What is pawn structure? From my online glossary, I define it as "the positioning of the whole pawn mass. Also referred to as the pawn skeleton. This positioning of the pawns is what usually dictates the types of plans available in a given ...
Chess.com is thrilled to announce the release of our "Mastery" series of chess lessons. On New Year's Day 2019, we released an update to Chess.com/lessons, providing over 130 videos with interactive challenge questions to help players advance fr...
Well, here I go again, answering questions from the Chess.com members. We will start out with an oldie but goodie: planning. MAKING A PLAN The Chess.com member @001GENERAL_GRIEVOUS asked, “Isn’t planning good to know?&rdq...
Most lower-rated players want to improve their game, but many just want to slug it out in blitz and have a great time. I certainly understand that! However, for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard. Play oppon...
The Chess.com member kurniadigautama asked: Something has been bothering me since I saw the game between GM Vidit Santosh and GM David Eggleston in The Chess.com Isle of Man international open tournament (round 1). In the game, we see that Vid...
HOW TO START OUT I get many, many players (rated 800 to 1200) asking me what their style is, why do they lose when they had a better game, are their opponents cheating, how to get good fast, or simply how to get a higher rating. All thes...
Most amateurs run into the same problems: undefended pieces, being unaware of their opponents' best moves, falling victim to simple tactics, etc. Those things are common. However, once in a while you’ll see a player making one specific ...
Chess is a rich game, dating back over a millennia. On Chess.com alone, over 2,000,000,000 games have been played! Which games are the very best ever played? No one can answer that conclusively, but we are going to give you Chess.com's opinion. ...
The Chess.com member KBToys7 wrote: I am writing to you out of frustration. I’ve bought several books on chess; on openings, middle games, endgames, tactics, strategy and more. I’ve completed dozens of lessons offered here on Chess....
Note: The cover image was modified from that of a novel of that name written by John Donoghue. The story, set in Auschwitz, is much deeper and serious than this article. There has never been any doubt that chess ...
Editor's note: IM Silman publishes a roundup of messages received from Chess.com members. The Chess.com member RuleDomain said something about a group called the “Silman Stalkers.” After hearing that, I make sure I lock the door and ...
CHESS REVIEW Chess Review (from 1933 to late 1969) was without any doubt the best American chess magazine until, in 1961, it ran into a remarkably improved Chess Life. Both tried to beat the other (interest exploded due to the advent of Tal and,...
The Chess.com member Animaul7 (his real name is Anthony Maulucci) wrote: I’m a 16-year-old who has been stuck at an expert rating for some time now, which I know is pretty normal. One question I have for you is what juniors like myself can...
The Chess.com member LittlePawn988 wrote: Something really bugs me. I often hear players, of every level, talking about the strength of masters of the past and sometimes I find them really arrogant and disrespectful. Even lower-rated players sa...
The Chess.com member grepschrop wrote: “Some players told me that it’s not important to know the names of mating patterns. My experience with kids is contrary. What is your opinion?” SILMAN: Though one might think this is easy ...
In August, I wrote an article about the King’s Indian and a game played by The Chess.com member IvnKaramazov. Well, he’s done it again with another exciting KID game. I won’t annotate it since my main focus is going to be the K...
The Chess.com member dudejan asked: I always seem to struggle to know where to develop my bishops. For knights the concepts of outposts or placement behind a pawn to double defend certain squares are quite logical for me. But for bishops I don...
IMPROVEMENT FOR OLD PLAYERS The Chess.com member jayzorac wrote: I have a question for you. Do you think “older” players can still improve to expert and master level? SILMAN: Mr. jayzorac wrote quite a bit about hi...
I used to do a lot of reader question columns but, for some reason, I haven’t done it in a long time. Why, I don’t know. However, I’m finally in the mood to discuss some of the Chess.com members' thoughts. THE MAN WHO CAN&rsquo...
The Chess.com member Souvik had a couple things to discuss. The first is his simultaneous game against an international master. After Souvic was completely outclassed in the opening (not a surprise when a 1500 player plays an IM), the IM got ...
The Chess.com member ostria wrote: I wonder if you would take a look at one of my games. I won, but the thing is I have no idea how! I made simple moves through the game and I am sure we both made many mistakes, but what was my opponent’s...
This series is all about the classic games that affected me in a profound manner as a young teen (15 years old). In general, they were positional games, since for a kid that grew up on attacking chess and combinations (12 to 14 years old...
The Chess.com member WackyJ1 wrote: "You hear about 'style' everywhere from chess books to chess articles. With statements like, 'You should choose your opening based on what suits your style' and, 'Steer games towards positions that are...
During the 2016 presidential election, many Americans got caught between a rock and a hard place. Indeed, since both candidates had flaws, it was very difficult to make a choice. I wish we had an objective criteria that would a...
