Even if you have never heard of chess surrealism, you definitely encountered it at some point. What is chess surrealism? In art, the key feature of surrealism is the element of surprise, the same is true for chess surrealism. If you see a positi...
I don't think I need to introduce Grandmaster Frank Marshall who was one of the strongest chess players in the World in the beginning of the 20th century and the US Champion from 1909 till 1935!! Today I would like to discuss his stunning opening ...
The summer of 1967 is known as the Summer of Love (The Beatles, hippies, Woodstock, etc). I think the summer of 2010 will be remembered as the Summer of Spain. First Spain wins the soccer World Cup, then Nadal wins Wimbledon and the Spanish celebr...
If you excuse my liberty, I would like to slightly alter the iconic Coca-Cola jingle: Whenever there's a pool, there's always a thirst. Whenever there is school, there'll always be homework. Whenever there's a beat, there's always a drum. Wheneve...
In talking about nthe greatest players, Max Euwe, the 5th World Champion, is often overlooked. He produced many masterpieces. I present three of his fantastic finishes here.
When a chess player remembers tournaments he played, the first ones that come to mind are obviously those that he won. But in my case, when I remember the International tournament in Oslo that took part in 1994, even though I tied for first there...
While I was researching material for my article on the Sokolsky Opening ( http://www.chess.com/article/view/openings-for-tactical-players-sokolsky-opening ) , I found a little known game of Alekhine. The game featured a combination which doesn't...
One of the best things I ever watched on TV is the episode of "Seinfeld" called "The Opposite". There George Costanza announces "My life is the complete opposite of everything I ever wanted to be!" and then Seinfeld convinces him that “if every ...
How many of you, dear readers, can identify the man shown in this picture? This man never had a title of IM or GM and yet he managed to beat many top players of his time including Capablanca! Can you name another player who would be able to reach...
The Sokolsky Opening (1. b4) never enjoyed much popularity , which can partially explain it's nickname "Orangutan Opening". In my opinion, there are two reasons why most chess players never seriously consider this opening. The first reason is tha...
The Dutch Defense is one of those openings where Black doesn't hide his intentions and starts preparing a King's side attack from the very first moves. The Stonewall variation is one of the most positionally sound lines of the Dutch. It is a well...
Last week we discussed one of the most aggressive openings against 1.d4 - King's Indian Defense (KID). But for the true KID fans it's not enough to play it against just 1.d4. They want to play their favorite opening in every single game, even whe...
It's difficult to find a more agressive opening against 1.d4 than the King's Indian Defense (KID). As most of the hyper-modern openings, it voluntarily gives up the center in order to attack it later. But unlike many other openings with a simila...
The Queen's Indian Defense is one of the most quiet positional openings. The World Champion Tigran Petrosian was one of the most positional chess players in the history of chess. So what do you get when you cross the Queen's Indian Defense and a ...
When a famous Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitch invented a new defense against 1.d4 which was later named after him, the new hyper modern opening took the chess world by storm. Many chess players were attracted by this solid, positional opening which w...
As you probably already know, the World's oldest Grandmaster passed away last week. Just three days after celebrating his 99th birthday, Andor Lilienthal died. It is difficult to believe that just a week ago there was a living person who had wins ...
The Blackmar-Diemer gambit (BDG) can be reached via many different move orders. Even though most of the games there start with 1.d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4, or 1...Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 it is also possible to play 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3!? d5 3.e4 dxe4 4. Nc3 ...
The Veresov Opening (1.d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 or 1.d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5) is an original system developed by Soviet IM Gavriil Veresov. Today he is mostly remembered because of his opening, which is a shame since he was a very strong chess play...
Here's a nice little game played by Capablanca. He forces his opponent to keep warding off threats from both sides of the board in the opening, which he handles in a very modern style. Eventually, he is able to create a passed pawn, and some quick...
I was going to continue my "Openings for Tactical Players" series and write about the Ragozin Defense but had to pause for a moment. This is my main opening against 1.d4, the opening I've been playing for almost a quarter of a century alread...
The Budapest Gambit is a rare case of a gambit which is popular amongst both amateurs and top professionals. Amateurs and club players really like the variety of opening traps there. Here is one of the most popular traps. Even though it is very w...
This article is my personal tribute to ex-World Champion Vassily Smyslov who passed away last month. Also I would like to use the opportunity to express my personal view and disagree with the popular belief that Smyslov was mainly a positional che...
The Chigorin Defense was never a popular opening, but this situation has been changing in the last decade. A super GM Alexander Morozevich managed to prove that in the good hands (see the picture) it is a very powerful weapon. The idea of the open...
In my old article "Hard Candy" which was published here exactly one year ago (http://www.chess.com/article/view/to-be-named) I wrote that "some openings are very venomous despite their innocent appearance." The Colle System is definitely one of ...
