If I had to choose the most popular misconception in chess, I wouldn't hesitate for a second. It is the so-called 'weakness' of doubled pawns. I cannot tell you my dear readers how many times I have encountered the same situation during anal...
Do you prefer a queen or two rooks? Everyone knows a rook is five points and a queen is nine points. 5+5 > 9 so the rooks should be a full pawn better, right? GM Larry Kaufman, who is an expert at computer chess, has determined the rooks are...
I recently (April 27-29, 2012) played in the Maryland Open chess tournament in the Under 2000 section. I played well and won the section with a 5-0 score. This earned me the title of 2012 Maryland Amateur Champion, the 4th time I have won the titl...
I haven't posted a Reshevsky game in quite a while, so here goes... This game of his is notable because he manages to get one of his knights to the sixth rank. It then stays there for the rest of the game, and completely disrupts Treysman's plans...
When referring to general chess principles, approaches and structures in my articles I always add a disclaimer warning that a lot depends on the particular situation. A certain method might work in 9 cases out of 9, only to fail in the 10th. A gen...
Trading pieces is a typical technique in chess. While at the start of the game both you and your opponent have an equal chess army, later in the game your forces are starting to perish. Naturally, like Saviely Tartakover used to say, “It’s better ...
Getting home after Saturday's games, I ate dinner and started preparing for Yankovsky. I had a general profile of him already, but I needed to play through a bunch of his games to ascertain what variations he played against my defenses to e4 (c5, ...
Conventional wisdom says that when we are behind in material, we should never trade pieces. And yet, in this game, that is exactly what happens. White appears to sacrifice a rook for nothing, and is apparently lost by move 11. However, amazingly e...
Today I would like to share with you an exercise I did at the end of 2011 to try to prepare for the events I would play in the next year. I logged 70 FIDE rated games in 2011. This is a decent but not huge sample size, and I decided to do a thorou...
This game features a rather unique attack. Korchnoi puts some pressure on Fischer's queenside, but throws away his advantage there with a few errant moves. This allows Fischer to attack his opponent's king without nay opposition. With the aid of a...
Chess has been called the art of attack and defense. A Lot of stress is always put on a beautiful attack with a beautiful combination that can win the game swiftly. But as GM Melikset Khachiyan illustrates in his video series on practical defense,...
Right now I am taking part in the Russian Chess Teams’ (both men and women) training session for the European Team Championship. Generally speaking, such events last from 7 to 10 days and are held at a special boarding house. The idea is to change...
During a game each of us has to make choices. In some positions the choice is limited to a single playable continuation, but in most situations we have to consider a few alternatives. If there are many options, this process becomes a real challeng...
First of all, the videos in this series are all for advanced level players. If you (the reader) are just beginning to come across the concept of space in chess, this video will get you started. For intermediate players, this video and it's sequel ...
One chess player said that I have a problem sensing the tempo of the game, that this is my weakness. I don’t know if it was legitimate advice or just an insult, but I found it interesting. True, I have seen, especially when I am in bad form, that ...
An Inspiration When I read GM Becerra's article last week about a man who was an absolute inspiration to me, I just knew I had to share my own tribute to Lev Polugaevsky this week. Prior to reading GM Becerra's article, I actually did not know ju...
The game I am about to discuss here was the final knockout match in the Carlos Torre Memorial Tournament 2007, in Merida, Mexico. I had won 3 knockout matches with the score 1.5-0.5 to reach final where I had to face Vasily Ivanchuk who was the wo...
Gaining a material advantage is a classic way of winning in chess. In some situations an extra pawn is sufficient for a victory, in others even being up a queen doesn’t guarantee anything. After all, the main goal of chess is to checkmate the oppo...
Winning in chess is not only about reckless attacking and playing for checkmate from move one. Often it is easier to start with gaining a material advantage and then converting it. Today we will be discussing an interesting way in which you can ge...
Each piece has its relative value. During the game it may vary depending on what position the piece occupies and what role it plays. It’s hard to win when some of your pieces are misplaced. Therefore, you should make sure all your pieces are takin...
Who doesn’t like attacking? Improving the position, creating new threats, putting pressure on the opponent, sacrificing lots of material and finally winning. What do we have on the other side? Nit-picking for even the slightest counter-chances and...
We conclude our survey of weapons of chess destruction, with examples from the three most recent world champions. In each case we see them following the opening rules and then quickly demolishing the opponents position. This happens even though ...
In our survey of weapons of chess destruction we have now reached the glory days of chess. I was fortunate to be growing up during the period of the great superstars of chess that I believe has remained unrivaled in the history of the game. In ...
In case you are wondering, the white pawn to your right is begging for you NOT to attack him... Unfortunately, his future isn't so bright (he doesn't wear shades ) as an Isolated Queen Pawn. That said, his teammates don't always mind his isol...
