Cross-Pins
Cross-pins or double pins are names for a rare and particularly interesting tactic. Under certain conditions it can also be called the St. Andrew's Cross, counter-pins and combination pins. A cross-pin can be absolute, relative, ...
Never Trust Your Opponent!
In 2007, at the Far West Open in Reno, I played the first two grandmasters of my life: Melik Khachiyan and fellow Chess.com columnist Gregory Serper. Khachiyan soundly outplayed me in a King's Indian, but my battle with Gregory was a different ket...
The Deadly Attacks Of Romantic Chess
This series is all about attacking chess and combinations and fun. And all of them are in puzzle form (some easy, some difficult) so you can see how your tactical IQ stands up to the old, sometimes forgotten greats. And, if you learn a tiny bit ab...
Surprise Your Opponent!
The Benko Gambit is one of the most popular openings among club players. It is indeed very appealing to grab the initiative early in the game playing Black against your opponent who likes to play positional chess. Why do I assume that your oppon...
5 Grandmaster Tips To Improve Your Tactics
Do you find yourself getting a good position only to spoil it by missing a simple tactic? How about getting a promising attack but failing to find a forced mate or win of material? I hope these five simple tips will help to sharpen y...
Beware Of Alekhine's Gun
The 1930 San Remo International was a rather one-sided affair. World Champion Alexander Alekhine stormed through the field, winning 13 games and conceding only two draws. Yet this tournament is remembered not for Alekhine's magisterial performance...
Classic Combinations: Historic Attacks
This new series is all about attacking chess, combinations and fun. And all of them are in puzzle form (some easy, some difficult) so you can see how your tactical IQ stands up to the old, sometimes forgotten greats. And, if you learn a tiny bit a...
Classic Combinations
This new series is all about attacking chess, combinations and fun. And all of them are in puzzle form (some easy, some difficult) so you can see how your tactical IQ stands up to the old, sometimes forgotten greats. And, if you learn a tiny bit a...
The King Hunt, Revealed
To me, the term king hunt invariably conjures up an image of a bygone era, when chess was played over coffee and cigars at the Café de la Régence. With defensive tenacity largely considered a hindrance to the game's beauty, spec...
The Opening You've Never Heard Of
Grandmaster David Bronstein was an excellent chess player, original thinker and a brilliant chess author who produced a number of bestsellers. His most famous chess book is undoubtedly "Zurich 1953." Everyone loves this book and for a good reas...
A Sicilian Idea You Must Know
There are some ideas associated with certain openings. For example, mention a pawn minority attack to any experienced chess player and he will immediately visualize the Carlsbad Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. If you ask me to name the...
Mastering The Queen Sacrifice
"A queen sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover." -- Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956). Even the most technical, positional-minded player cannot dispute the accuracy of Tartakower's remark. No matter...
The Double Bishop Sacrifice
A few months after I started playing, my coach showed me an ultra-famous game. I recall grinning from ear to ear, thinking that nothing quite so beautiful would ever see the light of day again. Although Lasker's double-bishop sacrifice is sicken...
The Discovered Check, Reloaded
The discovered check is a key weapon in every attacking player's arsenal. To be sure, it has received excellent coverage in chess literature, its potency examined from every angle. However, players still frequently tend to underrate its power....
How To Play A Counterblow
The ability to recover after a tactical oversight is a difficult skill to master. Indeed, the temptation to panic after blundering an ostensibly crushing sacrifice or combination is overwhelming. It is the mark of a strong, experienced player to r...
Mikhail Tal's Chess Boomerang
The game we are going to analyze today is quite typical for the style of Mikhail Tal. It features sacrifices, crazy attack and a lot of fun! Also, as it happened to many Tal's sacrifices, it was proven incorrect. Of course it took "only" a...
Punishing The Pawn Grabber!
As beginners, we are invariably warned that pawn grabbing in the opening is a cardinal sin. Indeed, what could be more incautious than throwing your development to the wind and setting yourself up for tactical calamity? Pawn grabbing usually st...
How To Play Like A Super Grandmaster
The last couple of months were a real paradise for true chess aficionados. The world's top events (including the world championship!) followed one after another. Today, I offer you an opportunity to test your chess skills and find the star moves...
The Amazing Chess Illusion
Most people are fascinated by optical illusions. Indeed it is a very strange feeling that what you see with your own eyes is not exactly what it is. This reminds me of the punchline to the old joke that I already mentioned in this article: "who ...
The Four Most Amazing World Championship Blunders
The chess world gasped when in game six of this year's world championship match, both Carlsen and Anand missed a simple tactical shot 26...Nxe5! (see #10 in the second part of this series). Some reporters even rushed to call it "the bi...
The Double Attack
The double attack is a devastating tactical weapon. A double attack can come out of nowhere, instantly winning the game in a complex position. Combinations and tactical shots are usually made possible by a certain aspect of the position -- a vul...
14 Amazing World Championship Blunders, Part 3
Before we continue our "hit parade" of blunders, I'd like to thank our readers (and especially FritsFritschy) for their active participation in our discussion about the historic "blunder" in the first game of the Spassky-Fischer match that we...
How to Mate Your Opponent
How to Mate Your Opponent "Winning Chess" by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld gave the following three quotes that inspired this presentation: As soon as a true thought has entered our mind, it gives a light which makes us see a crowd of ot...
14 Amazing World Championship Blunders, Part 2
The world championship match Carlsen-Anand is over now and it brings some relief to me because I was afraid that I might have to expand this collection of blunders. Thankfully, despite being tired, both contenders didn't commit any huge b...