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 Garry Kasparov said that today's chess players are all children of Chess Informant. This morning I posted "Reading Annotations" on my Chess Skills blog. Therein, I discuss some of my thought processes and research methods in a game that I won than...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/children-of-informantSat, 29 Oct 2011 09:04:43 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/children-of-informantSocial Chess is a vastly overrated chess app for iPads/iPhones. It is rated five stars by users who compare it to Chess with Friends, but who seem wholly ignorant of Chess.com and its standard setting chess app. I wrote a review of Social Chess o...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/peewee-soccer-is-not-the-world-cup2Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:18:20 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/peewee-soccer-is-not-the-world-cup2I scored a win in a minature this afternoon. http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/nutty-playSat, 01 Oct 2011 19:56:47 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/nutty-play Paul Keres created a favorable endgame that he could win against Vasily Smyslov. See my discussion athttp://chessskill.blogspot.com/2011/04/active-rook.html Replay the game here. http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/the-active-rookWed, 27 Apr 2011 07:32:12 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/the-active-rookI am poring through the games of Vasily Smyslov from the beginning. My iPad has an old database of his games that I downloaded from Guenther Ossimitz's megasite several years ago. There are some available games missing from this database, and the...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/12th-soviet-championship-smyslovFri, 08 Apr 2011 09:43:01 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/12th-soviet-championship-smyslovIn correspondence chess, players use books and databases to aid them in the opening, and sometimes in the ending as well. Tablebases, on the other hand, are generally forbidden when engines are not allowed. It's a rare game that reaches a posit...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/playing-with-databasesTue, 29 Mar 2011 10:30:28 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/playing-with-databasesEver since the dawn of civilization, humans have sought help in games of chess that did not conclude in a single sitting. Such help takes many forms. Sometimes the help is actively encouraged. Other times it is forbidden.When I was young, top l...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/databases-and-their-discontentsMon, 28 Mar 2011 16:27:57 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/databases-and-their-discontentsAmong the attractive features in correspondence chess is the research element. In ancient times, serious correspondence players with the means and the space built up huge libraries of chess books and periodicals. When Chess Informant come into ...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/playing-by-the-bookSun, 27 Mar 2011 17:48:42 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/playing-by-the-bookA quick search of the App Store for the Apple iPad shows that more than two dozen applications are now available. Certainly many of these are or will become available for the Droid Xoom, Galaxy Tab, and similar devices. With so many choices, how d...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/chess-on-the-ipadSun, 23 Jan 2011 12:52:23 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/chess-on-the-ipadAfter a strong day on Saturday in the Spokane City Championship Contenders, I failed to put forth the energy needed to win on Sunday. I played with more energy and fewer egregious errors than had been my norm a few years ago after a late Saturday ...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/the-will-to-winMon, 16 Aug 2010 05:42:07 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/the-will-to-winSeveral years ago, Dave Griffin revived the old Spokane City Championship, a four game match between two of the city's top players with a rotating trophy as the prize. Each year's challenger is selected by a six-player round robin. Participants in...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/city-championship-contendersSun, 15 Aug 2010 07:15:30 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/city-championship-contendersI get a draw against an expert or master. Last Friday was one such moment of glory.   http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/occasionallyTue, 16 Feb 2010 08:24:24 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/occasionallyWhen I was new here at Chess.com, I advertised a personal goal in my Chess Skills blog: become a USCF Class A player before I turn 50. I reached that milestone (1819 USCF) in May 2009, and then set the intermediate goal of maintaining it through t...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/the-road-to-expertMon, 14 Dec 2009 07:36:03 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/the-road-to-expertStart with the French (ECO C), switch to the Benoni (ECO A), then play the Sicilian (ECO B). That's the first three moves of a game designed to throw the opponent off balance. See Transpositions on my Chess Skills blog. http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/opening-transpositionsSat, 10 Oct 2009 09:34:04 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/opening-transpositionsEnigmata convinced me to sign up for a thematic tournament he created: Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Keres Attack. Beginning my preparation is proving intimidating as I note in my Chess Skills blog. http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/keres-attackThu, 06 Aug 2009 13:02:25 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/keres-attackI have the goal of reaching 1800+ USCF in the next year. But, my wins against  1800+ have been infrequent. The latest was just over one year ago. http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/important-markerFri, 03 Apr 2009 06:18:45 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/important-markerThe frequently employed term development came up in reply to questions regarding the middlegame. I decided to take a Socratic approach to the issue and raise questions to see if anyone can define it adequately.   I've been concerned with ...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/making-trouble-in-the-forums-developmentTue, 20 Nov 2007 12:11:02 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/making-trouble-in-the-forums-developmentOkay, I've been here at Chess.com for twenty days now and remarkably I'm nearly always here when I'm at my computer. What elements of this site explain its appeal?  I've been playing turn-based chess for four years, so the nat...http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/chess-site-addictionTue, 20 Nov 2007 11:50:26 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Ziryab/chess-site-addiction