Everyone has heard about chess lessons, but the dynamics of a lesson depends on a myriad of different factors: Is the teacher an “all moves” kind of guy, philosophical, an openings’ maniac, etc? And is the student open to change, stuck in his ways...
Knowing all the different tactical devices in chess is both easy and extremely important since they turn up all the time. This means that you will be able to use them when the opportunity presents itself, and avoid falling for them when a suicidal...
In my last article I discussed “fetish chess moves.” I consider a move to be a fetish if it’s out of the ordinary, has serious positional clout, and gives the person who played it such deep pleasure that his reaction can almost be called orgasmic....
Everyone eventually learns that it’s important to find or create open files for your Rooks, or they might not be able to join in the battle (actually the “find” part is easy, but the “create” part demands a good deal ...
I’m going to come clean here. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag and admit to something strange and weird. It concerns my chess, and it’s about a particular chess move. No, I’m not going to wax poetic about a favorite opening or favorite move...
Any real fan of chess can tell you that, in many ways, chess is a lifelong addiction. Hundreds or even thousands (in some case, tens of thousands!) of chess books take over an apartment or house, chess sets can be found in bathrooms, bedrooms, kit...
Chess isn’t just about playing a human or computer opponent. Chess history can become a lifelong addiction, chess news is avidly followed by people who stopped playing decades before, and going over master games can be exciting, relaxing, instruct...
In Part One of How To Play Against Old Guys, I gave the weaknesses and strengths of older players. I’ll repeat them here: WEAKNESSES * Old players get tired. Really tired. Often really fast. * Old players can (and do!) easily lose c...
I’ve been retired from over-the-board combat since the end of 1999. Though I probably will never play again, I have (from time to time) toyed with the idea of competing in the World Senior Championship, which (if you win) not only makes you ...
The year was 1969, I was 15 years old and had just made the trip from San Diego to beautiful Santa Monica to participate in the American Open (which, at that time, was held in the luxurious Miramar Hotel). I got there early, checked out the playin...
In an earlier four-part article we saw how powerful the Classic Bishop Sacrifice (sacrificing one’s Bishop against h7) can be. However, now and then we see games where the Bishop is tossed to h7 (not sacrificing anything at all) just for the...
The Pin is a must-know tactic, and it’s particularly feared by amateurs who find themselves pinned in a myriad of different ways. As with all tactical devices, pins range from very basic to beautifully complex. Our first example goes way, way bac...
This week we’ll take a look at the extremely important concept of Double Attack, in which one piece attacks two enemy pieces at the same time (that’s the definition championed by Martin Weteschnik in his magnificent book, CHESS TACTICS FROM SCRATC...
. A discovered attack is a very common, and often very strong, combinative strike based on one piece getting out of the way and allowing a connection to occur that, ideally, leads to a decisive gain in material. Here's a very basic example: ...
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, I returned to my old stomping ground in San Francisco: The Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club. The first thing my visit to San Francisco did was reaffirm Mark Twain’s old comment, “The coldest winter I eve...
We'll finish up our study of forks by looking at Bishop, Queen, Rook, and even King forks. Instead of waxing poetic, I'll just jump right to the puzzles since, by now, I expect all of you to be fork experts. As always, make sure to look at the h...
The pawn fork: fun, often game changing, sadistic. In fact the David vs. Goliath feel of a lowly pawn simultaneously hitting two far more valuable enemy pieces is one of the game’s great pleasures. But, is the pawn fork really some rare nuclear ...
One might think that going after material (Part One) or using the fork as an attacking device (Part Two) would be the main themes regarding Knight forks. And that’s true. But there are other uses for this tactical weapon that you might not b...
In Part One of the Misunderstood Knight Fork, I compared the Knight fork’s raison d’être as “leaping into an unapologetic orgy of material gain.” In Part Two we take the chains off those well fed horses (after all, ...
Forks are one of the most useful tactical tools in chess (not to be confused with cutlery). Most people view forks as a way to attack more than one enemy piece at a time and, by doing so, winning a decisive amount of material. While that’s t...
So far this new series on “attacking the enemy King oriented tactics” has explored kingside weaknesses on h6, h7, g7, and f7 that often lead to some form of mating attack catastrophe. We added to the “h7-square as a target” via looking at the Clas...
Our final article on the Classic Bishop Sacrifice is simple and too the point: it features nothing but puzzles, which will allow you to see if you fully gasped the concepts we explored in Parts 1 – 3. ...
In Part One of this series, the main topic of the Bxh7+ thrust concerned the win of material. In Part Two, we explored what happens after 1.Bxh7+ Kxh7 2.Ng5+ Kg8 and 2…Kh8. In Part Three, we’ll move on to 2…Kh6 and 2…Kg6...
In Part One of this series, the main topic of the Bxh7+ thrust concerned the win of material. This might have been boring to some, but it is no less important than a full bore mating attack. Now, in Part Two, we’ll let the blood fly! Here we...
