Arturo Pomar Salamanca (pictured) was born September 1, 1931 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. At the age of 11 he won the championship of the Balearic Islands. He was able to draw a game at age 13 with his teacher, Alexander Alekhine. He was the yo...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun After playing Chess for the past twenty odd years, there are two things that I (Magesh) have really gotten good at; getting into trouble and getting out of it! Active counter play and good fighting spirit has always gi...
The French Winawrer Poisoned Pawn used to be one of the wildest arenas of opening theory. It has calmed down a bit, lacking a champion at highest levels, but ius still a complicated and thrilling ride.
The tournament organized by the Dutch radio company, A.V.R.O., in 1938 is still considered one of the very strongest ever held. Its purpose was to find a challenger for the World Champion, Alexander Alekhine. The winner was to be that challenger. ...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun This week we shall see The Queen's Gambit Declined - Lasker Defence used by the reigning World Champion Vishy Anand against former World Champion Veselin Topalov. As you may know, Anand used this solid system in his final...
David Bronstein was one of the early adopters of the exchang sacrifice at a1 n the Exchange Gruenfeld. White gives up a rook for Black's powerful bishop. Bronstein's choice is not the main focus of attention these days but it rmains a good approac...
To wrap up this miniseries, a few more nice wins, including one by Julian Hodgson (pictured).
The Bayonet Attack was born the same year I was. It is a logical response to Black's kingside ambitions. White plans an all-out attack on the queenside.but will also try to disrupt Black's plans by sinking a knight at e6 once Black weakens that sq...
A sideline of the Queen’s Gambit Declined is arrived at by 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5. This is not the Tarrasch Defense in which Black plays 3...c5. It is sometimes called the Pseudo-Tarrasch. White has options, but no need, to avoid 5.cx...
World Champion Anatoly Karpov didn't lose many games but he did fall to the Torre Attack at the hands of Viktor Korchnoi and Artur Yusupov (pictured). Both games are instructive and entertaining.
We have seen how Carlos Torre used his attack, now lets look at how World Champions followed his example.
The Torre Attack is one of the simplest chess openings. Yet it is highly effctive and can lead to spectacular games. Its inventor, the Mexican star Carlos Torre, used it to defeat no less than Emmanuel Lasker at a major international foreign us...
by GM Magesh & GM Arun This week we shall see an interesting idea by the former world champion and one of the greatest players in the history of Chess, Anatoly Karpov, in the Caro-Kann Defence. Karpov has introduced many interesting ideas in ...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun This week we shall see a sacrificial idea in the Sicilian Najdorf. 6.Bg5 has always been one of the finest systems to counter the Najdorf. The arising positions are full of complications when White tries to pressurize Bl...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun Are you the kind of player who wants to attack, attack, and attack more? Are you the kind of player who wants something happening in your game every single moment? Are you the kind of player who would take an unclear posi...
Perhaps the most flexible opening is the Sicilian Scheveningen, a labyrinth of positional paths that occupy a solid niche at the highest levels of competition. Some teachers seem to think the hardest thing about the opening is how to pronounce the...
One of the main opening principles is “develop your pieces asap and castle.” The better your forces are mobilized, the higher the chances of launching a successful attack. One should remember that the person with a significant lead in development ...
At the crossroads of iopening theory lie the mainb lines of the Panov Attack that can be reached via many openings. ECO considers the Nimzo-Indians but that is an arbitrary choice. The flexible positions give rise to many strategies and great sco...
The Sveshnikov Variation of the Lasker-Pelikan Sicilian soared in popularity in the 1980s. Despite a gaping hole at d5, a lot of counterplay has been discovered and the theory has mushroomed into a gigantic complex. The main line is now well-esta...
Now to make sense out of that title containing the names of four players.Grigory Yakovlev Levenfish was born March 21, 1889 (March 9 at the time in the old calendar) in Piotrkow, Poland in the Russian Empire. He died February 9, 1961 in Moscow, US...
when I was learning the game, a Closed Ruy Lopez was considered the ultimate chess opening and even my classmates knew the first dozen movesor so. Every move is logical, and there areno particularly tricky tactics to stumble on. The opening has ...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun We promised you Kramnik this week, so here is Kramnik with his weapon of mass destruction: deadly precision in the endgame. Looking at the same opening, the same dull symmetrical position, many people would think a draw w...
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...
The Tarrasch is fairly positional, but computers seem to like the fluid piece play and have contributed to the development of the well-established main line.
