Consul89 asked: I have been trying to build an opening repertoire, and the Dragon is getting me killed when I run into the Yugoslav. So I have been thinking of switching to the Kan Variation of the Sicilian. I’m having trouble finding good books ...
The Evans Gambit is still one of the most dangerous weapons to deal with. In the recently concluded Copper State International closed GM tournament, this opening happened to surface a few times. It was employed twice by the promising youngster Mac...
Judit Polgar was born July 23, 1976 in Hungary. She defeated an international master when she was 10 years old and an international grandmaster when she was 11. In 1991, she became a grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months. At the time she...
This week we shall study the Queen's Gambit Declined. No introduction needs to be given to this famous opening as this was the main weapon used in most of the World Chess Championship matches right from the First World Champion William Stenitz to ...
The opening is a very important stage of the game. It often determines the course of events for the whole encounter. Underestimating (as well as overestimating) the opening’s role often leads to poor performances. To be successful, a strong ...
Bent Larsen (pictured) was born March 4, 1935 in Thisted, Denmark. He won the championship of Demark six times from 1954 to 1964. He became an international master in 1954 at the Amsterdam Olympiad. He became an international grandmaster in 1956 a...
This week we shall study the Catalan System which has been the favourite weapon of the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and the reigning champion Vishy Anand who used it a couple of times against Topalov in the recent world championship matc...
We saw how black could make use of one of his knights on the queen side last week in the King's Indian 7...Na6 system. Today we will take a look at some of the shortcomings of this idea and how white can exploit them. Obviously it is almost imposs...
This is the companion article for the third Video installment of "Thinking your way to chess mastery." In this installment we are considering the topical Hedgehog opening and how to meet it as white with directed, purposeful play. We'l...
Gregory Kaidanov (pictured) was born October 11, 1959 in Ukraine and moved to the United States from Russia in 1991. In 1988, he had become a grandmaster. In the U.S., he has kept active as a player and teacher of chess. Perhaps, his most impre...
Today we will study the King's Indian defense 7...Na6 variation by studying from none other than the newly crowned US Champion, Gata Kamsky's game. After nineteen long years of wait and and and interesting career map, Kamsky has regained the covet...
This week we shall study a rare system against the Slav defence, 5.b3. Many players who wanted to avoid the meran and other mainlines have chosen this system and had success with it. The advantage of this system is that the ideas for white are muc...
The French Defense is one of the most widely used responses in black’s chess arsenal against 1.e4. It is a known for being a robust and resilient defense that can lead either to boring, maneuvering play or to raging attack and sacrifices. As ...
The Anand-Topalov World Championship Match has seen the use of the Catalan Opening. The following game and notes will show its use by the then future World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion Alexander Alekhine, and the great Paul Keres. Bo...
A world championship provides so much learning material for any chess fan. The opening novelties, the middle game struggle, the endgame technique and the psychological warfare and so on. One major aspect of these matches is that they rewrite the o...
During the current World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov, observers have commented on how Anand has resorted to the Catalan System as White. It is normal for most players to change their opening choices in order to...
This week we shall see the Modern Benoni with 7.h3. The Benoni is back in fashion thanks to the efforts of Gashimov and Topalov. They revived this system with great effort and introduced exceptional ideas to make this system a dangerous option aga...
Vladimir Kramnik was born June 25, 1975. This Russian grandmaster defeated Garry Kasparov in a match in 2000 and became the Classical World Champion. He defended his title in 2004 by drawing a match against Peter Leko. In 2006, Kramnik defeated FI...
So let us look how Felix went on with his 1. b3- repertoire. You remember the first deviation in the black set-up in center (e5/d5)? 1. b3 e5 2. Lb2 d5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Ld6 5. f4 f6 (black stabilizes the center) The idea behind it is cle...
The ash cloud drama that unfolded over World Champion Vishy Anand's journey to Sofia has only hyped up the enthusiasm of chess fans all over the world. Will this affect Anand negatively? or will he breeze through this just like the several other o...
From the Interzonal Tournament in Gothenburg 1955, the game between Arthur Bisguier and David Bronstein (pictured) will be presented. The American citizen, Bisguier, and the Soviet subject, Bronstein, met at the Helsinki Olympiad in 1952 and becam...
razorblade12 asked: Ever since I have started playing chess over a year ago, I have always come unstuck when playing against 1.d4 as Black. Is there any defense that you recommend I could use that would suit my style of play? Dear razorblade: T...
This week we shall return to the Sicilian Najdorf English Attack. It has always been a fascinating and a favourite opening for most of the top Grandmasters. Even the legendary Kasparov used it regularly with huge success and contributed a lot in t...
Mikeyt asked: How realistic is it for me to set a goal of achieving a master chess rating? To help you out, I’ll give a little info on my background. In my younger days I played myself to a 1900+ USCF rating without ever putting serious study in...
