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 Bullies aren't very admirable people. They're often thought to be cowardly but that's not necessarily so-sometimes they're great hulking brutes who fear nobody. On the other hand, there are others who only strut their stuff when they have their fr...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/bullies-on-the-boardSat, 14 Nov 2009 14:19:58 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/bullies-on-the-boardMikhail Tal was, at his peak, an irresistible force. World champions past, present and future-including Smyslov, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky and Fischer-fell to the wizardry of combinations which may sometimes have been unsound but were extreme...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-immovable-objectSat, 07 Nov 2009 07:05:56 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-immovable-objectNo, this isn't a story about Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) or even Arianne Caoili, the femme fatale behind Gormallygate. It's about queens, and the part they play in the royal game. Sometimes there can be too many queens on the board, sometimes ...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/sex-appeal-at-the-chess-board2Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:53:40 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/sex-appeal-at-the-chess-board2She-Who-Flies-by-Night is known well beyond the boundaries of chess.com and is one of the most respected contributors in the chess firmament, so when she makes a request it carries the authority of a royal command. A few days ago she asked me to ...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/a-bat-a-mouse-and-a-castleSun, 25 Oct 2009 02:40:18 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/a-bat-a-mouse-and-a-castleThe nineteenth century was an age of spectacular sacrifices and flamboyant gambits that resulted in the kind of wild games that we rarely see in modern practice. Following are two king chases from the glory days, one from modern tournament play,...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/king-hunts----ancient-and-modernSun, 18 Oct 2009 05:25:27 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/king-hunts----ancient-and-modernKasparov, commenting on Euwe's game against Speyer in the 1924 Dutch Championship, wrote, "This is ... a classic ambush with the threat of discovered check." The concept of an ambush hadn't occurred to me before but I didn't need to read it twice...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/ambushFri, 09 Oct 2009 21:05:02 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/ambushIn 1994 two of my sons, Wayne and Neil, attempted something that had never been done in Australia before. They, and two of their clubmates, launched a hang glider from a hot-air balloon. The location was Canowindra, just across the Blue Mountai...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/on-a-wing-and-a-dareSat, 19 Sep 2009 04:05:31 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/on-a-wing-and-a-dareIn Australia, with a population (as of July 2009) of 21,262.641, there are less than 3,000 people on the ACF's Active Players list. That compares rather badly with chess.com which lists 23,009 Australian members. New players can be quickly disco...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/how-to-win-at-live-chessFri, 11 Sep 2009 13:38:16 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/how-to-win-at-live-chessThe power of a bishop increases exponentially when it works beside its mate-especially when both have open diagonals at their disposal. Whether attacking from a distance or up close and personal, the bishop is a superb killing tool and is the lig...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/jedi-chessFri, 04 Sep 2009 07:10:40 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/jedi-chessLogically, if you can play a reasonable game of chess you should be able to play a reasonable game of 960. In practice, for me at least, it hasn't always worked out that way. I expected that, once through the opening, the normal rules of combat ...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/chess-960-and-a-flash-bang-attackWed, 26 Aug 2009 16:56:40 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/chess-960-and-a-flash-bang-attackWords aren't always what they seem. Sometimes longer words can be really small-like nasturtium, for instance-because it has only one meaning. It's a flower. On the other hand, some short words can be quite large-like bum. Bum has so many meanin...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/bums-on-seatsFri, 14 Aug 2009 14:40:46 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/bums-on-seatsWhen I wrote about the KID a couple of weeks ago jimthemagic posted the following quote from "The Main Line King's Indian" by John Nunn and Graham Burgess: The King's Indian is one of the most popular and electrifying of chess openings. Players s...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/kid-stuffFri, 07 Aug 2009 19:18:41 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/kid-stuffSome people start things later than others and I was thirty-four when I learned to play chess. Having absolutely no knowledge of the game I had thought that mastery came after decades at the board and that grandmasters would only achieve their ti...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/a-wood-pushers-lamentFri, 31 Jul 2009 17:01:56 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/a-wood-pushers-lamentIn his introduction to The King's Indian Defence, (Fritz Trainer Series) Rustam Kazimdzhanov said that Russian chess players refer to the KID with some affection as "starushka" and, he said, that translates roughly as "my fair old lady". He then...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/a-scary-old-ladyFri, 24 Jul 2009 03:09:14 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/a-scary-old-ladyWho are the world's friendliest people? It's a matter of opinion, of course, but many nations qualify. I like the Irish who are a particularly cheerful lot-as long as you're not orange in a green pub, or vice versa; and the Kiwis are up there t...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/friendly-chessWed, 15 Jul 2009 21:28:37 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/friendly-chessIs chess.com the best place in the galaxy to play chess, or not? No argument! And why? Because chess.com treats all us individuals like kings. Just a few days ago I completed my 1000th game and, to celebrate, Erik et al  introduced Chess 960....http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-bouncing-knight-from-outer-spaceWed, 08 Jul 2009 03:32:20 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-bouncing-knight-from-outer-spaceLast week I was blundering through a game in my usual inimitable style when I overlooked a pawn fork and the loss of a knight. Normally, I'd have said, "Oops!" or something equally intelligent but on this occasion I said, "There's been a murder."...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/theres-been-a-murderTue, 05 May 2009 18:22:40 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/theres-been-a-murderWhen I wrote the Assassins' Manual for the Black Shield Assassins Group I was sworn to secrecy by an oath of omerta signed in red ink-the Internet equivalent to blood! So I can't divulge the contents of the manual here but can probably expand a l...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-kamikaze-and-the-dive-bomberTue, 14 Apr 2009 16:26:44 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-kamikaze-and-the-dive-bomberIn The Court Jester, Danny Kaye found himself forced to fight to the death against an evil black knight. To help him out the heroine poisoned one of the two goblets from which the adversaries would drink and warned him by saying, "The pellet with...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/poisoned-pawns-and-tern-based-chess2Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:28:07 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/poisoned-pawns-and-tern-based-chess2Two years ago I won the first three games of a Swiss tournament and found myself on Board 1 playing against GM Dejan Antic. I was determined not to wimp out and answered his 1.d4 with a King's Indian Defence-and that is the sort of opening that S...http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-bogeyman-factorSat, 14 Mar 2009 00:50:32 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Dozy/the-bogeyman-factor