David Smerdon from Brisbane, Australia is the fourth Australian to become a grandmaster. Smerdon became an International Master at age 14, won the Australian Junior Championship in 1999, and won both his Grandmaster title and the Australian Grand ...
"After Anderssen's departure, Paul Morphy declared he would play no more even matches, and, certainly, his resolve was justified by the unheard of manner in which he had walked over all opponents." -Frederick Edge &n...
Benjamin Franklin - 1706-1790 Born the ...
In this article we continue to examine the endgames and queenless middlegames played in the World Cup, currently being held in Tromsø, Norway. We will now be looking at the games played in the second round of the knockout. First, we have a very i...
The World Cup continues and it’s simply one of the most exciting Chess events of the past two years. Before I delve into the article I want to define some terms just so that we’re on the same page. Skill: the ability to play good moves or better...
In this series, and especially in this particular article, I’m trying to instill a love of chess history with Chess.com members. For those who simply don’t like to read, or those who hate chess history, just go right to the puzzles. Ho...
Isaac Leopold Rice I had, of course, heard about Prof. Isaac L. Rice and his gambit as well as his famous Rice Gambit Tournaments. But my superficial impression over the years was that the gambit wasn't particularly good and that ...
In the first part of this short series we saw some examples of the advantage that extra space confers on its owner. Now we will see the dark side of the space advantage - the weaknesses left behind as your forces advance further across the board. ...
Ernest Morphy was Paul Morphy's uncle. Ernest Morphy was probably also young Paul's greatest admirer. Besides sending Paul's games (and his only chess problem) to various publications, in Eu...
Today we start a new series: 'Convert an Advantage According to Kramnik'. Vladimir Kramnik is not only one of the best players in the world, but also one of the best technical players. Converting an advantage, either positional or material, is not...
My first review in the "My Bookshelf" column was "Dynamic Chess Strategy" by Mihai Suba. The title of the book I am reviewing this week is almost identical. Yet the books are completely different. Both books are modern middlegame books, and both f...
No time to study opening theory? Shock your opponent with an SOS! With an SOS you deviate early (usually before move 6!) from regular lines in mainstream openings. So you will reach positions you have actually studied without having memorized tons...
This week I will be reviewing a unique book - 200 Open Games, by the former "Vice-World Champion", David Bronstein. Rather than fully annotated games, this book presents 200 short vignettes, each followed by an un-annotated game, with one diagram....
Today I am going to continue with examples on what to do when you have a time advantage. Continúo hoy con más ejemplos sobre qué hacer cuando tienes una ventaja de tiempo. Here’s the video of the middlegame stage from Gulko-Radjabov. I made this ...
You'll have to excuse me for not putting this article up sooner. My friend, Gomi, invited me to go on vacation with him and his family. And you just don't reject Islands and Fun. Back to Chess I am going to use English and Spanish in this article...
A reader commented on my last article asking to review Larsen’s Selected Games of Chess, and I thought it would be a good idea, because this is one of my favorite books. Bent Larsen was a Danish grandmaster and – being a few years ...
SEE FOR YOURSELF HOW AN SOS CAN SHOCK AND CONFUSE! Every month, the editor of the SOS Secrets of Opening Surprises book series, IM Jeroen Bosch, annotates a game which was recently played with an SOS-variation. SOS Game of the Month: November...
This article and the next article will wrap up the series on Initiative in Endgames. Here, I offer you a series of endgame positions from the recent 28th European Club Cup. The first two positions are unique, and the themes include zugzwang and ...
The game begins, and within a few moves your opponent pitches a pawn. It’s not considered the most correct gambit, and might even fall into the category of “cheesy”. But by taking the pawn, you are playing “his” game....
No time to study opening theory? Shock your opponent with an SOS! With an SOS you deviate early (usually before move 6!) from regular lines in mainstream openings. So you will reach positions you have actually studied without having memorized tons...
No time to study opening theory? Shock your opponent with an SOS! With an SOS you deviate early (usually before move 6!) from regular lines in mainstream openings. So you will reach positions you have actually studied without having memorized tons...
Jared Collins (1528) - John Laning (1478), B12, Foolish Moves Mobile AL, 2009 45 minutes on the clock for each player 1.e4 c6 2.d4 Jared Collins said: “I tend to be aggressive, and when offered the entire center I will usually ta...
Best match player. William Steinitz played 27 chess matches from 1862 to 1896, and won 25 of the 27. He won 160 games, lost 70, and drew 57. Best Selling Chess Book. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess has sold over one million copies. Best world c...
The Danish Gambit is one of those daring 19th century openings that has inspired many amateur players. White gets a considerable lead in development at the cost of a couple of pawns. In such cases Black must be careful, of course, but here I feel...
