Discover how to change your environment for the better so that you can live a better life and play better chess!
Introduction
Hello chess friends!
I took a break from posting for a few weeks (as I was overwhelmed with IRL things), so I h...
Hello chess friends!In today's post, I will share with you the Carlsen Variation of the Exchange QGD, and how to play it as Black!You may be wondering - what exactly is the Carlsen Variation?The Carlsen Variation arises after the following moves: ...
๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐โฃ
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While working with a student, I discovered a sophisticated opening bomb in the London System, which I'd like to share with you. โฃ
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Our position arises after ๐.๐๐ ๐๐ ๐.๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐.๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐.๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐.๐๐๐๐ ...
Hello chess friends!Would you like to discover what's stopping you from getting a chess rating over 1600?Then check out my new training video, 'Potholes & Detours From The Road To 1600'! Would you like to discover what's stopping you from...
IntroductionWhy is it that some chess improvers will achieve their chess goals in 2024...but most won't? Something I often talk about in my recent content is the 'mental game' of chess and chess improvement. The mental game is a broad sp...
In this post, I will share with you an interesting idea against the Caro-Kann, which was first played in a Grandmaster game in 2017 (and once before that in 2014), but is now a quite trendy answer to the old main line of the Caro-Kann, with 1...
You may be wondering...โฃโฃWhat is ๐๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ?โฃโฃWhy does this especially matter for ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ?โฃโฃHow can we 'unlearn' the things ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ?โฃโฃLet's discuss each of these.โฃโฃUnlearning means 'to make an effort to f...
IntroductionWhat is the most annoying system for Caro-Kann players to face?The easiest answer would be 'The line that scores best for White', but we can't purely rely on the statistics to determine this. For instance, White's best scoring lin...
Do you want to retain much more of what you learn in your study for the day?โฃ
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Allow me to share a short story.โฃ
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When I resumed coaching privately in April 2023, I had a lot of new experiences from the last few years:โฃ
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- Selling low-tic...
How many opening variations are there in chess?If you've looked at the Chess.com Explorer, under 'Master Games', you'll notice that the branches quickly become very wide:
For instance, we see here that 3.Bb5 is played more than all other moves c...
Today I want to discuss the role of approval/recognition in our chess improvement journey.โฃโฃThe fundamental process of how we improve at chess is to:โฃโฃ1. Do somethingโฃโฃ2. Get feedbackโฃโฃ3. Adapt or reinforce a pattern based on that feedback. โฃโฃHowe...
Looking at it from a broad perspective, I consider the greatest significance of chess to be as a model for effective decision-making in life.โฃโฃIn fact, this significance - of simulating life in a way where the constraints of the game give us a sys...
Would you like to play the opening like GM Hikaru Nakamura?Here's the short answer to that question. For the long answer, continue reading!In this post, I'll share with you some games by played by Hikaru with his most effective system with Bl...
Dear chess friends,I have some big news to announce - however, it's not what you may think If you've read some of my previous posts, or watched some of my Youtube videos, you will probably know that I retired from competitive chess play in early 2...
Discover the simplest ideas of 1.d4 for White, through some dynamic games of the old masters!
Introduction
Ten years ago, I was a very dogmatic coach, who believed that was only 'one best way' to master chess.
I had only just become an Int...
In today's post, I will share with you ten of the best Scandinavian games played by the leading expert of the Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5).But first...who is the leading expert of this opening?Is it Hikaru Nakamura? Nakamura is certainly th...
In this post I'll share with you a recent series of mine, showing you how I like to play 1.e4 in my Chess.com games!Here is the series in video format (starting with 1.e4 e5):
In these videos I mainly focus on how my recommendations in Cru...
For a Grandmaster like myself, openings aren't a 'set and forget' thing - we're constantly scouring the databases and broadcasts for new, interesting games. By playing through games each day, we don't just get the inside scoop on new moves th...
Would you like to win many more games against players rated below 1800, when you play with the White pieces?If so, then my new opening course, 'Crush Sub-1800s With 1.e4', is perfect for you I'm doing something that I have hardly ever done before....
Discover an exciting attacking approach against the English Opening (1.c4)!
In the last year, a new gambit emerged against the English Opening, as suggested by the neural network engine Leela Zero. โฃโฃโฃโฃIt arises after 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e...
Reflections On Aronian's Olympiad Game
You saw it, right?
It's Round 1 of the biggest chess festival of 2022 - The Chess Olympiad in Chennai - and FM Daniel Silva of Angola gets a winning position against the Board 2 of USA, ...
๐ช๐ก๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ช๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌโฃโฃโฃโฃNow that I have your attention, I'm going to stop making excuses and instead actually write an article.โฃโฃโฃโฃNamely, on how the key to jumping 200 rating points is to ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.โฃโฃโฃโฃThat'...
You've read all the books, studied all the courses, had a bunch of coaching, played a bunch of games...โฃโฃโฃโฃSo ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ?โฃโฃโฃโฃWhatever reasons you thought of - that's what you're going to have to ๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐จ of, in order to progress.โฃโฃ
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Hey guys,Lately I have noticed my old bad habit of 'perfectionism' starting to creep back in.
What was once 'exceptional' to me, now seems average at best, or even mediocre.If it wasn't for my students telling me how much they loved the sessions...
๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ - ๐๐ข๐ซ๐'๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ โฃโฃHow do you deal with unusual early moves by the opponent? โฃโฃDo you get ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, wondering 'why didn't I look at this recently?' โฃโฃDo you get ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, believing 'I'm gonna crush this guy in 20 moves?...