The Open Sicilian can be broken down into four basic systems. In one, the Dragon, the black bishop is fianchettoed on g7. In the Scheveningen, it is developed on e7 while Black adopts a "little center" of pawns on d6 and e6. In a third, t...
In the first installment of my series on the development of various opening variations, we learned about the history of the King's Gambit. This week we will be moving on to a more modern and frequently seen opening: the Winawer French. In th...
With last week's column, we reached the end of my series on endgames, "Without the Lady." It has been an interesting journey through one of chess's most mysterious and underappreciated domains -- but the end has come. I now begin a new column co...
I’m a hard man to please, and no more so than when it comes to chess books. I expect honesty, I expect diligence, I expect innovation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, I expect my short attention span to be entertained at all times. It&rs...
This is the second part of an article (Classic Pawn Structure, Part 4a) that pointed out some structural similarities between the Sicilian Wing Gambit, the French Wing Gambit, and the Benko Gambit. However, the main focus quickly moved to the...
Is the Sicilian Wing Gambit and the French Defense a version of the Benko Gambit!? mcelsouza asked: I used to play the Wing Gambit against the Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3. I must say I played it due to my laziness (avoiding the Sicilian t...
I recently took a train from Amsterdam to the quaint little Belgium town of Bruges. Looking for a book to keep me occupied for the four hour ride, I remembered my review copy of Richard Pert’s Playing the Trompowsky, which is certainly thinner tha...
In our second installment of Monster Opening Preparation (part 1 here), we’ll take a look at two of the most famous “prep” games ever. Both are highlighted by legends concerning the length of time they prepared/analyzed/pondered ...
I can speak easier than I can explain, so I made a short video. In essence, the common opening mistake being made in amateur chess is pushing rook pawns (a and h files) up one square to keep Bishops and Knights from giving pins or threatening fork...
Dear Chess.com Members, After Chess 012, Chess 013, Chess 014, and Chess 024, Chess.com University is back with its fifth college-like chess course! Our college-like courses provide the best and most effective chess education available online. I...
One hundred years ago the chess world witnessed one of the greatest chess tournaments of all time, Saint Petersburg 1914. Its storylines were numerous and compelling: Capablanca's early domination, Alekhine's first major international success, Rub...
Serious opening preparation is a must for all chess professionals. At times, the preparation is mundane: NORMAL OPENING PREPARATION 1) You decide to play a new opening that had attracted you for years, or you saw something new and exc...
In this article I want to look at "Ngf3 systems" of the French- Tarrasch Variation,( the "Universal System" ) and I would like to explore an interesting and rare setup. Black has many alternatives to the seventh move and can directly play on the ...
The fourth round showed us an exciting game and an interisting novelty in the International Tournament of "Forni di Sopra"- (Italy) Ufficial site: http://www.accademiainternazionalediscacchi.com/ Games and results : http://www.scacchirandagi...
The Sokolsky Opening 1. b4 (also known as the Polish opening, Polish Attack, Orangutan) relates to the closed openings and is considered an irregular opening. It ranks ninth in popularity and is seldom played in top-level games and official t...
Analysis of a recent game with a very interesting Novity: GM Blomqvist,E. Vs IM Smith A. (Sigeman Chess Tournament) 17-05-2014 Enjoy it! Francesco Bentivegna
The commentaries on chess.com and the Chessbase website reported on Carlsen's second loss in a row but did not explain why Radjabov played 10...Qe8! which avoids a potential bishop sacrifice on h5. My good friend, CM Olimpiu Urcan made this poin...
Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite movies of all time is Searching for Bobby Fischer (I know - the things you find out about me!). Hollywood-style dramatizations of chess games aside, the film is extremely well-made, featuring a thoughtful ex...
Greetings everyone! I am grandmaster Rafael Leitão, from Brazil. My FIDE rating is 2645. I am going to write a series of articles about chess preparation. Many ambitious chessplayers do not know how to work in order to achieve a master and grandma...
During dramatic fourth game of the World Championship match between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov has tweeted from the battlefield in Chennai: " Game 4 demonstrated exactly what I wrote for my last Chess Informant column: The Berl...
A big day! Carlsen's era has started but the time has come also for the brand new periodical, Chess Informant 118 Cobra edition! Few days ago, after the dramatic fourth game of the World Championship match between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen...
The final installment, taken from my forthcoming book for Ishi Press.
This article is drawn from my forthcoming book French Winawer Poisoned Pawn (Ishi Press).
This cartice is drawn from my forthcoming book French Winawer Poisoned Pawn (Ishi Press).
