What is a chess genius? I cannot answer this question but I can give examples of the play of a chess genius. I came from the country where no one questioned whether this person is a genius or not; it was accepted he is. The games that I will pre...
Just as circumstances in one part of the world can affect events in far-flung places, moves on one side of the chessboard can have a dramatic effect on the other side of the board. In this game, White creates some threats on the queenside, but Bl...
“The Scientist”In the Vienna 1873 chess tournament Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which was to become the basis of modern chess! Forget those wild attacks. Prepare a position and follow it through, using the logic of the positi...
In my last tournament in Brazil (the Pan-American Continental Championship), I started with a solid 4.0/5 and in round 6 had the black pieces against GM Giovanni Vescovi. I was expecting 1.e4, but as he plays pretty much everything with the white ...
I used to think that Grob attack was the worst possible chess opening. However, there is only so much damage you can do to your position with one little move. I'm now inclined to think that the cabbage attack is the worst possible chess opening ou...
Bdsr asked:I play the Sicilian and recently I've been encountering 1.e4 c5 2.c4!?, transposing into an English. Can White force a Maroczy Bind here with a quick 3.Nf3 and 4.d4? Does Black have a good response? If not, then why don’t the strong pla...
The great tournament at Moscow 1967 had eighteen strong players, including four world champions. Tal and Smyslov were former champions who tied for places 2-5. Spassky, who would become the next champion tied for places 6-8. The world champion at ...
I would like to offer a set of examples to solve. In all of them you have to evaluate some exchanges and make if not the strongest move, then the most practical decision. Some of the examples are very hard, therefore set yourself enough time, I ...
The 'Mad Queen' rules (before these Bishops were capable of only moving two squares diagonally, and the Queen one square diagonally) were introduced to chess during the Renaissance, in Italy, and it was there that one of the first masters was born...
After all these weeks reading our opening articles, our readers probably wonder how well these ideas and moves can be used in practical play. Well, today we can take a look at a couple of Arun's games in which he has used these ideas himself; at l...
Part 1: The Austrian MorphyWilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague on May 14, 17 or 18, 1835 or 1836! (the date has never been ascertained) was the last of thirteen children in a very poor family and the first acknowledged World Champion of chess. He was...
One of the most difficult things in a game could be just being under enormous attack right from the opening. We will have to end up spending so much time and energy in defending accurately and by the time we reach a safe and comfortable position, ...
My last tournament in Brazil was a bit of a disaster, but I still played a few games that I think will be of use to show. In the first game I want to show you, my opponent played one of the oldest known openings, the Giuoco Piano. However, the lin...
Niranjan Navalgund asked:May I know the best line for 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4? Please recommend a line where Black has good chances to win.Dear Mr. Navalgund: Ah, a question about one of my favorite openings! Let's take a look ...
Of course, you all know the story. It's practically American folklore. There at the San Mateo Chess Club one night, a blitz tournament was in progress. A long struggle took place in a game involving a Russian immigrant named Boris Hrinczechowitsch...
Machgielis (Max) Euwe was born May 20, 1901 and died November 26, 1981. He was the fifth world champion in 1935 after beating Alexander Alekhine 15.5-14.5, a score that would have been 16-14 if Euwe had not given Alekhine a draw in the last game w...
Last weeks we discussed the King's Gambit as an ideal opening if you want to beat your opponent in 20 moves or less. Of course if your opponent defends very well and your blitzkrieg fails... well then you might question your decision to sac a paw...
Veteran Jan Timman dominated the Staunton Memorial tournament, streaking to the finish. His only stumble was his seventh round encounter with a great Viktor Korchnoi. Perhaps inspired by Korchnoi, Tim on rebounded in the next round by using t...
The Sicilian Sveshnikov variation is a increasingly popular line in the Sicilian Defense. Evegny Sveshnikov, who the variation is named after is a Russian Grand Master who was the main driving force in the development of the variation in ...
When we think of the way people played chess in the late 1800s we think of insane sacrifices and attacks that faced almost no resistance. Names like Pilsbury and Morphy, of great imaginative players come to mind. In the early 1900s there was Hyper...
Last week we saw some of the straight-forward theoretical draws and some exciting well-fought draws. Today we will take a look at some other continuations for black. To begin with, playing the sicilian itself is a huge move towards avoiding a...
In this article, I am going to try something new, and I would like the readers at chess.com to let me know if they like it. I wrote an article a while back called "Learning By Induction"( http://www.chess.com/article/view/learning-by-induction ). ...
Harry Nelson Pillsbury (1872-1906) was a chess genius! At age 22, he won Hasting 1895 one of the strongest tournaments of all time and the most important of the 19th century, since it assembled the entire cream of world chess! His illness and earl...
The 2008 World Championship match between Anand and Kramnik was largely decided based on one opening - the Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav. Anand scored two victories in games 3 and 5, as black, that carried him to an insurmountable lead. In th...
