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...
This week I am going to discuss a particular kind of sacrifice. This is usually a piece for one or two pawns. There are no clear-cut immediate threats and the defending side has many possible defenses. However, the defender’s king is perpetu...
knightmagic (1641) - bencikm (1725), ChessCube Game 2011 (1 hour each for whole game) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 White is intending to make use of the very sharp English Attack, which usually starts with 6.Be3. However...
During a game each of us has to make choices. In some positions the choice is limited to a single playable continuation, but in most situations we have to consider a few alternatives. If there are many options, this process becomes a real challeng...
There are not many games in the chess history as popular as the next one played by the great Emanuel Lasker. You'll be hard pressed to find a book on tactics that doesn't mention this game. The combination was even named after the second World Cha...
Today we will talk about rook endgames where one side is trying to create a passed pawn. The first example will show having a rook behind passed pawn is a very big advantage. The second and the third examples show that while the rook in front of t...
I have always found attacks on the king in which the queen does not take part (usually because she has been traded or sacrificed) to be quite artistic. Why is this? I think it’s because to conduct an attack on the king without the help of the quee...
Tin Phan (1635) – Tae Kim (1860), National High School Championship 2011 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 d6 6.f3 Nbd7 &nb...
First of all, the videos in this series are all for advanced level players. If you (the reader) are just beginning to come across the concept of space in chess, this video will get you started. For intermediate players, this video and it's sequel ...
Today’s article will be based on a game that was played by me against GM Monika Socko at the recent European Club Cup. I will elaborate not only on the course of the game, but also offer general tips and approaches that can be applied in any chess...
Dear GM thamizhan, I am busy going over some of my games, and I am mostly confused about the ideas behind pushing pawns on the castled king-side. I think in this first position the idea is a fairly simple tactic. By playing h5 black is attacki...
I am frequently asked if the classical games played by great champions should be memorized. In my opinion it is not necessary. But what you should do for sure is to understand and memorize the key ideas of those games. If you learn typical p...
We contintue our exploration of the From Gambit.
The From Gambit (1.f4 e5) is an exciting reply to Bird's Opening. I wrote a book about it in the early 1990s but a lot has hapened since then so here is an update. This article covers the main lines with 5.ge.
Recently I have had too many draws in the Slav – a result of my opponent’s preparation and my unprincipled way of playing it. If you are ready to play the Botvinnik system or the Meran then you are in a good shape, however for me that is a scary p...
In today’s article I am going to discuss a specific structure which gives a type of position with a complex interplay of attack and defense on opposite sides of the board. This type of structure does not have a specific name, although I am s...
Vaclav Pekar wrote: “I would like to ask you about my game with GM Voloshin. I played it in the Trade Fair Chess Festival in Brno (Czech Republic). I was doing really well in this tournament until this game. Except for the first round (which...
Every year in Europe the strongest chess club among men and women is determined. This event is rather short, but very exciting. Among the participants you can see both elite grandmasters and pure amateurs. The main prize is a cup that the team get...
Dear Thamizhan, I am a d4 player, rated 1300-1400 and I enjoy playing the Samisch Variation against the King's Indian. a) What are the factors or principles that I must use in order to win a game whenever I am in a good position? b) Since th...
Wilhelm Steinitz is widely known as the founder of a new positional school of chess, so you might expect to see long boring games played by the first official World Champion. In fact, Steinitz created many beautiful attacking gems, so we can lear...
Last week we looked at a book dedicated to chess endgames virtuoso Ulf Andersson. Today we will look at a book dedicated to an endgame master known to all – Karpov. The book “Endgame Virtuoso Anatoly Karpov” by Tibor Karolyi and ...
A big part of being a good player is knowing what liberties you can afford, and where the real danger is. Knowing from experience what kind of attack is deadly and what can be shrugged off is more important than being able to calculate more and fa...
The_Rooky (1657) – Salander (1604), Chess.com, Aug. 2011 All notes in quotes with the initials TMS (The Mighty Salander) are, obviously, Salander’s. 1.e4 e5 2.a3 This looks like the move of an imbecile, but there’s actually some sense to it. Ta...
We often hear or say ourselves that “I got tired, and my brain went dead”; “I was tired and blundered”, “I didn’t have enough energy left for the last few rounds”. Standard time control tournaments are especially demanding, as they last a few days...
