The old World Champion Emanuel Lasker, who was born in 1868, was playing the merely mature Grigory Levenfish, who was born in 1889, at Moscow 1936. This event had 10 players who met in a double round robin. Lasker and Levenfish were playing in the...
I stumbled upon the endgame that we will analyze today when watching the games from the round robin tournament in Kharkov, Ukraine, which ended not long ago. I didn’t see the whole game but only up to this position: Then I saved the game into m...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun Are you the kind of player who wants to attack, attack, and attack more? Are you the kind of player who wants something happening in your game every single moment? Are you the kind of player who would take an unclear posi...
Three years after the majestic tournament of 1924, New York hosted another great event. This time only six players competed in a quadruple round robin tournament from February to March. Naturally, the favourite was the reigning champion Capablanca...
Perhaps the most flexible opening is the Sicilian Scheveningen, a labyrinth of positional paths that occupy a solid niche at the highest levels of competition. Some teachers seem to think the hardest thing about the opening is how to pronounce the...
Sometimes, it requires a Rembrandt to appreciate the Mona Lisa; or a Karpov to appreciate a Fischer endgame. But there are also many works of exquisite artistry on the chessboard which are accessible to novices. And this is where you can find them...
One of the main opening principles is “develop your pieces asap and castle.” The better your forces are mobilized, the higher the chances of launching a successful attack. One should remember that the person with a significant lead in development ...
DT asked: I would like to know what you think differentiates an EXPERT, MASTER, FIDEMASTER, INTERNATIONAL MASTER, and GRANDMASTER. Besides the obvious rating points. How would you describe deep thinking in chess? And last, I’ve seen a lot of tale...
At the crossroads of iopening theory lie the mainb lines of the Panov Attack that can be reached via many openings. ECO considers the Nimzo-Indians but that is an arbitrary choice. The flexible positions give rise to many strategies and great sco...
In previous articles we discussed cases where the Kings helped your attack by just vacating a square for a Rook or moving out of a pin in order to push a pawn. So, mostly their role in the attack was very limited. But what about the famous Steinit...
The Sveshnikov Variation of the Lasker-Pelikan Sicilian soared in popularity in the 1980s. Despite a gaping hole at d5, a lot of counterplay has been discovered and the theory has mushroomed into a gigantic complex. The main line is now well-esta...
Now to make sense out of that title containing the names of four players.Grigory Yakovlev Levenfish was born March 21, 1889 (March 9 at the time in the old calendar) in Piotrkow, Poland in the Russian Empire. He died February 9, 1961 in Moscow, US...
As an active member of the U.S. chess scene, I of course know of Ray Robson, currently the youngest Grandmaster in the country at 16. In fact, as an active tournament player I have even had the chance to meet him, and play ping pong and chess with...
when I was learning the game, a Closed Ruy Lopez was considered the ultimate chess opening and even my classmates knew the first dozen movesor so. Every move is logical, and there areno particularly tricky tactics to stumble on. The opening has ...
This week we will look at an endgame where black has to show some good defensive skills to get a draw. However, the position is not as bad as it looks. A computer engine would evaluate it as a half-pawn advantage for white. The real material on ...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun We promised you Kramnik this week, so here is Kramnik with his weapon of mass destruction: deadly precision in the endgame. Looking at the same opening, the same dull symmetrical position, many people would think a draw w...
Hey all,It's been a while since anything really noteworthy jumped out at me from the field of iPhone (or iPad) chess apps, but the other day that changed when I discovered a new app (well.. three complementary apps, more accurately) that set a new...
Nowadays chess sponsorship seems to be in crisis and many strong tournaments are being cancelled. However, some of those glorious events that put our sport in the spotlight will live forever. There are various reasons for this phenomenon: one of t...
Profound opening preparation is one of the key ingredients of overall success in chess. Luring your opponent into a trap, inventing a powerful novelty, knowing your openings well – all this will boost your confidence and create problems for your o...
member Zuud08 asked: What should a developing player try to obtain from: a) His games / tournament experience b) A book c) A coach d) Private training (tactics etc) Dear Zuud08: I get so many questions asking about improvement methods and ...
In the first part of this article (http://www.chess.com/article/view/a-little-move-with-deadly-consequences) we analyzed games where one side moved his King to prepare pushing the 'g' pawn to launch a Kingside attack. Today we'll discuss other b...
The Tarrasch is fairly positional, but computers seem to like the fluid piece play and have contributed to the development of the well-established main line.
Two of the top grandmasters of the last twenty years met at Biel in 1993 to contest the Meran Variation. Boris Gelfand would win the game and his second interzonal. Viswanathan Anand, the future world champion, would lose, but keep the line as ...
When we talk about opening theory our imagination wanders to numerous opening lines that are memorized, some critical positions, and some novelties played recently, heated discussions of favorite lines. Opening theory is a term that is used by ama...
