Any chess player looking to improve his general understanding of chess must, at some point in his life, study the Grandmasters of the past, the people who created the first ideas about the game. In that way, sometimes we can decipher the mind of t...
Dear Chess Friends! Nowadays, the opening stage of a chess game is becoming more important, either because of the appearance of chess engines or because almost everything has been studied, everyone is passionate about learning a new line. Howe...
Dear Chess Friends! Did you know that 30% of all games are won because of pins? I’ve read this phrase in one of chess books (don’t remember the name of the author). And then I realized that it can be true. Pinning is one of the most ...
Dear Chess Friends! I’m sure most of you play 1.e4 as white and had to face with a huge number of different openings and deviations. Some of them are playable and offer approximately even play for both players. However, some are just traps...
Nowadays, everyone has a lot of opportunities to learn the theory and try to trick their opponents with a trap or an unsound gambit. For example, Stafford Gambit in Russian Game (Petroff Defense). I’m talking about this position! It almo...
Dear Chess Friends! I’m sure most of you struggle while playing closed positions because of the inability to find a good plan. That’s why it’s quite often that both players aim to open the position at least to get a clear plan ...
Dear Chess Friends! I’m sure you had to play with or against a Pawn Chain. Usually, a pawn chain provides the player who has it with a strong position, giving him a lot of space and probably a kingside attack. What should you do when you p...
Dear Chess Friends! You know even one pawn can decide the game? Especially if it’s an extra pawn in a simple endgame. But what if it’s a far advanced pawn into the enemy territory in the middlegame? Yes, it can also decide the game a...
Dear Chess Friends! Since our last Simul you learned several important topics: Typical Middlegame Positions When and Where to Castle Calculation and Decision Making in Chess And now it’s your chance to demonstrate how better in ch...
Dear Chess Friends! How to find the right move in the game? This is the question that every chess player asks himself. Amateurs usually play the first move that comes to their mind. Intermediate players choose between several moves-candidates wh...
Dear Chess Friends! In the opening stage of the game you shouldn’t neglect king safety. Moving the king to the one of the sides of the board (usually kingside) is a part & parcel of a solid and competitive opening. Castling should be p...
Dear Chess Friends! Plans, plans and more plans again. At the level when you don’t blunder pieces in 1-2 moves understanding positions and planning may allow you to get better at chess and, of course, find proper moves in complicated posit...
Dear Chess Friends! It’s difficult to overestimate the value of the center in a chess game. The pieces can reach any side of the board just in 1-2 moves if they are located in the center. That’s why the player who controls the center...
Dear Chess Friends! Do you know the procedure how players become world champions? The Challenger has to play a match with the current World Champion (currently Magnus Carlsen). But how to define the challenger? For these purposes FIDE conducts...
Dear Chess Friends! I’m a classical chess player. I prefer controlling the center, developing pieces and improving coordination between them rather than ceding the center. And this is what I also teach my students. That’s why, it&rsq...
Dear Chess Friends! To sacrifice or not to sacrifice? The eternal question in chess, especially when you are into the attack! However, Mikhail Tal knew the answer. He sacrificed material very often and his intuition was right. Was it his intuiti...
Dear Chess Friends! Once Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch said: "Knight on the rim is dim”, meaning that knights should be developed to the center where they control a greater number of squares. A knight on the edge of the board controls only 4 squar...
Dear Chess Friends! Since our last Simul you learned several important topics: How to Self-Study Chess How to Attack and Defeat on the Flank How to improve at Chess by Learning Tactical Motifs And now it’s your chance to demonstra...
Dear Chess Friends! How to get better in calculation and tactics? Of course, the answer is by solving puzzles. Yes, it helps, but only in case if you solve them following a proper procedure. Usually, chess players solve puzzles using their mobil...
Dear Chess Friends! You know many chess players start the attack on the kingside immediately after they finish their development. Sometimes this plan makes sense, but very often doesn’t. How to realize that the position allows you to start...
Hey Guys! How often do you blunder your pieces in 1 move? Once, twice or many times during the game? If your answer is more than 2 times per game, you should definitely work on it and make it your first priority. This is FM Viktor Neustroev an...
Dear Chess Friends! Actually, studying chess is a complicated process and only a few chess lovers can do it properly on their own (without a coach). Chess players usually do some chess activities: they solve puzzles, play games, watch chess vide...
Dear Chess Friends! Since our last Simul you learned several important topics: How to Weaken Enemy Pawn Structure Attack on the Most Secured Spot Attack with the Edge Pawn Endgame Fundamentals And now it’s your chance to demonstr...
Dear Chess Friends! I am looking for the author of chess texts to join my team and I decided to take a closer look at like-minded people among my followers! If you know the names of Carlsen and Nakamura, Morphy and Capablanca, you know where L...
Dear Chess Friends! You know chess players say “The best defense is attack” and I absolutely agree with this statement! This is one of the most effective responds when you are under the attack! This is how you may impose your playing...
