In last week's article we learned some of the favorite chess patterns of super-GM Ding Liren. As you probably remember, he loves to play for domination when his opponent's pieces can barely move. His most common recipe to get this kind of a p...
The Chess.com member grepschrop wrote: “Some players told me that it’s not important to know the names of mating patterns. My experience with kids is contrary. What is your opinion?” SILMAN: Though one might think this is easy ...
In one of my recent articles we analyzed the games of Rudolf Pitschak. As one of the readers correctly pointed out, he wasn't the best player in the world. Actually quite far from that! And yet we could learn something from his games. Now imagin...
When I was a teenage Sicilian Dragon aficionado, I salivated over the thought that one day I might land in a certain theoretical sub-variation of the Yugoslav Attack where Black sacrifices not one but both exchanges to bust up White’s queens...
When a pawn reaches the last rank it creates one of the biggest miracles of the game of chess. In such a situation the weakest chess piece can instantly become the strongest one! While in the majority of such cases, chess players indeed promote a ...
I noticed that when I teach the rules of chess to kids, almost nothing excites them more than a pawn promotion. I can see sparkles in the kids' eyes and have to answer the unavoidable question: "So, I can have two queens at the same time?" Of co...
Most of the classical attacking games have a similar scenario: the winner brings his pieces close to the opponent's king and then sacrifices something to deliver a winning combination. But what can you do if your pieces are far away from your oppo...
In my recent article, "The Lonely Knight Checkmate," I discussed a very uncommon situation where a checkmate is delivered by a knight and the winner has no other pieces on the board besides pawns. Such situations are indeed so rare that all t...
Everyone knows that chess is 99% tactics, but how does one master tactics? IM David Pruess has a new premium video series with four exercises which he guarantees will make you a tactical genius if you practice them seriously. What are you waiting ...
In the beginning, tactics were a way to waste time. They were something to do while I was impatient, waiting in line or while water boiled. I had never played chess before, but I had watched my boyfriend play it, and when he noticed my interest,...
Every chess player knows about the classic bishop sacrifice. And everyone wants to smash that light-squared bishop into h7, drag the screaming-in-terror enemy king from its pawn cover, and execute it as its army helplessly watches.In general, t...
The most shocking chess episode of the year that everyone is talking about happened in the Tata Steel super tournament. Indeed how often does the world chess champion miss a checkmate in three, when he has plenty of time to think on his ...
GM Irina Krush and IM Daniel Rensch put their tactical skill on the line in front of a live audience solving puzzles from Chess.com Tactics Trainer! In this interactive show Chess.com members suggest tactical ideas and our masters explain their th...
I bet most of our readers have heard the overused cliche, "Chess is 99% tactics." This catchy phrase underlines the importance of calculation in chess, but is chess really 99% tactics? Well, it depends. The chess competition betwe...
Target Skill Range: Advanced (Rated 1800-1999) Tasks: Identify and address your tactical weaknesses. Complete a perfect ten. Complete the legendary 30-minute drill. Develop your visualization skills. Complete these tactics-themed le...
Target Skill Range: Master Path (Rated 2000-2199) Tasks: Solve tactics, tactics, tactics, and ... tactics! Solve studies. Practice calculation. Play blindfold chess. Complete these tactics-themed lessons. You probably thought y...
Back rank checkmates are very common in chess. As a matter of fact, many tactical textbooks start with exactly this kind of combination due to their simplicity. The vast majority have one thing in common: You need to deflect your opponent's b...
Tactics. After thousands of books written on this concept, after the development of several excellent tactical training tools (such as Chess.com's own Tactics Trainer), after the release of countless free engines that serve as paragons of tactical...
The already famous game So vs Kasparov played in the Ultimate Blitz Challenge is both fascinating and puzzling. Not only did GM Wesley So produce a game of unbelievable beauty, he did it against the arguably strongest chess player in the...
There are many patterns in chess which you should know if you want to become strong. I have discussed many of them in this column through the years. Today, I'll talk about the deadliest chess pattern, the one that usually ...
There are basically three ways a tactic can occur, both for and against you: The opponent makes a threat for a tactic (or a check or capture), which either can't be met, or can be, but is missed. There is no existing threat of a tactic, bu...
Why title this series "The Art Of The Tempo Move In Chess"? Tempos are more than a tactical strategy. With the right finesse and calculation, tempos can subtly generate a number of different threats against your opponent. In this five-part serie...
Having trouble perfecting your study habits? Without a coach, training to perfect your chess game can feel like shooting in the dark. After all, how do you know your identifying every important concept in a position? Your daily tactics are ...
Every chess player knows about two inevitable opening catastrophes: scholar's mate and the Fried Liver Attack. I still remember my shock when in one of my first tournaments I played what looked like reasonable moves and yet the resulting position ...
