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 Russians called Napoleon's 1812 invasion "The Patriotic War".  The largest army up to that point in history, 690,000 French troops, crossed the river Nemen intent on taking the Russian capital Moscow.  After brave defenses and predicting the cit... http://www.chess.com/article/view/siciliian-defense-4---surviving-the-onslaught Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:16:58 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/siciliian-defense-4---surviving-the-onslaught Sometimes you play games where things almost magically unfold before you, seemingly without any help from you.  "Wow, that worked like a charm, didn't it?", you marvel at your amazing attack.  Yet it did have help from you.  If you play active,... http://www.chess.com/article/view/an-attack-out-of-the-blue Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:39:22 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/an-attack-out-of-the-blue Sometimes a move has more than one purpose.  And sometimes, the obvious purpose is so non-threatening, and relaxes your opponent so much, that he ignores your move and doesn't look for any other, more hidden, threats.  In the first game, White's... http://www.chess.com/article/view/why-did-he-play-that Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:59:39 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/why-did-he-play-that This article is about playing f4 as white in different parts of a game like Bird Opening,King's Gambit,Bishop's Game,Sicilian. After viewing the article don't forget to lookup the Kairav's chess masters (KCM) homepage:http://www.chess.com/groups/... http://www.chess.com/article/view/attcking-with-f4 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:13:15 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/attcking-with-f4 Chess puzzles.  Ya gotta love’em.  Speaking personally, I can’t get enough of them.  Nothing satisfies the soul like solving a chess puzzle that you deem truly worthy of your intellect. Working chess puzzles actually can give a serious boo... http://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-get-the-most-from-chess-puzzles Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:32:39 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-get-the-most-from-chess-puzzles Here is a game from the 2009 Copper State Open, IM Ginsburg - WFM Cardona with full annotations and commentary: This was a nice game to observe as it shows a common theme in chess. The b7 and b2 squares for both sides can be a sens... http://www.chess.com/article/view/invasion-on-the-b7-square Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:49:32 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/invasion-on-the-b7-square Initiative: The Imbalance Used By the Masters. The Initiative and a lead in development are two important imbalances within chess; however both of these imbalances are largely misunderstood. Most chess players will be able to recognize if they ha... http://www.chess.com/article/view/initiative-the-imbalance-used-by-the-masters2 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:23:42 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/initiative-the-imbalance-used-by-the-masters2 Here is a game from the 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup, GM Movsesian - GM Tregubov with full annotations and commentary: I believe this is a very instructive game which can change the mind set of playing against the Sicilian Defense. Many... http://www.chess.com/article/view/defeating-the-sicilian-the-quiet-way Mon, 25 May 2009 22:48:17 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/defeating-the-sicilian-the-quiet-way Having the correct mindset when going into a chess game is critical in the way you play out the game, even if you only need a draw. My coach told me that you play what the position gives you and go from there. I was recently at the Ontario Open in... http://www.chess.com/article/view/playing-with-the-correct-mind-set Tue, 19 May 2009 23:15:14 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/playing-with-the-correct-mind-set Often when a player is paired with someone ranked much higher, he doesn't follow his usual routine. A player who usually uses the Morra gambit against the sicilian suddenly goes for a quieter line. Others will try to trade off as much material as ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/playing-higher-rated-opponents Sun, 10 May 2009 13:31:57 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/playing-higher-rated-opponents Black to move. Mate in 13. I know there are lots of variations to this puzzle so don't lose your cool if the variation you play isn't the correct move. http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-puzzle-3-mate-in-13 Wed, 06 May 2009 18:32:24 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-puzzle-3-mate-in-13 This Gambit is Named after russian Player Sergey Urusoff 1827-1897 who introduced new ideas in the King's Gambit And the Scotch Game here is just one of many examples i could find of it in grandmaster play http://www.chess.com/article/view/urusoff-gambit2 Mon, 04 May 2009 11:19:02 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/urusoff-gambit2 Hi chessplayers, here s a funny match i have played, from first sight, it appear a boring game, but the fun is at the end !! ( you know!like a rock concert!) , perhaps the title is somehow strange, but it will show it self in the game..i want to s... http://www.chess.com/article/view/abbadancing-queen Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:47:46 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/abbadancing-queen Here is a game from the 16th Asian Cities Team Championship, GM Ghaem Maghami - IM Eid with full annotations and commentary: This game was very interesting as it featured two important points where both sides made questio... http://www.chess.com/article/view/pawn-weakening-the-good-and-bad Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:44:36 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/pawn-weakening-the-good-and-bad This principle applies no more so than in the tricky d-pawn 'specials' (Torre Attack, London System, Stonewall and the Colle Systems). Here I'm going to show 2 games which I hope may be useful in illustrating this: one of my own games and then a... http://www.chess.com/article/view/why-early-aggression-for-black-in-queens-pawn-games-is-almost-always-bad Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:54:56 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/why-early-aggression-for-black-in-queens-pawn-games-is-almost-always-bad "The pawn (♙♟) is the weakest . . .piece in the game of chess, representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants of pikemen."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawn_(chess)] It's true that a pawn only has a value of 1 point. But let's try ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/power-of-pawn2 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:49:48 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/power-of-pawn2 The term "Control the Center" refers to gaining power at the center of the board. Why is this good? This is good because you limit your opponent's attacking moves and make some squares places that your opponent can't enter. You want to have a fe... http://www.chess.com/article/view/definitely-control-the-center Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:19:39 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/definitely-control-the-center One of the dilemmas of modern chess is that opening theory has grown to huge proportions. The advent of computers and databases mean that there is plenty of information about a player's tendencies, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Throw in some strong ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/courting-spacebar Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:10:08 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/courting-spacebar The knight - a strange figure, isn't like anyone else. Many beginner chess books simply waste hundreds of words trying to explain how this piece moves. We will use an old Russian war song: "There where the infantry won't pass, where the armored tr... http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-knight-part-iii Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:41:53 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-knight-part-iii Part I:Discovery Discovery is a way to devastate you opponent's material using a check by moving aside a piece and placing that piece where you can threaten opposing pieces. one of those pieces would be already lost, since your opponent has to do... http://www.chess.com/article/view/discovery-and-double-check Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:44:24 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/discovery-and-double-check