Blindfold Chess, The Fried Liver Attack, and Playing Multiple Openings Goldiga asked: I wanted to know your take on blindfold chess for the improving player. How difficult is it to learn, and is it true that learning to play blindfold will reall...
Creating a Study Program Mr. Svorcan asked: I am self-taught chess player. I have read a few books and have some chess software (Fritz, Chessmaster, etc). I play chess regularly on the net but my “real” rating is unknown, however on some website...
ChessPaladin2009 asks: The subject of my question to you is: when White opens with the Queen Pawn, what are black’s best defensive opening option(s)? Some people say that Queen Pawn Openings always lead to positional chess games that often lack a...
A blog appeared by farbror (10/05/2009) that claimed I seemed to be recommending the Latvian Gambit to chess.com readers while badmouthing the same opening on my site. Dear farbror and all the people that think I have turned into a Lativan Gambit...
Unknown asked: What do you think is the best food to be eaten during a big tournament? Dear whoever you are: Actually, this is quite an interesting question! Of course, most people eat all sorts of unhealthy things before an event, but shoul...
Basheer Unneenkutty asked: Today I had a game in which my opponent played 3…Nxe4? in the Petroff Defense: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4. I played 4.Qe2 (aiming Nc6+ to get black’s Queen). He responded with 4…d6 and after 5.Nxf7 Kxf7 6.Qxe4 I had ...
Chronotis asks: One bit of common advice for selecting openings is to choose those that match your style of play. I have three questions about this. Do players under master class really have a style other than patzer style? Supposing we do, how w...
COMMENTING ON READER COMMENTS Here are answers to various comments (in regards to my Q & A articles) by readers: crowrevell says: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 is a strong answer to 2…Nc6. I’m not familiar with 2...g6, though it seems White...
IM DAVID PRUESS asked: I do know a few things about planning-- I even teach “how to plan” to my own students sometimes. But I still come across positions fairly often, maybe one in ten games, where I feel I should have a plan, but can't come up w...
[Ed: this week, our daily columnists [may] have secretly traded columns. From this Sunday through Friday, read all the columns, and guess who wrote which. Mail your guesses to dpruess at chess.com. A couple prizes will be awarded at random to thos...
VK asked: I am a beginner in chess with no formal training but I have a little bit of knowledge of opening theory from reading books. My question is about the Maroczy Bind for White in the Sicilian. In this opening, because of the pawn on c4, is ...
Bdsr asked:I play the Sicilian and recently I've been encountering 1.e4 c5 2.c4!?, transposing into an English. Can White force a Maroczy Bind here with a quick 3.Nf3 and 4.d4? Does Black have a good response? If not, then why don’t the strong pla...
Niranjan Navalgund asked:May I know the best line for 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4? Please recommend a line where Black has good chances to win.Dear Mr. Navalgund: Ah, a question about one of my favorite openings! Let's take a look ...
Doomclaw asked: When do you think is the right time to offer a draw? I have been confused by this question since I started learning about chess.Dear Doomclaw:An interesting question! There is actually a bit of etiquette related to draw offers. F...
Emanuel asked:How much time do you spend daily studying chess? Also were you naturally gifted or did you just keep working hard at it? What did you study to rise from 1000 to IM? Anything specifically or just anything chess related that you could ...
Andrea Coda asked:I am playing online chess mostly as preparation for OTB tournaments, and I am focusing on slow games; I believe that at my level it is very important to reason through every move, trying to increase my board vision and analysis s...
Derek Silsby asked: One of my friends at a local chess club often plays the Budapest against me and wins. He is certainly a stronger player than me, but I feel like if I knew this opening better I could beat him. What do you suggest? Dear Mr. ...
James Dong asked:I was wondering whether you would give your views on the Bxf7 sacrifice variation in the Ruy Lopez Norwegian Defence? I consider myself an aggressive player and would like to add this to my repertoire as it is very interesting. ...
Anonymous asked:I thought chess was supposed to be a gentleman’s game, but at times my opponents act rudely during tournament play. What can I do about this?Dear Anonymous:During a tournament in Los Angeles, two players got into a fight while play...
Piotr Linek asks: When I play the Sicilian with the sequence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 as Black, I don’t even think about it and automatically play …e6 because I find it stronger as it attacks white’s Knight and forces it to retreat and p...
ML asked: I've been having problems deciding on an opening repertoire for Black. I've been trying all sorts of stuff – Sicilian Dragon, Pirc, French, 1…e5, Alekhine, and even 1...b6.I’m searching for a repertoire which I feel very safe and comfor...
Doomclaw asks:I am fairly new to tournament chess, but in the few OTB tournaments I have played I can’t seem to avoid getting very nervous before and during my games, which sometimes causes me to blunder. Can you make suggestions on how to stay ca...
Srikanth Narahari asked:The following variation of the Smith-Morra Gambit is one of my favorite opening lines with White: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Bc4 e6 6.Nf3 d6 7.O-O a6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Rd1 b5 10.Bb3 Ra7 11.Be3 Rd7 12.Rac1 Bb7 13.Nx...
Anon asked:I’m a fairly new player with a low rating. My first question addresses the person who asked whether becoming a world class player at the age of 44 was out of the question and Andrew replied yes, it is; how about 21? I’ve bought some tac...
