a strong German chess player, easily of grandmaster strength! In 1890 he was a student of modern languages (becoming fluent in several of them) and studied in Berlin where he also improved hi... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-is-99-tactics Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:37:24 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-is-99-tactics The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense has always been considered an enterprising, adventurous opening for Black.  The Yugoslav Attack vs. the Dragon has always been considered the "acid test" of the variation and is one of the most heavily... http://www.chess.com/article/view/no-fire-from-this-dragon Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:24:12 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/no-fire-from-this-dragon Mark Evgenievich Taimanov was born on February 7, 1926 in Kharkiv. He became a grandmaster in 1952 and was one of the world's top players for years. His record of playing in 23 USSR championships was matched only by Efim Geller. He tied for first ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/karpov-kod-by-taimanovs-okelly Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:51:33 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/karpov-kod-by-taimanovs-okelly Two Opening Questions No-Name asked: A recent book by GM Glenn Flear advocates playing against the exchange Queen's gambit thus: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 (Which my mentor GM Hans Berliner says is bad) when he only covers W... http://www.chess.com/article/view/two-opening-questions Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:37:33 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/two-opening-questions