Alexander Alekhine won the title from Jose Raul Capablanca in their 1927 match. The Franco-Russian master had an unusually wide opening repertoire compared to the earlier champions, and he loved to experiment with different openings. So while A...
Like Emanuel Lasker, his successor, Jose Raul Capablanca, was less of a theoretician and more of a keen practical player. Lasker utilized his great psychological understanding and clever trickiness, while Capablanca's skill rested in his innate un...
The second world champion, Emanuel Lasker, is a difficult one to include in this series, but it must be done. There is hardly any opening to which he is closely attached. He played a wide variety of solid, "common-sense" openings, w...
The inspiration for today's article was rather unusual. Recently, I was lying in bed when a peculiar memory invaded the sleepy recesses of my mind. I recalled an unusual and astute piece of advice given to me by GM Alexander Kali...
Opening choice is a very complicated subject, bound up not just in questions of chess theory and principles, but also in individual personality and style, and even the current state of society. When picking an opening today you need to consider ...
Among the less-trodden paths White can follow against the Sicilian Defense is the system with the seemingly paradoxical combination of Nc3 and Bb5. To my knowledge, this variation, unlike most of the other anti-Sicilians, has no name....
For a long time, the Petroff Defense (also known as the Russian Defense) has been a very solid weapon in situations where a draw is acceptable for Black. Through the end of the 20th century it featured prominently in top level tournaments, especia...
The Pirc Defense is still relatively unexplored for a major opening system. Both White and Black may avail themselves of many different approaches to the opening, and we have two outstanding grandmasters here to provide you with ideas on both side...
Garry Kasparov, the 13th world champion, is closely connected to the King's Indian Defense. Indeed, he has created much of the foundation of what the opening is today. Yet, early on in his epic rivalry with Anatoly Karpov, Kasparov restricted hi...
In today's world of competitive chess, it is easy to imagine that you have to surprise your opponent every time. That you have to continually rotate your openings to avoid preparation. That you cannot develop a deep understanding of an opening wit...
If the Sicilian is the vehicle driving Black’s equalizing chances, the Dragon is its engine. For years, White has struggled to find a definite answer to counter the Sicilian. The Dragon variation, also known as the Draco Star, has only furth...
The Traxler Counter Attack With best play, does Black have a chance with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 ? In Part I we examined White's response 5. d4 White's two most common responses however are 5. Bxf7+ and ...
In the early 21st century, a new permutation of the evergreen Sicilian Dragon appeared: rather than place the queen's rook, obviously, on the open c-file, to put it instead on the closed b-file, supporting an advance of the b-pawn: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3...
Take a walk with me on the wild side . . . of chess.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When Tarrasch wrote, ". . .S...
After the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5, not every player of the white pieces agrees to take up the baton and confront the Benoni Defense or the Benko Gambit by playing 3.d5. Some may prefer to send the game toward the quieter English Opening by playing ...
The article I wrote last week, "The Shabalov-Shirov Gambit" reminded me of another, more radical g2-g4 move, also largely developed by the aggressive Latvian player Alexei Shirov. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.g4!? The so-called "Li...
The 90s were a decade of complex openings: in particular, the King's Indian and the Semi-Slav. In 1992, a peculiar attacking idea came out of Latvia to combat the Semi-Slav, Meran Variation. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6...
The Pirc Defense is certainly one of the most provocative openings. Black fianchettos his king bishop instead of immediately challenging in the center. White therefore has a variety of fierce attacking methods. Of these, the fiercest is the Austri...
Today we will be taking a look at what is, on the surface, a grotesque combination of Bird's Opening and the Orangutang. Combining these two obscure openings might seem to create a monster worthy of Dr. Moreau -- or perhaps Dixon Bainbridge of The...
Novice chess players are exposed to openings like the Fried Liver and the four-move checkmate early on. At the start of any game, the king’s f-pawn is the weakest on the board for either color. Inspired by that belief, the King’s Gambi...
Today we will be looking at a completely different landscape on the chess board compared to last week's King's Indian structure: the light-square focus of the Dutch Stonewall. The Stonewall is not a specific series of moves so much as a set...
Gambits are an important part of chess. Although most of them come from White’s initiative, there are also many sound counter gambits for Black that have developed over time. Understanding how to play with and against gambits is important fo...
Dear readers: I will be continuing to cover opening variations in my column, but a slight shift will be made. Rather than looking at the historical developments of whole openings, I will be covering specific lines -- and not as much from a histori...
Aron Nimzowisch is one of the great thinkers in chess, and his greatest opening contribution to the opening is the Nimzo Indian Defense. The Nimzo Indian evinces some of the great struggles in chess. Bishop or knight? Are doubled pawns s...
