While most of us prefer to be on the attacking side, quite often we end up under the opponent’s pressure. In fact, the nature of the pressure can lie in the chess realm and/or in the field of psychology. By chess pressure we mean a long-last...
Nowadays powerful chess engines have become routine assistants of competitive chess players. Both amateurs and professionals use them to analyze their games, prepare opening lines, evaluate certain positions, etc. Most websites that broadcast game...
Vivasyriaa (1651) – JoLou77USA (1259), chess.com 2011 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 Ah, the Philidor Defense! There's a lot more to this interesting opening than most realize. 3.d4 Nf6 Gambit lovers occasionally try 3…f5. &n...
checkmateibeatu (1200) vs. jetfighter13 (1130), friendly game, chess.com 2011 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 jetfighter13 said – “White has an impressive center built up, my goal is the same a...
xombie said, “I aim for a restraint formation to prevent black’s development and park on the light squares, following which some tactics emerge in the form of a pawn break and a knight sacrifice. Black’s pieces are too slow to pr...
David Wagle writes- “This year I returned to the game (after a 10 year hiatus) and competition I love, with the hope of at least not embarrassing myself. And while I’ve played a few games where I did just that, this isn&rsquo...
knightmagic (1641) - bencikm (1725), ChessCube Game 2011 (1 hour each for whole game) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 White is intending to make use of the very sharp English Attack, which usually starts with 6.Be3. However...
Vaclav Pekar wrote: “I would like to ask you about my game with GM Voloshin. I played it in the Trade Fair Chess Festival in Brno (Czech Republic). I was doing really well in this tournament until this game. Except for the first round (which...
drakkar-noir (1786) - E. Karadayi (1808), ECO B15, 2011 1.e4 d5 A Center Counter, which has had a revival in recent years. 2.d4 White usually chops on d5 (2.exd5) when 2…Qxd5 3.Nc3 is met by both 3…Qa5 and also 3&hellip...
Two weeks ago we looked at my game against Shahade and learned the importance of categorizing endgame mistakes. The article featured the importance of king activity – something I neglected during the game; and going through Lasker’s ga...
Target Skill Range: Intermediate (Rated 1400-1799) Learn to develop long-term, strategic plans and outplay your opponents! Tasks: Learn the basics of positional chess: pawn structures. Learn the basics of positional chess: weak squares....
Need a little help navigating the thousands of videos on Chess.com? Use this guide to find all the videos you need on topics such as: Starting Out The Opening Tactics Strategy Master G...
A zillion people screamed: Don’t leave and let the trolls win!” Dear zillion, My view of the troll attacks never had anything to do with winning or losing. In fact, I’m very familiar with trolls. Allow me to share a bit of (true) background. Wa...
Each piece has its relative value. During the game it may vary depending on what position the piece occupies and what role it plays. It’s hard to win when some of your pieces are misplaced. Therefore, you should make sure all your pieces are takin...
member Sulpolitix asked: As a beginning chess player, I would like to know the next thing I should learn after I learn how the pieces move. Dear Sulpolitix: I will deal with this from the perspective of a chess teacher, and what inform...
member Dannyhume asked: Why should I bother reading anything written by someone other than a top-10 or candidate super-GM from the last 5 years? If there is a reason, then why can’t that reasoning apply to reading the works of a lower master/expe...
Today we'll discuss a powerful opening/middlegame set up called the Maroczy Bind. The following diagram shows a typical Maroczy Bind pawn chain. To tell you the truth, I don't know where this name came from since I was not able to l...
When asked which book had a profound influence on their development as players, most strong players would name manuals like Nimzowitsch’s My System or books with selections of games like Fischer’s or Kasparov’s best games. Modern players will name...
Chess authors often use the term “two-bishop advantage” in their annotations. Today I would like to elaborate on this evergreen concept in more detail. The two-bishop advantage occurs when one side has two bishops, and the other &nda...
member Jemptymethod said: Here’s the thing Silman. This is the second week in a row where you’ve denigrated masters. But OMG when I dispute an IM’s opinion about an opening variation, I’ve committed the unforgivable sin, I need to learn to be hum...
This week we will look at an endgame where black has to show some good defensive skills to get a draw. However, the position is not as bad as it looks. A computer engine would evaluate it as a half-pawn advantage for white. The real material on ...
Profound opening preparation is one of the key ingredients of overall success in chess. Luring your opponent into a trap, inventing a powerful novelty, knowing your openings well – all this will boost your confidence and create problems for your o...
I’ve written a number of opening books, and read many more, and the focus is always on the critical lines: the problem can usually be put like this, “How can Black equalize against White’s serious attempt at advantage?” For example, if you wrote ...
Member miguelnalexandre asked: What do think about correspondence chess and what do you recommend on openings, study plan, books... in sum, everything that you might feel is useful. Are unorthodox openings ok for CC? Once, someone very known in ...
