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 here are some tips to improve an be a better sport in chess:  Control the center  Think of your opponent's move  Plan every move. Keep your king side defensive Keep the other side offensive Use most of your pieces... Use the Queen, King. Ä°n t... http://www.chess.com/article/view/tips Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:42:40 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/tips Here is a game from the 2008 SPICE Cup, GM Stefansson - GM Miton with full annotations and commentary: In this game we saw white play a nice balanced game. First he was able to put strong pressure along the black pawn on the ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/forcing-weaknesses Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:31:43 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/forcing-weaknesses Here is a game from the 2008 SPICE Cup, GM Kaidanov - GM Stefansson with full annotations and commentary: In this game we saw white go ahead an exchange for a pawn and the game entered into a technical phase where white had to ex... http://www.chess.com/article/view/winning-technique Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:02:15 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/winning-technique Pawnoffers in middlegame are a strategic weapon. For example to open a file and use it with a rook. Let us look first at an easy example: 1. Black offers a pawn white should better not accept                          ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/pawnoffer-in-middlegame---to-get-and-use-an-open-file Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:52:21 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/pawnoffer-in-middlegame---to-get-and-use-an-open-file I have always been told "you are under-rated", it is true, I lack consitency.  On this day I arrived at the a local chess tournament with a CFC-rating of 1248, after defeating a 1600, drawing a 1700 and beating an 1800 I was faced with Mr. Mast... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chessrules---1248-beats-a-2220 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:05:11 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chessrules---1248-beats-a-2220 Have you ever been carried along in the flow of an attack, relentlessly striking at your opponent, but finding that you are missing just one little thing? Maybe you should stop and think about it, and you may find a quiet move in the position. Let... http://www.chess.com/article/view/quiet-moves-in-attack Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:29:07 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/quiet-moves-in-attack Another of my 'error-prone' games (both of us made errors), but is still a good example of how to lock-out/put-in-prison/block-out invaders. It is also a good example of why we should not play too many pawn-moves at the cost of development - in ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/blocking-the-invaders-in-or-out Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:29:37 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/blocking-the-invaders-in-or-out In my last article, we saw how young Aljechin let his opponent Euwe suffer with his "bad bishop". Today we see, how older Aljechin uses the same "bad bishop"-concept again. But this time he took opponent`s knight also in "prison". Seeing this... http://www.chess.com/article/view/aljechin-and-the-bad-bishop--concept Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:53:21 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/aljechin-and-the-bad-bishop--concept I sometimes see my opponents charging in to attack with just one piece. That usually happens when I make a mistake (yeah, I tend to do those a lot) and leave a door open. It is good for them if they cash in on my mistake and withdraw. They usual... http://www.chess.com/article/view/locking-the-invader-in Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:15:31 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/locking-the-invader-in Reshevsky keeps Nadjorf on the run in this game. After anchoring a kinght on d6, he then creates a queenside passed pawn. Next he stirs up a king-side attack. His poor opponent is left totally helpless. (notes & title by irving chernev) ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-shifting-attack Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:12:07 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-shifting-attack My System, chapter one arms players with the strategems they need to compete in the opening and early middlegame: Lesson 1 covers §1.1- §1.3 which explain how to develop your pieces efficiently. Lesson 2 covers §1.4 and dea... http://www.chess.com/article/view/my-system-chapter-one Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:13:27 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/my-system-chapter-one Botvinnik wins this game purely by the strength of his position. Control of the d-file, especially d5, enables him to penetrate. After going up a pawn, he simply trades down into a rook & pawn ending, which he wins in a breeze. (notes & ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/quiet-like-a-tiger Mon, 01 Sep 2008 10:59:50 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/quiet-like-a-tiger In my last learning article I showed, how great Capablanca managed to make his opponent`s bishop "bad".- Today we see a position, where the bad bishop already exists . Euwe had made an opening mistake and now Aljechin is coming up with an easy p... http://www.chess.com/article/view/sorry-mr-euwe-i-think-you-have-a-bad-bishop Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:44:14 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/sorry-mr-euwe-i-think-you-have-a-bad-bishop Capablanca shows just how to make use of a slight advantage. A more active rook, a closer-situated king, it all adds up to the forced win of a pawn. And once he is a pawn ahead, the win is easy for him. (notes & title by irving chernev) http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-power-of-position-play Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:15:18 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-power-of-position-play The most of you know, I suppose, what an isolated pawn is. For beginers, I take a definition from jeremysilman.com Glossary of Chess Terms: A pawn with no friendly pawns on either adjacent ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/an-isolated-pawn-d4-d5-three-practical-examples Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:02:13 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/an-isolated-pawn-d4-d5-three-practical-examples So in my last bloglesson (Strategy in chess: 5. Pawnoffer in middlegame) I gave an example, how grandmaster Uhlmann gave a pawn for locking out an very active bishop for the rest of the game. And this against great Bobby Fischer!- Today is this ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/capablanca-and-the-outlocked-bishop Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:46:26 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/capablanca-and-the-outlocked-bishop Everyone knows to move your king or queen's pawn is a usual start off. Don't pick starting with the queen. It is bad bad bad bad. No commas for a reason. That is what moving your queen pawn up is like. Forgetting commas. I can really screw you up.... http://www.chess.com/article/view/never-move-your-queen-pawn-up-unless-you-really-know-what-you-are-doing Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:21:06 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/never-move-your-queen-pawn-up-unless-you-really-know-what-you-are-doing       A. White. (N-f7+ R takes f7 Q takes g8#) http://www.chess.com/article/view/puzzle3 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:16:57 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/puzzle3 http://www.chess.com/article/view/mating-black--something-we-dont-insert-our-thought-into-normally Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:12:47 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/mating-black--something-we-dont-insert-our-thought-into-normally Normally when we think of a queen sacrfice, a dashing mate in 5 or a fabulous combination to win a rook comes to mind. But what if we sacrfice the queen just for some material and a chance for an advantage? Those are some of the most brilliant que... http://www.chess.com/article/view/speculative-queen-sacs-1 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:33:25 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/speculative-queen-sacs-1