For every discipline worth studying, there is a set of iconic books.  Chess is no exception to the rule, and Aron Nimzowitsch's My System  is one of it's icon texts.  Despite being Latvian, Nimzowitsch wrote the original version of My System in Ge...
Life and chess... I learned how to play chess when I was 19 years of age. Before this, the first time I saw people playing a game called chess was at school, when I was only ten. So, was it a coincidence that I would cross roads again with 'chess...
A wonderful game from Morphy.. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â For many amazing games,photos,biographies and articles about Paul Morphy come and join "Paul Morphy's group" http://www.chess.com/groups/view/paul-morphys-group See you there!!
As the name suggests, players playing white (with the Closed Sicilian) does not intend to open up the centre with d4 in the near future. Instead, they usually play on the king-side first, then decide whether they want to open up the centre or not....
hello again fellow chess addicts. the following is the game that knocked morphy's opera game off my favourite game ever mantle. it is (in my opinion) a stunning example of positional genius.chuky's pawns seem to have an understanding of each other...
hi folks. i came upon this combo whilst looking at a page of tips and traps. on move three the white knight takes a pawn, tempting black to capture. black consents to the capture and losses instantly. a lovely combo that i had the pleasure of usin...
When most of us learned chess, we were first taught to grab material and have a material advantage. This is not that bad, but playing positonally is usually better. Take a look at the starting position of the example below. You'll quickly notice t...
When most of us learned chess, we were first taught to grab material and have a material advantage. This is not that bad, but playing positonally is usually better. Take a look at the starting position of the example below. You'll quickly notice t...
Miguel Najdorf, without doubt, a master in the art of combinations. Enjoy this!
Kasparov conducts this game in a machine-like way by drawing up a model attack. First his pawns advance and break up the opposing king position. When his opponent makes a few time-wasting mistakes, he is able to capitalize and break in with sacrif...
"Why did you switch from 1.e4 to 1.d4?" I asked a friend of mine in the local club. And their reply, was the same of every other in my local area - "because of the Sicilian..." Despite how outrageous and ridiculous that sounds, that is the most c...
Here is a game from the 2008-2009 Hastings Chess Congress, IM Aikhoje - IM Bates with full annotations and commentary: Sometimes in chess you must throw caution to the wind and play for the win without fear of losing. In this game ...
I have playing a few games, and I have discovered a quick pin. It does have its flaws, however I will post it for now as the unfinished version. The pin is quite an enjoyable one; keeping a knight from fear of the death of the queen. I got this mo...
Most beginners know that f7 is their target as White until Black castles. You need to know that f7 doesn't get ignored after castling. It is often still the target. The games in this article show you how important it is to keep f7 on the target li...
I'm just going to throw this puzzle out in the open. Personally, I found this quite intriguing although the position is physically impossible. There are multiple move orders that win, but only one move order is accepted by the puzzle, so I apolo...
Although the Exchange Variation isn't aything to worry about, some players just don't like to suffer under the pawn structure. There is an easy way to avoid this, and it doesn't require knowing much theory. I'm tralking aout Cozio's 3...Nge7. The ...
International Master Andrew Martin from England presents a regular series of articles to answer any questions that Chess.com readers have about the game of chess. If you want to ask Andrew a question, then send an email to askandrew@chess.com and...
The Cochrane Defense is a method for drawing in the chess endgame with a rook versus a rook and bishop, shown here. It was discovered by John Cochrane. This combination of material is one of the most common pawnless chess endgames. Accurate play i...
For some reason some players get scared when faced with1.g4. There is no reason to fear this. True, if you waslk into the jaws of the beast, your head can get chopped off. But if you play sensibly there is no danger. Here are two examples of solid...
There are multiple variations of Legall's Mate, and sometimes forcing defeat cannot be so simple. Here is an example of Legall's Mate appearing in the King's Gambit. However, black has a response that is challenging to meet....       ...
Keres is out for blood here. With Byrne rolling a dangerous pawn front down his queenside, he goes after Byrne's seemingly safe king. However, a crushing rook sac brings an end to the game, despite the extra queens.
White to win queen
My first puzzle
Fans of Scandinavian Openings might want to look at the Icelandic Gambit (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 e6!?) for a bit of fun. Here is a brief introduction.
