Piotr Linek asks: When I play the Sicilian with the sequence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 as Black, I don’t even think about it and automatically play …e6 because I find it stronger as it attacks white’s Knight and forces it to retreat and p...
Russians called Napoleon's 1812 invasion "The Patriotic War". The largest army up to that point in history, 690,000 French troops, crossed the river Nemen intent on taking the Russian capital Moscow. After brave defenses and dire predictions of ...
Sometimes you play games where things almost magically unfold before you, seemingly without any help from you. "Wow, that worked like a charm, didn't it?", you marvel at your amazing attack. Yet it did have help from you. If you play active, de...
Sometimes a move has more than one purpose. And sometimes, the obvious purpose is so non-threatening, and relaxes your opponent so much, that he ignores your move and doesn't look for any other, more hidden, threats. In the first game, White's 5...
This article is about playing f4 as white in different parts of a game like Bird Opening,King's Gambit,Bishop's Game,Sicilian. After viewing the article don't forget to lookup the Kairav's chess masters (KCM) homepage:http://www.chess.com/groups/...
Chess puzzles. Ya gotta love’em. Speaking personally, I can’t get enough of them. Nothing satisfies the soul like solving a chess puzzle that you deem truly worthy of your intellect. Working chess puzzles actually can give a serious boost to y...
Here is a game from the 2009 Copper State Open, IM Ginsburg - WFM Cardona with full annotations and commentary: This was a nice game to observe as it shows a common theme in chess. The b7 and b2 squares for both sides can be a sens...
Here is a game from the 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup, GM Movsesian - GM Tregubov with full annotations and commentary: I believe this is a very instructive game which can change the mind set of playing against the Sicilian Defense. Many...
Having the correct mindset when going into a chess game is critical in the way you play out the game, even if you only need a draw. My coach told me that you play what the position gives you and go from there. I was recently at the Ontario Open in...
Often when a player is paired with someone ranked much higher, he doesn't follow his usual routine. A player who usually uses the Morra gambit against the sicilian suddenly goes for a quieter line. Others will try to trade off as much material as ...
Black to move. Mate in 13. I know there are lots of variations to this puzzle so don't lose your cool if the variation you play isn't the correct move.
Hi chessplayers, here s a funny match i have played, from first sight, it appear a boring game, but the fun is at the end !! ( you know!like a rock concert!) , perhaps the title is somehow strange, but it will show it self in the game..i want to s...
Here is a game from the 16th Asian Cities Team Championship, GM Ghaem Maghami - IM Eid with full annotations and commentary: This game was very interesting as it featured two important points where both sides made questio...
This principle applies no more so than in the tricky d-pawn 'specials' (Torre Attack, London System, Stonewall and the Colle Systems). Here I'm going to show 2 games which I hope may be useful in illustrating this: one of my own games and then a...
"The pawn (♙♟) is the weakest . . .piece in the game of chess, representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants of pikemen."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawn_(chess)] It's true that a pawn only has a value of 1 point. But let's try to l...
One of the dilemmas of modern chess is that opening theory has grown to huge proportions. The advent of computers and databases mean that there is plenty of information about a player's tendencies, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Throw in some strong ...
Part I:Discovery Discovery is a way to devastate you opponent's material using a check by moving aside a piece and placing that piece where you can threaten opposing pieces. one of those pieces would be already lost, since your opponent has to do...
When I used to attend the chess class at the Fremont Public Library every Friday afternoon, Richard Shorman often used to show us the games of Morphy and Capablanca. I tend to play crazy games these days (see the game with Bobras), but that sort o...
Here is a game from the 2009 Reykjavik Open, GM Oleksienko - IM Grandelius with full annotations and commentary: This game was a very instructive lesson about pawn play, especially flank pawns. When you advance your flank pawns as ...
Here is a game from the 4NCL, WIM Winkelmann - GM King with full annotations and commentary: In this game we saw a dramatic rating difference between the two players. It was white at the disadvantage and black as the much higher ...
Improve your Chess via Active Learning ACTIVE LEARNING is any strategy that involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing (*) You could study the following material either by skipping the test and going directly ...
The pawn is a very vaulable piece in the game of Chess. Pawns can make blockades which can control the game or the double pawn which can hurt you in the endgame. In this position, even though white has a blocked bishop, the pawns ...
Here is a game from the 10th EICC, WIM Drljevic - IM Maksimovic with full annotations and commentary: This game was a very sound strategical effort by black. The first part of the plan was to force open lines on the kingside with h7-...
Here is a stategy that makes you have an edge on your oppoents. No matter if you are White or Black, you have three major goals to have an edge:Take control of the board. This is very crucial of controling space or territory. Chess is war and taki...
