The head photo is a detail from the ceiling of the Sala de los Reyes of the Granada Palacios Nazaries (Alhambra) [in wikicommons]. No direct connection with my topic, but I think a beautiful visualisation of my head title. The material of this blo...
Russia may not be the absolute powerhouse it was before, with countries like India and China taking over, but it still remains a big force to reckon with. Another world championship cycle has commenced, with the first leg of FIDE Grand Pri...
Hola!Today I have a few games that helped brighten me up this week. It all started with an interesting mistake that happened behind the board against the FIDE Masters from Germany Christian Aepfler (FIDE 2257). It seems our blitz game was so f...
Golf can be frustrating. Even when I start off hot, after a few drives into the rough, hitting into the water and some missed putts, I'll generally end up shooting in the 90s from the back tees. Yet, every now and then, I'll turn in a decent rou...
So... I know it's been a while since I formally wrote to you. I started a series which many (including myself) were expecting good things from, and a second post has not come up. Where have I been? Why have I not been writing to you? ...
In this 3/2 blitz game on chess.com I am down a pawn and need to find the best way forward in the middle game. I chose two sacrifices! I sacrificed my knight (and my voice as you'll find out...hehe) and this results in an interesting position wher...
First, I must acknowledge a delay in telling this important story, and attempt to proactively answer your questions of "why wait to tell us this," before you start reading. What I'm about to share truly is upsetting. It hurts not just for t...
Normally when it is sweet we want it to last and this particular one lasts for 50 minutes. Does it qualify as short then? You probably realise by now that I'm talking about Chessable's Short & Sweet courses that are free and provide a short ...
When he was no. 2 in the world, Vladimir Kramnik said that he did not fully understand chess. This is a gigantic statement by one of the greatest players of our time! It is also a sign of great respect to chess, which is so deep and varied as to e...
After the release of my Najdorf repertoire for Chessable I received a lot of positive feedback - people were happy with what I managed: to condense the Najdorf to a manageable size. You can read the details in my previous post where I outlined m...
For those who aren't aware, I've been hosting a "Master Simul" here on chess.com, playing over 100 games at a time against any challenger who wants to play, in support of my online chess community - Chesspathways.com. Thus far, I haven't done to...
Written for a grandchild and sharing on this blog: Are chess tactics important, and how often should you study them? Studying tactics is a great way to improve chess skills. Along with playing games to give actual experience, the study of t...
Say one thing for chess engines, say they play a strong game of chess. And when you put the strongest engines on strong hardware... oh, it can be enough to make the World Chess Championship look like a grade-school competition. For the most part t...
One common reason for tactical failure is the lack of attention to the whole board. In the heat of the battle, we often focus, subconsciously or not, on a specific zone of the board, where the "action" is. Needless to say, this can have disastrous...
Hi everyone. Today we are getting into the details of Capablanca Memorial. I will be analyzing my three favorite games and also, sharing some nice story. Let's start. Instructive endgame In round number 4 I faced a Cuban talented boy....
Here's a totally different type of chess puzzle for you to solve. I invite you to post your answers in the comments. The less I say about this puzzle now, the better. I'll leave it to you to figure out even what type of puzzle it is. ...
Hey! I am glad to announce that this week brought me new chess records. Look at the squally attack that a player from Russia has undergone, having chosen Van Geet Opening against me. This is a good choice if you want to stun the oppo...
Do you enjoy watching the SCC? Do you like to make predictions on the SCC matches? We've got the club for you. The SCC Prediction Nerds club is a group dedicated to discussing the SCC matches, and logging predictions. Predi...
Do you remember in school or during further studies, the dilemma of deciding which edition of a textbook to buy? As a poor student, I always found it scandalous that the most recent edition carried a hefty price tag that, as far as I could tell, o...
Several days ago I was invited to open the first Archibald Chess Professional tournament, organised by the Archibald Chess Company in Sochi, Russia. While I didn't get to see much of Sochi, there was plenty of action on the boards. It is so much...
Or perhaps I should have named this post "How to Make a Draw Among Friends?" The tournament in Ivory Coast, part of the Grand Chess Tour, saw the game Karjakin-Nepomniachtchi in Round 1. It featured the Gothenburg Variation of the Najdorf. A l...
The frontier between dream and reality, between what is imagined and what is realized, is so thin sometimes! Mikhail Tal! Jacob Collier! two geniuses in chess and music! Chess and Music have much in common.....both deal with imagination, rhythm,...
Hi Chess Friends, Since having a kid I haven't had the time or focus to compete in tournaments, so most of my play has been blitz right here on chess.com. I've noticed that as I've gotten more adept at the traps in my current openings a clear...
At times it seems like no one knows how the knight moves. Even masters find it hard to explain. Howard Staunton, the man who gave us the English opening, said that the knight's "move is one square in a straight line, and one in an oblique dire...
For some time now I have been collecting material to do a large article on Elijah Williams. However, a recent conversation with John Townsend revealed that he is working on a project himself along those lines, which will include a great deal of ...