Unfortunately this is the last Q&A Chess.com column from International Master Andrew Martin. I'm sure you will join me in thanking Andrew for his insightful columns and wishing him all the best for the future! But if you still have an unan...
If you have a friend that loves to play the two knights defense as white I have a surprise that you can spring on them the next time that you play. Yes this is an old well published trap but it never the less makes for great fun to defeat your opp...
In this game, John Grefe faced off against Walter Browne in Moranwelz, 1973. Here, we see White's plan unfold with 14. fxg5? pinning it to his Queen. Later, White decided it was time to sacrifice his Queen for two minor pieces. Was this a fatal mi...
The Lasker Trap is a chess opening trap in the Albin Countergambit, named after Emanuel Lasker. The Albin Countergambit begins with the moves 1. d4 d52. c4 e53. dxe5 d4I would continue to explain this trap but I found a video on youtube that I t...
WGM Pogonina, a top women grandmaster rated 2501 FIDE, shares her views on the evergreen topic “why do women play chess worse than men” and takes a look at the future of women’s chess. Chess is often divided into men’s chess and women’s ches...
Here is an absolutely amazing game by Emmanuel Lasker. I am not sure as to who his opponent was, but Lasker emerges victorious as White:
Continuing my coverage of the 1935 World Championship match... After 19 games, the score was in Alekhine's favor (10.5-8.5). To get back into contention, Euwe was in serious need of a win. And here, he shows his fighting spirit in an excellent...
Whenever I present a beautiful game in my article, I inevitably see a comment that looks like this: “Wow! Such a beautiful game! I wouldn’t find this fantastic combo in a million years”. From my teaching experience I know that sometimes chess pla...
Robert James Fischer was born March 9, 1943 and died January 17, 2008. He learned how to play chess at the age of six. At seven, he began to play in clubs and have instructors. In 1956, at 13, which is the record, he won the United States Junior C...
Today you have the chance to play like Moscow Open-2009 winner WGM Natalia Pogonina. In the last round of the tournament she crushed her opponent, IM Marina Romanko, with a few nice tactical blows - can you also spot them? Replay the annota...
The brouhaha over using opening tables and chess books during correspondence play has puzzled me for a little while now. I figured I’d throw my two cents into the debate and see if I come out unscathed (or unflamed) however unlikely that may be. ...
I would like to talk about exchanges as a means to achieve some strategic objective. The first objective that I want to concentrate on here is to exchange in order to get an open file. An open file is a powerful weapon; the side that has the file ...
Being a chess second of #14 female player in the world WGM Natalia Pogonina, I would like to share with you her article on home preparation and advanced chess (originally published at her website - Pogonina.com). Hope you'll find it useful: The a...
What do you think about trade of the Ns in the following positions? STOP: The Article begins below. I'd like to show a very unusual variation of the very important tactical theme - Intermediate Move (also called In-between M...
We will continue our discussion of the English opening this week. We had left off last week with a beautiful game from Anatoly Karpov in the World Championship match (Game 2) against Gary Kasparov in the year 1987. So today we will begin with the ...
Having the correct mindset when going into a chess game is critical in the way you play out the game, even if you only need a draw. My coach told me that you play what the position gives you and go from there. I was recently at the Ontario Open in...
The 'Magician from Riga', has been both commenting, and commented on about his sacrifices. 'Tal doesn't move his pieces by hand, he uses a magic wand' - Ragozin, commenting on Tal 'You must take your opponent into a deep, dark forest, where 2+2=...
This game was played in the third round of the recent Pfalz Open in Germany. I am presenting this game to you because this game contains a very important point. That is "Sense of Danger." For a very strong chess player the alertness level ...
Here is the recent vote chess game between GM Becerra and the Chess.com members with full annotations and commentary: Thanks to GM Julio Becerra for the very entertaining and hard fought game! And keep your eyes open Chess....
This is final 3rd game of the westfield quads and god I am tired by even the third game. I was very fine with a draw, in the toss I won and took white. its a each 45 minutes game and quad championship, so I get to play the remaining 3 top rated pl...
Robert James 'Bobby' Fischer, the great grandmaster of a truly amazing game chess was born on March 29, 1941 in Chicago, Illnoise. He was interested in chess since childhood.He learned the rules of chess only at the age of 6! He played and won maa...
