A distinctive structure arises from the French Defense, featuring White's space advantage and Black's restricted light-squared bishop. Against this, Black hopes for counterplay via the pawn break ...f6 and queenside counterplay on the c-file and o...
The style of journalistic writing from over a half century ago is somewhat different than that of today, in some ways perhaps a bit harder to read but in other ways more enjoyable. Looking through old "Time" magazines is also enjoyable and o...
I was a bit surprised at the comments about the study of master games made under my last Q & A (Snarky Silman, blah, blah, blah). As is always the case, everyone of every rating had an opinion. I’ve already written about this several tim...
Today I played a very interesting 90 minute + 5 sec Increment game against a chess.com member Apthyphim (rated 1980 or so on live chess). In my first article, I am going to analyze my game and give my thought processes on why I made each move. The...
I sometimes wonder if the lengthy, in-depth type of book review has any kind of future. Wouldn't it be better to just get it over with, hear the reviewer's superficial opinion, yadda yadda yadda, and move on? What's the point elaborating on argume...
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When talking about the topic of positional play we cannot omit the theme of Exchange sacrifice. This positional idea was especially popular with World Champion Tigran Petrosian. In modern practice I've seen many Exchange sacrifices in Kramnik...
Professor: Today I’d like to begin at the end – that is, with a rook ending. Lucian: You mean an ending where both sides have a rook on the board? In that case, I expect there are some pawns on the board, too. Zephyr: Or maybe you mean an ending...
En la eterna lucha de alfil contra caballo muchos jugadores se preguntan cuál pieza es mejor y existen algunos principios generales en el medio juego que se hacen aún más evidente en los finales. Pasaremos a revisar un caso donde la superiorida...
Another week goes by, and my efforts to create chess beauty continue. Once again, I have failed to create true beauty on the chessboard. This week I began with slightly more "original" ideas, ideas that I have not found in other studies. However, ...
It was the fifth game of the 1963 world championship match between Tigran Petrosian and Mikhail Botvinnik. Petrosian, the challenger, had not yet won a game against Botvinnik, neither in the match nor at any time before. Botvinnik was at +1 in the...
In mathematical logic there is a theorem which basically states "If you start with a false premise, you can prove anything." Back in the late 1960's and early 70's, the main attraction at the Penn State Chess Team meeting often was not IM Donald ...
One The Conflict That Never Was Jeffrey Baffo wrote (on Facebook): “Move First, Think Later. That book creates a major conflict between Jeremy Silman/traditional methods and what Hendriks is saying.” Answer: I’m answering this question for all...
Cafés or Coffee Houses probably originated in 16th century Turkey and quickly expanded into Persia, Arabia, Egypt and other Islamic nations. Even there they were havens for political idealists, philoso...
We have just entered 2014 which is the year of the Wooden Horse. It should be a lucky year for people who take care of their wooden horses on a daily basis. Of course I am talking about chess players. For the majority of people the Wooden Hor...
For the first time in Death Match history, we may have to ask the wives to leave the room. American GM Yury Shulman and German GM Daniel Fridman are both married to titled chess players, but there won't be any consultation allowed during their mat...
"What rules do you break the least (most)?" I'm a US Chess Federation Senior Tournament Director, so I try not to break any rules at all! For example, I never move my knights like bishops and I press my clock after each move. But I think the ques...
Today's article is inspired by a trend in media posts - calling Carlsen's play in the World Championship match “nettlesome” - his opponents tend to make more mistakes when playing him compared to their play vs. the other opponents...
For the past week, 5 hours a day, I have worked on studies. Every morning at 10:00 or so I sit indian-style on the floor of my room and begin to work with my floor board. I also have a magnetic board for when I am tired of sitting, and when I am u...
Professor: Unless we’re Rip Van Winkle, and can sleep for a very long time, every day we have to make decisions. Some decisions are hard to make, others are easy. --- Lucian: I guess a hard decision would be where one has many choices. --- Zephyr:...
This game shows that the pawn endgame is not easy.It is necessary to calculate transition to it carefully. Эта партия показывает что пешечный эндшпиль бывает непрост.переход в него всегда надо аккуратно рассчитывать. Dear chess lovers. ...
The Alapin Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.c3) is an opening which particularly often leads to the transposition to a queenless middlegame. There are quite a few theoretical lines which lead to an early queen exchange, while keeping a tough, fighting game. In...
It's never too late to learn how to play chess—the most popular game in the world! Learning the rules of chess is easy: Set Up The Chess Board Learn To Move The Pieces Discover The Special Rules Learn Who Makes The First Move Check O...
The following game (played in an over-the-board tournament) by Chess.com member pogorelich is remarkable. It not only offers us incredible tactics (most of which were missed by both sides) and amazing structures, but also lessons on how to study a...
