I've been wondering this for a long time. In games for which it looks like white's (or black's) pieces are attacking a weakness which is throughly defended, a strong comentator on the game will say white's pieces aren't active. An example is an e...
The most obvious and important benefit of working on classical games is that such a work significantly broadens your chess horizons. This is what just happened to me since I discovered something new and very important, at least from the historical...
Today’s article is dedicated to two topics in queen endgames. The first one is how to play queen endgames when one side has extra f- and h-pawns. Last week we had a chance to analyze positions with extra g- and h-pawns and they proved to be ...
There are certain kinds of positions where one particularly well-placed piece leads the entire action, like a conductor in a symphony. We chess players always try to put our pieces in good places, but it is more difficult than it seems. A piece th...
Quite a while ago I was asked to teach a Southern California chess camp filled with very young children. On the first day, I lectured about some really basic things, only to discover that virtually all the kids would hang everything as quickly as ...
Chess has been called the art of attack and defense. A Lot of stress is always put on a beautiful attack with a beautiful combination that can win the game swiftly. But as GM Melikset Khachiyan illustrates in his video series on practical defense,...
Rook endgames are the most common ones in chess. Unfortunately, they are also complicated both in terms of evaluation and in terms of knowing how to play them. Therefore, it is not surprising that Tarrasch used to say that “all rook endgames are d...
From: jetfighter13 My question is, when is it ok to underpromote, I sometimes do, but only when I even/win material, or put my opponent in check. To help illustrate my point, I offer the following game: Dear jetfighter13, Under-promotion...
The so-called Steinitz variation in the French Defense arises after the next sequence of moves: 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 where Black gives up space for an opportunity to attack White's center. When he succeeds, the results a...
I would like to return to queen endgames as they are the ones that puzzle many chess players. Queen endgames are complicated because there are not many theoretical positions to know, and they require tons of calculations because of possible perpet...
No time to study opening theory? Shock your opponent with an SOS! With an SOS you deviate early (usually before move 6!) from regular lines in mainstream openings. So you will reach positions you have actually studied without having memorized...
How do you know if a sacrifice is correct or incorrect? In the absence of a calculable forced line leading to mate or winning back the material – how can you assess whether the compensation is enough? Let’s look at the following position: Wh...
David Wagle writes- “This year I returned to the game (after a 10 year hiatus) and competition I love, with the hope of at least not embarrassing myself. And while I’ve played a few games where I did just that, this isn&rsquo...
Right now I am taking part in the Russian Chess Teams’ (both men and women) training session for the European Team Championship. Generally speaking, such events last from 7 to 10 days and are held at a special boarding house. The idea is to change...
Hi Arun and Magesh, I have a question about the guicco piano for white. In this opening, black's main lines are all about making it as hard as possible for white to make or keep the centre with pawns e4 and d4. For example in 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 ...
In the previous instalments of this column we already discussed the importance of the knowledge of classical games and ideas. Today I'd like to discuss how to generate your own ideas. Again, sometimes it just means using somebody else'...
With the past two articles we looked at the importance of passed pawns in endgames. We looked at pawn breaks and piece sacrifices to achieve positions with passed pawns. Those positions were mostly winning for the side that had a passed pawn. Toda...
I want to discuss today a subject that is crucial to the chess player who wants to improve – this is “defensive thinking” – also known as “prophylaxis”. It is strange that this subject is sometimes presented as ...
Baumgartner – “As a little background, this was the highest-rated opponent I had played OTB to this point. I had been rated 1400 just a few months ago, but recently had been going to many tournaments and beating quite a ...
Excerpt I just wrote for Chess Juniors and beginners for smartdolphins.net Follow The Yellow Brick Road-Article 3 for Juniors /beginners by FM John Curtis The Wizard of Oz movie (1939) is a cinematic classic full of vitality which has been...
Dear Sirs, Greetings of the day!!! I am an intermediate level player ( I think??) and desperately want to improve my game. I am facing a few problems with my chess studies & games, which I am sure that you can help me out !!!, are as follo...
This is another game in which Bobby Fischer comes up with another ingenious idea. On his twenty-third move, he seemingly sacrifices his rook, and then reveals his point when he traps the black queen in his own territory. After that, he springs a f...
Many times in my articles I addressed a very important question "How to study chess openings?" You can find some of my suggestions here: http://www.chess.com/article/view/do-the-opposite and here: http://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-lea...
Today we will look at how to create passed pawns in endgame positions with minor pieces. The examples that are shown here concentrate on pawn breaks and piece sacrifices in order to achieve positions with passed pawns. Creating a passed pawn is eq...
