Before we start the discussion about the Latvian Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5), I have a confession to make. I never really trusted in this opening. It is one thing to play a risky King's Gambit and it is a totally different thing to p...
It is difficult to imagine a chess player who never fell into a well-known trap in the so-called Fried Liver Attack in the Two Knights Defense. It happened to me in my very first tournament. I played all the logical moves (1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc...
Last week when we discussed the Urusov Gambit, we learned that the safest option for Black was to transpose the game to a very old and reliable line of the Two Knights Defense. What an attacking player should do in this case? Well, the position a...
Today we will examine the favorite opening of most beginners- 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 which is the Bishop's Opening. Of course, most beginners play 2.Bc4 with the sole purpose of playing 3. Qh5 and then 4. Qxf7 checkmate. Pretty quickly we all learn ...
Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924), nicknamed "Black Death," started playing chess as an adult but reached master level in mere months. He learned how to play draughts as a child; however it was not until he heard about Paul Morphy's exploits aro...
When we analysed the King's Gambit a couple of weeks ago, you could notice that even though this opening is a dream for a chess player looking for tactical complications starting right from the beginning of the game, there is still a major drawbac...
Today we are going to talk about the Danish Gambit. The main concept of the opening is very simple. After the initial moves 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4 Bc4 cxb2 5. Bb2 White is down two pawns but he is ahead in development and his Bishops are...
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...
