Mr.unknown asked: My question concerns agreed upon draws, by which players wish to protect their ratings and/or standings in tournaments (as either individuals or team members). This seems to be a form of corruption and abuse of the game. I’ve h...
Trent D asked: I’m considering a big move from Internet chess to a real over the board tournament. Are there rules of conduct or polite behavior that I should know about? Dear Trent: I’ve discussed aspects of this in a past article (see my arti...
razorblade12 asked: Ever since I have started playing chess over a year ago, I have always come unstuck when playing against 1.d4 as Black. Is there any defense that you recommend I could use that would suit my style of play? Dear razorblade: T...
Mikeyt asked: How realistic is it for me to set a goal of achieving a master chess rating? To help you out, I’ll give a little info on my background. In my younger days I played myself to a 1900+ USCF rating without ever putting serious study in...
Zuud08 asked: I am yet another 1900 in search of chess mastery ... I have made incredible sacrifices for chess study. I changed my job so as not to stay 8 hrs in an office and be tired for studying. I neglect my wife and child a bit (although she...
M asked: I have a question about a certain line in the accelerated dragon Maroczy Bind. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 0-0 10.Qd2 Be6 11.f3 Qa5 12.Nb5 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 a6 14.Nc7 Rac8 15.Nxe6 f...
Athanatos asked: Hello, I have a question on the King’s Indian. I don’t really know if it is the good place to do that, but after reading a lot of your post I decided to ask. My last game (I’m White) was like this: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4....
I noticed two questions (posed by several readers) pertaining to my earlier article titled, “Finnish Defense & Tournament Prep.” Both questions are about an analysis I gave, and both are more than reasonable … on one level. Let’s take a look a...
rosadot asked: I have a question concerning preparation for a specific opponent, and about move order. I am preparing for a tournament game (club closed championship final, one game a week). The player I am facing always tries to play the Stonew...
Mr. Dahl wrote: I’d like to ask about a certain Scandinavian Main Line variation I came up with. It is 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Bd2 Qc7 (me and my friends playfully call this the Finnish Variation). Is it sound for Black? I’ve been...
ankitthemaster asked: I posted this same question on chess.com and most of them insulted and/or discouraged me. My query was simple: I am age 22, keen to play chess professionally, and I will say that I am an advanced beginner who has mostly play...
Stefan asked: 6.Bd3 in the Sicilian Najdorf is a line that’s very rarely seen at the top level (at least, as far as I’m concerned). When I check my database, I see this line has been played by Magnus Carlsen, Judith Polgar, and a few other big na...
Mr. Woodrow asked: Playing as Black, I have responded to 1.d4 in a number of ways. I have tried variations of the Nimzo-Indian, the Gruenfeld, the King’s Indian, the Queen’s Indian, the Bogo-Indian, the Queen’s Gambit Declined, and possibly other...
Reader Comments To Articles – Love Letters to a Chess Writer! Ah, time to revisit all my previous articles and mention a few of the many comments that appear under them. I’m sure they will all be positive … perhaps offering me riches and praise a...
More on the Study of Master Games Ali Khoshechin asked: I followed your advice about studying master games and I already can see that my planning and transition from opening to middle game is much better now, and I can actually understand the re...
Explanatory Opening Books and a Reader’s Pet Line James asked: I hope I’m not writing this to you in error, but I seem to recall a recent article of yours on choosing an opening, when someone asked if there was a text that explained the plans in...
Imbalances Tom asked: If I’m doing a tactical puzzle, should I be looking at the imbalances before I start calculating? Or does this not apply when you know there’s a tactical shot in the position? Dear Tom, Imbalances (space, material, pawn...
The Art and Science of the Isolated d-Pawn Madhacker asked: I’d like to ask about the correct handling of positions where White has an isolated queen’s pawn. The question was raised in my head by the following game I played in a lo...
The Budapest Gambit Revisited 33speedo asked: Hi I was wondering what your opinion is about the Budapest gambit for white and black? Dear 33speedo, In an earlier article on chess.com I mentioned that I personally had always done well against...
Teaching Chess to Children and The Rasik Variation Ripper asked: I would like to know what your suggestion is for Black when 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 is played. Dear Mr. Ripper, This is one of those perfectly reasonable moves that every Sicilian pla...
I’m Singing Those Old Dragon Blues! Dan asked: My question is about White alternatives to the Yugoslav attack in the Sicilian Dragon. Basically, I hate it! I’d definitely prefer something that didn’t explode all over the board. Problem is, in...
Chigorin Ruy Lopez and the Mystery of Statistics Niranjan Navalgund asked: My question is about the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12...
Two Opening Questions No-Name asked: A recent book by GM Glenn Flear advocates playing against the exchange Queen’s gambit thus: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 (Which my mentor GM Hans Berliner says is bad) when he only covers W...
Too Much Opening and the Grand Plan Abhilash_007 asked: (In response to my article, HELP! I FEEL SO LOST WITHOUT A PLAN!). How do you decide it’s time to map a grand plan? Dear Abhilash_007, Grand plans are rare, even in grandmaster chess....
