3 Really fun games from Round 7 at the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss! A queen gets trapped by Houska, we see an awesome "dark-square-dominated" assault by Harika, and then a super complicated game that I'm STILL not even sure I fully understand be...
The weekend before last I participated in the Bangor Congress 2019, a 6 round rapid tournament which has been revived after a 14 year break, thanks to the energetic organiser, Brendan Jameson and his team. Tournament Organiser/Arbiter Bre...
In that post, I would like to shed some light on the eternal competition: Bishop vs Knight. Both are called minor pieces are the value is the same: 3 points. But they are moving a different way. Bishop can move a lot of squares but only in one col...
Welcome to the second part of our planned 4-part series on the infamous Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Our aim is to find a Black response that gives us the most "bang for our buck". In the first part we covered some of the "declined" options, 3... e5 (t...
I'm the type of person that actually enjoys studying openings way more than I should actually, and as a result I do get a lot of nice positions and sometimes even winning advantages out of the opening! What more could a chess player dream of...
The rest day is in full swing after Round 6 at the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss, but those who follow my blog get to read the analysis and watch the videos even before they premiere on the live broadcast! This round, honestly, had my three favorit...
Last year my Adventures series of blogs examined endgame tablebases, software that provides perfect play information for any positions with up to seven pieces. I reviewed the remarkable capabilities of these programs – they play as God effec...
Viswanathan Anand has plenty of brilliancies to his credit, but one game that looked likely to be his greatest brilliancy slipped away at the critical moment. Playing Ivan Sokolov, Anand sacrificed a queen with the thrilling 21.Qxg4!! The sacrif...
Another day, another blog, Snoop always said (what, what!?)... Round 5 at the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss is in the books! Anyway, I analyzed a few more games for you all yesterday, and I think we might have something to learn! If not about chess...
Many interesting endgames were played in the Fide World Cup. I am presenting you 11 challenging position where your task is to find a cunning way to win or draw. Good luck and enjoy it! Exercises Exercise 1 - Xiong - Giri What...
After a quick break for Round 3 on Sunday (forgive me ) I'm back at it again with the White Vans (I mean chess videos!) for Round 4 at the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. Here I analyzed 4 positions, crammed into 3 videos. Let me know if you're enjo...
Hi chess enthusiasts. Today we are going to study a miniature by the only Cuban who has won an Absolute Chess World Championship. The combination we see here is very famous; Capablanca sacrificed a rook and a queen. He used deflection to get rid o...
Most simul games are hack and slash affairs which pose little risk to the master who quickly punishes tactical errors from his amateur opponent. Tal's simul game from 1988 against Jack Miller initially goes according to script as a quick Bxf7+ net...
A small Soviet sci-fi novella by Aleksandr Abramov, published in 1926. The year is 1927. An elderly mathematician from Moscow claims to have built a true chess automaton that can defeat any human player. What happens if his claims are indeed tru...
Sometimes it happens that the game may not turn out the way you hope. The opponent does not make any mistakes or you blunder something very early - you feel that you are on the track to lose the game. Can you do anything to change your luck? There...
Another day NOT on the Isle has me doing a few quick video lessons, highlighting some of the fun, educational takeaways from Round 2 of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. Hope you enjoy the written notes to go along with the videos... ...
Hi All, The last couple of weeks have been a proper autumn here in Edinburgh, Scotland and so today I decided to re-live the happy sunny days I had in end of August in Sicily, Italy. Between 23-24 August I was taking part in 5th Chess Festiva...
Hey there, Stacia here and I thought I'd share a tournament game played recently in the Parma Championships. This is a game where my opponent misplays the opening and is begging for punishment! Despite having a winning advan...
Today I played a wild blitz game against a slightly higher rated opponent. In an even ending he sacrificed a piece to gain some powerful passed pawns, which led to the position below. I had White and didn't want to passively try to block ...
Good Morning everyone. Had my head in another Alekhine related book! My friend Victor Ciobano has been kind enough to send me the first draft of his latest translation work - Botvinnik on the 1937 World Championship Match. The two Alekhine - E...
You've probably got that one player, always rated 100 or so points higher than you, who you seem to do well against. If not, then you've definitely got players for whom you are that "good customer"; players with significantly lower ratings who are...
Chilean singer Juga just released her 3rd chess song and music video called:TACTICAL As a close friend of Juga, I'm one of those lucky ones who get to listen to her compositions and watch her music videos before anyone. It's quite a privilege, a...
I'm often asked by our ChessPathways members if I think they "have what it takes" to become a Chess Master. While it's certainly not an easy road, I believe that the possibility exists for all who dedicate themselves to it! Are you up for the ch...
The Spanish Division de Honor, their Premier League, took place in Melilla from 30 September to 6 October. I was present during the tournament and had a chance to observe the games as they happened in the playing hall. As it turned out, every ro...
Each day, I'll be recording a few videos designed to bring you some educational, entertaining insight into a few games or key moments that didn't get as much love as they deserve from the main broadcast. Below is my analysis and videos from Round ...