Quite a while ago I was asked to teach a Southern California chess camp filled with very young children. On the first day, I lectured about some really basic things, only to discover that virtually all the kids would hang everything as quickly as ...
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...
Baumgartner – “As a little background, this was the highest-rated opponent I had played OTB to this point. I had been rated 1400 just a few months ago, but recently had been going to many tournaments and beating quite a ...
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...
Tin Phan (1635) – Tae Kim (1860), National High School Championship 2011 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 d6 6.f3 Nbd7 &nb...
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...
The_Rooky (1657) – Salander (1604), Chess.com, Aug. 2011 All notes in quotes with the initials TMS (The Mighty Salander) are, obviously, Salander’s. 1.e4 e5 2.a3 This looks like the move of an imbecile, but there’s actually some sense to it. Ta...
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...
The long competition between the world champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov reached game number 162 in round ten at Linares in 1993. Karpov as White opposed Kasparov’s King’s Indian Defense with the Saemisch Variation. In order to not face ...
This is one of Tal's best games. It was played when he was just 19, and it was his first appearance in the finals of the USSR Championship. It was likely the first game to bring international attention to Tal, and he later wrote that it was repr...
My result at the National Open was a bit disappointing but my last round game made up for it. I didn't do much preparation but I did watch a Danny King video on the Bayonet Attack to sharpen my repertoire against the King's Indian. It turned out ...
This game is brilliant and clean at the same time. Ostapenko, a little-known player, complicates things early on with a knight sacrifice on the 13th move. He then is given a chance to take his opponent's rook, but instead, Ostapenko decides to beg...
This is a game that Tal played in a simul at age 52. It is a remarkable game that is filled with a lot of complications, which arise right out of the opening. Tal immediately goes for more complications, which turn the game into a battle of tactic...
Here is another brilliant game by Morphy; you might not have seen this one before. He gives his opponent knight odds, but manages to win the piece back in the opening. Eventually, an endgame arises where Morphy has two rooks on the seventh rank. H...
David Bronstein (1924-2006) earned his international grandmaster title in 1950, the same year that Ljubomir Ljubojevic was born. In 1951, Bronstein lost his challenge for the World Championship by scoring 12-12 against Mikhail Botvinnik. In 1970 L...
This is a remarkable game by Nicolas Rossolimo (who the Rossolimo Variation is named after). He sacrifices his queen with a brilliant 18th move, and attacks his opponent's kingside for the rest of the game. Thanks to his two hard-working bishops, ...
The 12th European Chess Championship was held in France and finished on April, 2nd. I couldn’t restrain myself from commentating on this great event. As my column is dedicated to preparing for international tournaments and playing in them, I will...
After the Parsvnath International tournament the chesswagon moved to the south Indian city of Chennai. The two cities, separated by 2000 Kilometres, have quite different climatic conditions. Most of the players would have preferred the warmer cond...
Last week, I wrote about the players and results at this tournament. This week, as a follow-up, I'm sharing some of the best games played at this event, with my notes and comments. Enjoy! &...
Sometimes, it requires a Rembrandt to appreciate the Mona Lisa; or a Karpov to appreciate a Fischer endgame. But there are also many works of exquisite artistry on the chessboard which are accessible to novices. And this is where you can find them...
Aeroflot is the strongest open chess tournament in the world. This year’s edition is the 10th. The four main features of the festival are: A group (players over 2550 with a few exceptions – female stars, prodigies, etc.) B group – strong play...
The 4th Berkeley International concluded on Jan 8, 2011. This tournament, which was organized by Arun Sharma, was the strongest event in California since the disappearance of the Lone Pine events, with such stars as GMs Loek van Wely, Timur Gareye...
In my recent articles I have touched upon such intricate matters as material imbalances and initiative. Today I would like to share with you annotations to a baffling game of mine played at the Russian Superfinal against GM Tatiana Kosintseva (the...
This is one of Rashid Nezhmetdinov's most brilliant games. Here's a little information (from Wikipedia) about him: Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov (Russian: Рашид Гибятович Нежметдинов; Tatar Cyrillic: Рәшит Һибәт улы Нәҗметдинов, Latin: Räşit Hi...
