Chess is all about patterns. Without pattern recognition or good intuition, no one would be good at chess! Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent tools and training materials to help with memorizing patterns. One obvious resource is puzzle rus...
There are two things you need to do to succeed in chess: create goals for general chess improvement and create goals in the game itself. In this blog, I will be focusing on the latter.
Chess is a strategy game, so you need to have logical thin...
Equal positions can be a pain to play for all players. If you are lower-rated, it may be torturous to be slowly outplayed. If you are stronger than your opponent, it may difficult to pull off a win.
That being said, there are a couple of ways to ...
Is chess a game of luck? No.
Is there luck in chess? Of course... I think.
Like in many sports, activities, competitions, etc., there is always luck involved. As skill increases in any endeavor, not just chess, luck diminishes quite significantl...
Time management in chess is crucial. It doesn't matter how good of a game you played if you have no time in the end; the game will be spoiled and lost if you come under time pressure. Though, players seem to skip over this essential part of chess ...
Analyzing and studying chess master games can be the most rewarding way to study chess. Everyone knows to learn from their mistakes but it would be even better to learn from others' mistakes! Don't waste time through trial and error yourself, lear...
Online chess and OTB (over-the-board) chess are two very different things.
Most players prefer one or the other, but some aren't affected at all.
The difference between having an opponent sitting across from you or having a computer sit across...
Openings are crucial for players above 1800 ELO. And you should study them. Though there is a common question, do chess players spend too much time on openings? And the answer is probably yes, as studying openings will never be as beneficial to yo...
Positional chess is one of the hardest things to improve and typically takes years of experience to get excellent intuition or "feel" for the position.
But studying strategy and positional chess is crucial to becoming a well-rounded pla...
"Every Pawn is a potential Queen" - James Mason
Well, the theme of this blog is every Pawn is a potential Knight or Bishop!
Underpromotion is one of those things that seems mysterious to beginning players.
"Why should I ever promote to ...
"Chess is 99% tactics" - Richard Teichmann
Many players wonder whether studying chess exercises and puzzles are helpful. Some players wonder how the training will transfer into their own game.
From my experience, solving puzzles is one o...
Queen endings can be just as complicated as Rook endgames, but they are not seen nearly as much.
In general, Queen endgames should not be studied by a non-professional. The complex theory of Queen endgames really shouldn't be learned until Senio...
Ever since Deep Blue won the second match against Kasparov in 1997, computers have been steadily increasing in strength. With engines topping ratings of 3400, they are impossible to beat by humans; even more so if equipped with the newest opening ...
One of the greatest challenges in chess is winning won positions. Now, what if I told you to try and win a lost position?
You'd probably say things like, how's that possible?, or your opponent has to blunder, or I would just resign.
While...
"All rook endings are drawn." - Tarrasch
Tarrasch's famous quote my stand true for some positions but for others, well... not quite.
While rook endings are known to be drawish, they are also notoriously difficult to master. One big reaso...
Chess miniatures, or games that end in 25 moves or less, can be some of the most exciting or boring games. Some involve spectacular tactical combinations or brilliant preparation while others are practically planned draws.
Today I will sha...
There are too many chess book out there to read in a lifetime, let alone on a leave on a bookshelf! So, one must find a way to balance their time with smart book choices.
In this blog, I will share great chess books that every ser...
The question of how to improve your game is a tough question to answer for some players. The amount of chess knowledge and options available out there can easily become overwhelming for the unsuspecting player.
Should I solve puzzles and tactics...