Puzzle Rush Moment #3
Here is a position that I have seen come up in Puzzle Rush from time to time. It has occurred many times in my games. I call it the Pivot Maneuver.
2022 French Chess Cup
Last weekend the finals of the 2022 French Chess Cup (Coupe de France) took place in Paris. The Cup is a knockout-style competition with the teams made up of four players. It ran from October 2021 to the end of May 2022 and involved about a hundre...
A Brief Overview Of The Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez has a rich history in the game of chess, it's been played by every range of player and it's themes are extremely deep, but this may sound a bit daunting for new players so in this blog I wish to break down some of the basics of the o...
Wanna Play Chess Hikaru?
Hikaru! Wanna play chess? We have the shortest game of the event so far. Check out my recaps and odds update: Who will get 2nd place?
Endgame Skewer
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post regarding The Skewer. In Chess, a skewer is an attack by a long range piece of multiple targets on the same rank, file or diagonal. Here is another example: In this position, the game came down to an en...
Easy improve your positional skills #1
Akademia Eneasza prepares some materials about improving positional skills. Frankly I just use the method from Mark Dvoretsky's books called positional pictures. Have a look. First of all we have to find an appropriate position from game. Sec...
The Dreadful Chess Plateau
Unless you were born some chess genius, at one point, you're going to hit something called a chess plateau. It could be at any rating, 800, 1400, or 1700, but likely one of the most known plateaus is at the rating of 2000. A chess plateau is when ...
NEW 2nd Place Odds & Round 11 Recap
A huge game in Caruana vs Ding Liren! One of these players notches the win to try to either Catch Nepomniachtchi or secure second place in the event that Magnus Carlsen doesn't battle for the title. Firouzja also goes at Nepomniachtchi hard ...
Happy Birthday Daniel Cámpora
Daniel Hugo Cámpora was born in San Nicolas, Argentina on June 30th,1957. He became Champion of Argentina in 1986 and 1989. Awarded the IM title in 1982 and the GM title in 1986, he led the Argentine team at the 1986 Olympiad. In the 1994 O...
Puzzle Rush Moment #2
A few weeks ago I posted A Puzzle Rush Moment as the beginning of a catalogue of positions reached in actual games that I have been able to employ a tactic see frequently in Puzzle Rush. Well here is another one: The combination begins with...
Winning against Grandmasters
I want to introduce you to my series of articles: "How to beat a Grandmaster?" It combines my games from not only chess.com, but also blitz and rapid tournaments like European Chess Championship or classical events like round-robin GM torunaments ...
I Played Three Brilliant Moves in One (blitz) Game!!!
Hi chess lovers! Have you ever played a brilliant move in a game? I've had beginners tell me they have yet to play a brilliant move. However, I believe if you do some digging, you've probably played a brilliant move at some point or another. From ...
The Hook Checkmate
The hook mate involves the use of a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy piece to limit the enemy king's escape. The rook is protected by the knight, and the knight is protected by the pawn, while the pawn also attacks one of the enemy king...
3 Decisive Games! Round 10 Recap and Odds Update
What a round! Lots of excitement and a shake-up in the odds. I go through the odds before the games, recap all four games, and review the odds after today's round. Check it out, leave a comment and share with your chess friends :-) Who do you...
Play against a FIDE Master this weekend!
Hey Chess Players! Not everyone wants to learn chess, but everyone wants to play it! So, let’s practice and play a few games against FIDE Master! This week instead of a Workshop/Webinar a Blitz Practice will be conducted! I’m going...
My First Tournament Game!
Today I would like to take a deeper look into my first ever tournament game. I have already analyzed this one several times in a public manner but would like to take one last look at it as I think it can serve as a form of inspiration for new pl...
Happy Birthday Sergio Barrientos
Sergio Barrientos Chavarriaga (born June 29, 1986 in Medellín), is a Colombian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2011. I want to show a couple of the games he won on his road to that title. Barrientos has pa...
A Romp Through a Chess 'Companion'
Through the years, many of us have found David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld's, The Oxford Companion to Chess (1984; 2nd ed., 1992) to be an indispensable reference volume for a wide range of chess information. Edward Winter, 'Chess Notes' 8298. ...
From Ukraine With Love For Chess
Among the many chess books that are coming out these days, quite a special one should be singled out. From Ukraine With Love For Chess, a wonderful collection of games, stories, and studies from a wide variety of top Ukrainian personalities, can (...
Link between strategy and tactic (+examples)
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...
Fischer vs. Gadia 1960 - Games You Need To Know
Today I would like to discuss a very important game that I hold closely to my heart. The game is Fischer vs. Gadia and it was played in 1960. The game is interesting because of it's use of weak squares, so lets take a look at how the ga...
How to Play The Sämisch Gambit | KID June
Some material sacrifices have immediate rewards - could be a tactic, checkmate, material gain, etc. You can calculate most to the end, sacrificing material temporarily for a larger goal. Some sacrifices are intuitive, leading to an attack, a...
Remembering Luis Alfredo Perez (HarlemKnite)
With heavy hearts, we share that one of our wonderful community members and chess streamers, HarlemKnite, has passed away suddenly and unexpectedly after being hit by a drunk driver while walking his dog. We want to honor the memory and celebrat...
Chennai Challenge Awaits Nepal
The Chess Olympiad is a event of a lifetime with the participation of top players from almost all the countries of the world come at a particular place to play Chess!. This time this festival is being held in India. You can catch every mom...
Fabi vs. Nepo! Round 9 Recap and Odds Update
Can Fabiano Caruana beat Ian Nepomniachtchi with the white pieces? Can Hikaru Nakamura beat the struggling Teimour Radjabov to get back into the hunt? We get a lot of exciting games today including 3 chess.com Brilliant moves by one player! W...