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 I apologize to my young students for abandoning my blog for some time.  I was hurt by some of the comments posted on my last blog, but three of my chess friends have urged me to continue, so I am going to soldier on.  The game that I have chosen...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/facing-a-gmSun, 11 Oct 2009 22:50:16 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/facing-a-gmHere is a series of notes from Whitesox7 that I think will be helpful to all of my students: =============================================================== Original Message by WhiteSox7 on 9/19/2009 @ 10:49pm: Hey Sam, i had just looked at one...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/how-touse-computers-for-post-mortem-analysisTue, 22 Sep 2009 11:05:43 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/how-touse-computers-for-post-mortem-analysisOn January 11, 2009, I initiated a Masters Only double round robin tournament with a six player field.  A strong master from Paris, Frederic Schmitz,  with an initial rating of 2347, was seeded fifth in the opening field.  However, Frederic jum...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/opening-slip-transpositionSun, 06 Sep 2009 11:46:26 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/opening-slip-transpositionThis week, I posted 6 wins and 1 loss, so I have selected the most important win from a theoretical point and from a final standings point in the Sicilian Pin thematic tourney.  This win defeated the #2 player on the leaderboard, THCCKINGJON, who...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/new-pin-theory-redemptionSun, 23 Aug 2009 01:07:31 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/new-pin-theory-redemptionSeveral weeks ago, I published a blog called "French Mate" which produced an exciting king-hunt and pawn mate where white faced the Closed French.  This week, I have another extremely interesting French Defense Tarrasch Variation Closed Variation...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/new-theory-in-the-frenchSun, 16 Aug 2009 17:38:01 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/new-theory-in-the-frenchLast week I analyzed a fine win for black with the Pin Variation of the Sicilian Defense where white tried the Koch Variation Schoenmann Variation versus black.  That win demonstrated the latent power of black's position in the hands of a skilled...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-pin-king-huntMon, 10 Aug 2009 00:58:44 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-pin-king-huntI tried to have some fun in the last several weeks by exhibiting some "perfect games" according to Chess.com.  It was a bit of fun, but it started a firestorm of controversy since many of you do not believe that a perfect game can be played by an...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-pin-koch-schoenmannFri, 31 Jul 2009 21:16:16 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-pin-koch-schoenmann Two weeks ago, I submitted analysis of a game which I call "perfect" because grandmaster analysis by the Chess.com computer found no inaccuracies, no mistakes, and no blunders.  Several moves in that game, I played out of hope, just trying not ...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/perfection-2Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:40:18 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/perfection-2Last week, I shared an unusual game on my blog - a "perfect" game with no inaccuracies according to Chess.com at the 2500 level.  This week, I want to share another great win for me in which Chess.com claims that I have only one inaccuracy.  Man...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/almost-perfectSun, 19 Jul 2009 23:57:25 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/almost-perfectThis week, I want to share a chess game with my friends that is just as rare as a pawn mate, the game that I analyzed last week.  This week, I want to analyze a "Perfect Game" that is the first one that I have played at Chess.com.  First, I want...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/perfect-gameSat, 11 Jul 2009 19:25:38 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/perfect-gameI try to analyze the most interesting or the most important win or draw that I post each week.  This last week was special as I posted 7 wins and 1 draw within an 8-day period.  I wanted to analyze this beautiful French mate because it involves ...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/french-mateMon, 06 Jul 2009 01:15:46 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/french-mateI just completed my third game with my good friend sergio61 from Turin, Italy.  He is a fine player and crushed my Sicilian Defense Pin Variation in our first game.  He destroyed a line that I had played for over 30 years and sent me back to the...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/new-pin-theory-black-redemptionSun, 28 Jun 2009 01:36:46 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/new-pin-theory-black-redemptionI am currentlydirecting a six-person double round-robin tournament, Strong Masters Only, that required a 2300 initial rating to participate.  I was fortunate to get a very strong field with 3 of the 6 players over 2400 in their initial ratings. ...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/draw-ettiquetteSun, 21 Jun 2009 14:44:38 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/draw-ettiquetteI have now played six games versus einstein69101 during the last two years.  I have decided that this good friend who lives only 60 miles from my house is my personal nemesis: a formidable and usually victorius rival or opponent. Nemesis (in Gre...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/the-musil-nemesisMon, 15 Jun 2009 15:00:48 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/the-musil-nemesisRecently, I have sponsored three thematic tournaments: Sicilian Pin,  Sicilian Pin Koch, and Sicilian French Normal.  I currently have 12 wins, 2 defeats, and no draws in the Sicilian Pin Tourney and 11 wins, no defeats, and one draw in the Sici...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/pin-variation-hall-of-fameSat, 13 Jun 2009 23:07:47 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/pin-variation-hall-of-fameThis game was played on the No. 1 board of a recent World League match where virtually all of the boards were mis-matched except No. 1 where I was ranked 2504 and donkenmar 2455 at the outset.  I saw immediately that we were destined to lose the ...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/world-league-battle2Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:42:44 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/world-league-battle2Recently, I have sponsored three thematic tournaments: Sicilian Pin,  Sicilian Pin Koch, and Sicilian French Normal.  I currently have 12 wins and 2 defeats in the Sicilian Pin Tourney and 11 wins, no defeats, and one draw in the Sicilian Pin Ko...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-french-normalSun, 24 May 2009 01:20:24 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-french-normalWith this greatest win of my entire chess career, I defeated Sergio Panella, who was ranked #1 at Chess.com with a rating of 2785 at the time of my 23rd move!  With that move,  I concocted a beautiful combination that was forcing after the black...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/giant-killerTue, 12 May 2009 01:11:35 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/giant-killerRecently, I have sponsored two thematic tournaments: Sicilian Pin and Sicilian Pin Koch.  I currently have 12 wins and 2 defeats in the Sicilian Pin Tourney and 11 wins, no defeats, and one draw in the Sicilian Pin Koch Tourney.   I have not an...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/latest-sicilian-pin-theorySun, 19 Apr 2009 23:34:42 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/latest-sicilian-pin-theoryRecently, I have sponsored two thematic tournaments: Sicilian Pin and Sicilian Pin Koch.  I currently have 12 wins and 2 defeats in the Sicilian Pin Tourney and 9 wins and no defeats in the Sicilian Pin Koch Tourney with no draws in either tourne...http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-pin-black-noveltyMon, 23 Mar 2009 00:19:41 -0700http://blog.chess.com/sam_musil/sicilian-pin-black-novelty