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 Hi there chess.com community, I just thought I put up a illustrative game showing why you should always always develop your pieces in the opening above all else. Enjoy http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-develop-your-pieces-before-you-grab-materialThu, 08 Oct 2009 14:07:27 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-develop-your-pieces-before-you-grab-materialThe problem with playing 1.e4: why you should play minor 1.d4 systemsChess in many ways, is a mystery to the developing player. Each novice goes through his or her own  path of improving by working hard at various phrases of the game: the opening...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-the-openingMon, 21 Sep 2009 08:18:42 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-the-openingRecently, I have not been able to get out of a recent slum in form which has taken me to the depths of 1500 ELO and below.Usually I never struggle with maintaing a 1600 ELO rating on playchess.com but lately I find that I am finding it difficult t...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-a-strange-dip-in-formMon, 07 Sep 2009 11:00:52 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-a-strange-dip-in-formELO update: Recently my ELO update has dropped back to the 1700's after reaching a high of 1812. That's okay. I'm not in any way worried. I just happy in the knowledge that I'm definitely heading in the right direction.   Here's a game that ill...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-king-safetyFri, 26 Jun 2009 06:38:20 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-king-safetyI did it! I managed to break 1800 ELO on playchess.com! This is indeed remarkable! A year ago I was struggling to mantain a 1600 ELO rating and now in less then 2 months I have scaled 200 ELO points. My new personal best rating now stands @ a res...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-1800Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:01:16 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-1800If there's is one chess book I had to recommend, it has to be 'Simple Chess' by Micheal Sean. In his brief but incredibly insightful book, he sheds lights on how to identify positional elements/goals in which one can work towards too, showing with...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-a-nice-good-positional-winThu, 11 Jun 2009 17:31:46 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-a-nice-good-positional-winDon't you just love quick wins? Recently I just went through a series of quick wins over the internet and decided to post them up as a useful reminder to myself that even in the opening, dreadful tactical/positional errors can occur. Vigilence in ...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-quick-wins-from-the-openingsMon, 08 Jun 2009 14:14:54 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-quick-wins-from-the-openingsHey there everyone! I decided to add a little more variety to my blog posts and NOT post up a game for a change. Instead, I shall briefly talk about my recent rating climb. In what seems to be an extraordinary turn of events, I have managed to i...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-some-insights-into-chess-improvementsMon, 08 Jun 2009 09:22:14 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-some-insights-into-chess-improvementsI love the french defence. However, if there's one line that is particular scary to me, it is the alekheine-chartard attack with 6.h4!. White gets excellent practical attacking chances for the pawn if accepted. I usually don't accept the pawn and ...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-french-defence-alekhine-chatard-attackSat, 06 Jun 2009 10:18:49 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-french-defence-alekhine-chatard-attackI don't know about you but one of pleasures of chess is the feeling of satisfaction after grinding out a win. Normally @ club level, a pawn alone sometimes isn't enough for the victory. I've made many mistakes in my time in chess letting the victo...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-kings-indian-exchangeWed, 03 Jun 2009 11:35:08 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-kings-indian-exchangeThe French exchange is one of those openings which is incredibly drawish if both parties are satisfied with half a point. However, if one party (esp Black) decides to go for the kill, then the game can light up with opposite castling and plenty of...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-a-nice-french-exchange-gameMon, 01 Jun 2009 11:10:50 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-a-nice-french-exchange-gameHi everyone. It's been 2 weeks since I last blogged here. I have fallen back to 1600+ (I even went up to 1715 at one stage! My new personal best) but I'm more then satisfied to remain in the 1600's for a while. Previously I could never hold a 160...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-part-3Sun, 31 May 2009 13:49:28 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-part-3My goodness! I never thought it would have happen but FINALLY I did it! I managed to break 1700 ELO! Goodness I feel ectastic. Here's the game that got me my break. In hindsight i was really lucky, White didn't punish me for my mistake and I mana...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-1700-elo-at-lastSat, 23 May 2009 17:18:35 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-elo-2000-1700-elo-at-lasthi everyone! I've decided to blog my rating progress in order to keep an account of how I'm faring. I must admit that thus far, I am very surprised at my current performance. After recently taking a long break from chess (almost 3 months), my rat...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-part-1Fri, 22 May 2009 14:24:36 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/the-road-to-2000-elo-part-1Hi everyone. After 3 months of exile, I've decided to give chess another go. Here's a recent exciting game that i played online. I hope that you enjoy it. http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/a-return-to-chessTue, 19 May 2009 16:01:31 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/a-return-to-chessAfter playing chess actively on the internet for the last 4 years, I've decided to call it a day.  It's not been an easy decision, but I've come to my decision based on the following reasons: 1) To improve in chess, one requires a lot of time a...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/giving-up-chessSun, 15 Mar 2009 10:51:32 -0700http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/giving-up-chessI really like this game because I was able to utilise my space advantage to slowly deprived my opponent of any room to maneuvere. This game is far from perfect but I felt it's worth blogging nevertheless. Enjoy. http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/squashed-to-deathTue, 10 Feb 2009 19:17:07 -0800http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/squashed-to-deathShown is a recent game which I was really proud of. Even though I blundered in time trouble and allowed my opponent to force a draw, it's still a nice game. Enjoy   http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/hit-and-miss-part-2Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:11:41 -0800http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/hit-and-miss-part-2Greetings! I just finished a game which in my opinion ended prematurely. It would have been fantastic to actually finish my attack completely. Shown on the diagram below is the 'hypothetical' continuation had black played best defensive moves. (a...http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/a-hypothetical-attackSun, 08 Feb 2009 08:31:39 -0800http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/a-hypothetical-attackHi Everyone! Continuing on the previous theme of 'losses'. Here's another one in which I overlooked a classic greek gift sacrifice: http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/classical-greek-gift-sacrificeSat, 07 Feb 2009 06:11:09 -0800http://blog.chess.com/gambitattack/classical-greek-gift-sacrifice