Tired of tactics? Why not try out our positional puzzles! Depending on the level of each exercise (they are presented in ascending order of difficulty) you will probably need between 5 and 20 minutes to find the solution. If your solution doesn't ...
Blast From the Past Today is The Phoenix Blog's first anniversary. Now the blog I wrote a year ago came from when I was still a 1400, and it wasn't anything impressive. But over the past year, this blog has come a long way thanks to your support...
When chess players start looking to learn more tactical material to get better in chess, it becomes more challenging for them to choose study plans according to their rating and experience. The middle game in chess is considered an important phase...
Hi, chess friends! It's been a little while, and I want to update my readers on what's going on in my little world. First of all, I am excited to announce that my friend and I are launching a chess podcast!! We named it Chess B...
My Dear Chess Friends! Everyone likes to attack in chess. Even if an immediate attack is wrong plan, many chess players still prefer to use it. In these cases, the attack may result into several weaknesses into your own camp, so your opponent ca...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today I'll be previewing the upcoming 2022 FIDE Candidates Tournament and giving you my take on it. Why am I doing this? Because why not. The event starts in a few weeks, I believe on June 17th, so it...
Yesterday after the finish of the Grandmaster tourney, where I lost 5 games in the time trouble I decided to follow this plan: Study tactics 2 hours a day to improve the speed and the calculation skills. Play the Titled Tuesday on Tuesday and ...
The Sicilian Defense O’Kelly variation is both a surprise weapon by Black and a way to transpose to other variations. Since Black will almost invariably play …a6 in the Sicilian Defense, he decides to play it on move 2 and hopes White...
Most chess players do not know the link between in-game strategy and tactic, and many chess beginners get tangled easily. According to experienced chess players, when a player plans to make strategies during a chess game, it leads to tactical mane...
Dear Chess Friends! Sicilian Defense is the most popular defense in chess. But what is the most popular variation in this defense? I play Kan & Paulsen Variations, but they are quite rare. Scheveningen was popular 20-30 years ago. D...
Hey ChessKids and educators! We've partnered with ClassLink to host a contest this fall, in which ClassLink schools will have the chance to receive FREE ChessKid Gold accounts for all their students for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year. ...
I just recorded the Closed Catalan repertoire for the new ChessGoals Catalan Course. The closed is one of the most common lines that I face, and I show you how to punish small mistakes by Black that add up to considerable positional advantages for...
Mikhail Botvinnik was the World Champion of Chess for all but one year in the decade of the 1950’s. The rise of Soviet masters was a hallmark of the decade. FIDE became an active component of the chess world in this decade. It began by FID...
In the final 9th round of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May GM tourney I played with Gleb Dudin, the Winner of the tourney, a young russian talent who made half point more than the Grandmaster norm and made 1 point more then the 2nd player. He surprise...
In round 8 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May GM tourney I played with Gabor Nagy a young Hungarian Grandmaster. You can check his chess.com games at https://www.chess.com/member/gabix_94 He played the queen's indian defense. I got a position...
If you are wondering what to learn next here is a chart that can help you to choose topic for your rating level. 1) 0-1000 Tactic (puzzles-pin, fork, checkmating patterns), elementary endgames (checkmating with 2 rooks, checkmating with que...
Why is the role of the center so important in chess? The main reason is that having control of the center allows the side controlling it to conduct its plan with ease. For example, a player's attack on the opposing side’s king is more like...
Dear Chess Friends! Every chess player likes to attack. Yes, it’s always exciting to attack rather than defend your position. When you are into the attack you can look for beautiful combinations and mating nets for the enemy king. If you m...
In round 7 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May GM tourney I played with Simon Füle a talented young Hungarian player. He played the Rauzer variation of the sicilian defense. After his f4-f5 move I should have played e6-e5 to keep the position clo...
In round 6 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May GM tourney I played with Grandmaster Milan Pacher from Slovakia. I played the Russian variation of the Grunfeld Defense, which he replied with Nc6. I forgot my line, so I decided to play slower c...
The backbone of classical chess. Marco was born in Bukovina - at the outer extremity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a young man, he came to Vienna to study medicine and then was badly bitten by the chess bug - in a reminiscence of his ...
Afternoon Everyone. Something quick today whilst dinner is cooking! Off on holiday tomorrow, and, as usual, I will be taking a chess book with me to go through. Thanks to my dearest chess friend I have just received this book. Those who h...
In round 5 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May Grandmaster tourney I played with Grandmaster Valeriy Aveskulov from Ukraine. You can check his website at https://www.chesstao.com/ He played the b4 gambit in the Rossolimo sicilian, which I ...
In round 4 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May Grandmaster tourney I played with Tamás Tancsa a talanted young player from Hungary. You can check his chess.com games at https://www.chess.com/member/tomivezer2007 He played the King's indian d...
Hey ChessKids! Recapping the past few weeks: Young chess prodigy and ChessKid star NM Brewington Hardaway scored the 2022 K-8 National Champion title, and FunMasterMike got to meet with a bunch of ChessKids in Ohio. Check it out! 2022 K-8 MS N...