Last weeks we discussed the King's Gambit as an ideal opening if you want to beat your opponent in 20 moves or less. Of course if your opponent defends very well and your blitzkrieg fails... well then you might question your decision to sac a paw...
In the first part of the article we learned some typical attacking ideas employed in the King's Gambit. Even though these articles cannot be a substitute for an opening manual, still today I would like to give you some basic ideas for how White s...
In the previous articles we discussed typical tactical patterns, good traps and bad traps, pawn promotions and Queen sacrifices. It is time to use this knowledge! Let's try to beat our next opponent in 20 moves or less! Of course we won't be abl...
Today we will continue our discussion about the hidden power of little soldiers of chess. But first I would like to remind you of a very useful feature of the chess applets used by chess. com to replay the games. If you click "Solution" and then ...
Today we are going to talk about the unsung heroes of chess - pawns. In openings we are happy to sacrifice the little guys in order to get some positional or dynamic advantages (a strong center, lead in the development, etc.) and that's a purpose ...
Last week we analyzed the games where the castled King was attacked along the 'h'file. Today we'll continue this subject and see what happens when a fianchetto is involved. The good news about a fianchetto, it bring...
Last week we discussed the dangerous diagonal 'a5-e1'. Today we are going to talk about the most dangerous file. I think no other file can claim even a half of the number of Kings killed on the 'h' file. This is not a big surprise since the Rh1 ...
When you are analyzing a combination during a game, sometimes your first go at it makes it seem as though it won't work. Many chess books about tactics suggest that you then reverse the order of the moves in the combination to see if that helps. ...
Sometimes a game comes down to which player can see further ahead. After dodging a bullet in the middlegame (where he almost loses a rook after initiating a combination), White finds himself in situation where he has to see as many as ten dangero...
The subject of today's discussion was inspired by your comments, my dear readers. So let me thank you again for your comments and suggestions. Last week one of the readers suggested an article about long diagonals (a1-h8 and a8-h1). Actually we h...
Before we discuss today's typical pattern, I would like to thank my readers again for their comments and feedback. One of you suggested to me to use the feature "Board Coordinates" so you can see the notation better. Today I'll try it for the fir...
If you ask a chess player what opening is the most dangerous one in the sense that you can lose quickly if you don't know exact moves you are supposed to play, then most probably you'll hear the King's Gambit, the Sicilian Defense or some other no...
Everyone has there own tips and tricks now and again but here are a few tips to get you started. 1-Do not go for the ATTACK right at the start. Have a fortress ready so your enemy cannot attack and then go for it. 2-Try to protect ALL your piece...
Before I present a new typical tactical pattern, I want to thank my readers for their comments, ideas and suggestions. Particularly I have to thank one of my readers who suggested that in the beginning of my articles I should mention a very usefu...
Some chess books about tactics have puzzles for you to figure out. Most of them are neat, but you never see them in your games, so you wonder if studying them is even worth the effort. IT IS! But they don't just appear. You have to:1) Know the ...
It's been a long time since I posted my first power of h4 article, but I've finally summoned up the courage to post another one. Anyway, here it is. Polugaevsky initiates the greek gift against tal-but in an somewhat unorthodox setting. It takes...
I would like to thank all my readers for their comments. This feedback helps me to determine what would be the most interesting subject for my coming articles. Today I would like to answer some of your questions and requests. Due to the space limi...
First of all, let me thank you my dear readers for your positive response for my "Typical patterns everyone should know" articles. It shows that you want me to continue our discussion of this important subject. Today's installment is devoted to '...
This is a continuation of our discussion about typical patterns you can reuse in your games. The recipe for today's pattern is: 1) Fianchettoed Bb2 (Bb7 for Black) pointing at the opponent's King 2) Ne5 (Ne4) that joins the attack eventually 3)...
Want to give yourself X-ray vision at the chessboard? Well, as with achieving any worthwhile result, you may expect to have much work to do – but the task is certainly far from impossible. This seems to be the common problem when learning che...
Let me present to you one of my favorite games played by WGM Natalia Pogonina against FM Dmitry Biryukov. Natalia (currently #14 female player in the world rated 2501 FIDE) delivered an unexpected attack on the kingside followed by a few remarkab...
Whenever I present a beautiful game in my article, I inevitably see a comment that looks like this: “Wow! Such a beautiful game! I wouldn’t find this fantastic combo in a million years”. From my teaching experience I know that sometimes chess pla...
Today you have the chance to play like Moscow Open-2009 winner WGM Natalia Pogonina. In the last round of the tournament she crushed her opponent, IM Marina Romanko, with a few nice tactical blows - can you also spot them? Replay the annota...
