I am frequently asked (mostly by young chess players) if the best players from the past could successfully compete against today's chess elite. I always had an opinion that the human natural abilities are approximately the same today as they were ...
Last week we discussed the basic ideas of the Rxe6 (or Rxe3 for Black) positional exchange sacrifice. Today let me present the hit parade of games where this effective and useful chess tool was utilized. 7th Place - GM Vlastimil Hort and his tot...
Today we are going to talk about a relatively common positional exchange sacrifice - Rxe6 (or Rxe3 for Black). As a rule, a player achieves two main goals with such a sacrifice: 1) eliminates the opponent's Bishop and therefore completely dominate...
In the first part of this article we discussed how dangerous a Knight can be if it is placed on the 'magic' f5 square (f4 for Black). As you could see in the games we analyzed there, the main danger coming from such a Knight is the coming sa...
In our life we are surrounded by thousands of opposites. Day and Night, Up and Down, Good and Evil. Almost every day we need to make a choice: Left or Right, Paper or Plastic, Ginger or Mary Ann (OK, I am just kidding about the last one. It is Mar...
Today we'll talk about a relatively common chess idea known as a "Rook Lift". When you do a Rook Lift, a Rook usually moves from the initial position to the third rank (or sixth rank for Black) and then jumps to the opposite side of the board almo...
When I first started playing chess, my favorite strategy was to wait until my opponent castles, and then castle on the opposite side and start a pawn storm! It was exactly what I liked about chess. This way of playing would promise a very ex...
As the old chess legend goes, in one of his games GM Alexander Ivanov played Nf3-g5 and after his opponent answered with h7-h6, Alexander realized that the only reasonable move he had was Ng5-f3. After pondering for a while, GM Ivanov said "Russia...
Last week we analyzed games where Anatoly Karpov suffered because his opponents used the dynamic power of their "criminals" and with a timely push of their central pawns completely destroyed Karpov's position (http://www.chess.com/article/view/smo...
Before we continue the discussion that we started here and here, let me answer a concern some of the readers expressed in their comments. Let me quote one: "The article began with a quote about a passed pawn, and the title is about this quote...
In the first part of this article we examined positions where a passed pawn was sacrificed to vacate a square in the center for a Knight. Today we'll analyze games where such a sacrifice clears files for an attack. Needless to say, the best ...
One of the most famous quotes of Aron Nimzowitsch is: "A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient." What did the famous Grandmaster mean? We ...
It is a very common situation: the opening is almost over but your opponent's King is still in the center. One more move and the King castling will mark the official end of the opening, but sometimes one move in chess is an eternity and what looks...
Good tactical skills are all about pattern recognition. If, for example, you have solved a dozen 'back rank checkmate' problems, then I can guarantee that next time you play a tournament game and your opponent doesn't create a luft for his King by...
Let me start with a disclaimer: I cannot read other people's minds. It would be extremely helpful in many different activities but especially so when you play chess. The good news is, sometimes you don't even need to guess your opponent's th...
Recently it has become fashionable to criticize FIDE. Indeed, some of the FIDE inventions could be featured in the "you cannot make this up" column. But they definitely managed to achieve one goal: chess is 'rediscovered' by the media. Wheth...
Chess players are very superstitious people! Almost every strong player I know has his own superstition. By far the most common one is a "lucky" pen or pencil. Even Mikhael Tal (who had the nickname "the Magician") half jokingly blamed the loss of...
In the first part of this article we discussed the cases where two Bishops are a very powerful weapon. We also analyzed Steinitz's games where the first World Champion showed the correct way to take advantage of the Bishop pair. In the next ...
About 30 years ago I was playing in a kid's team tournament. I don't remember who won the tournament, my own result or even who played there. The only thing I remember about the tournament is what happened during one of our team's gatherings...
There are many openings where you fianchetto your Bishop (i.e. you develop your Bishop to g2 for White or to g7 for Black). There your Bishop is going to control the long diagonal and offer an extra protection for your King. But what is that? Your...
If I ever create a list of things I tell my students most frequently, then the title of today's article would be at the very top. We all make mistakes ( read my series of articles on the subject here: http://www.chess.com/article/view/to-err-is-hu...
Do you remember this memorable line from the 1999 blockbuster "The Sixth Sense": Cole Sear (played by Haley Joel Osment) says: I see dead people... They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't k...
It is well known fact that we learn the most from the games that we lost. But you need to analyze all of your games because sometimes a draw can teach you more than a bunch of losses. I want to present two draws that definitely helped ...
In the previous two parts of this series, we have already established the fact that you really need to analyze your games in order to find your mistakes so you'll never repeat them again. Unfortunately, you don't always realize the true reason for...
