Every so often while panning for new ideas I come across one that meets all my criteria for what I consider to be the perfect novelty: Shock-Factor: Is the idea deep or bizarre enough to even stump computers at first? Does it camouflage well and...
As a prelude Right after the end of World War II, the Big Three [Churchill, Truman and Stalin] met at the Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam of the occupied Germany, a city almost connected with Berlin. There the Potsdam Conference was held during 17...
Vera Menchik was a positional player through and through. When she launched an attack, it usually meant that she exhausted all other ways to improve her position and that all possible preparations have been made. In his classical book "Akiba ...
"Is it too late for me to become a Master?" It's a question that titled players are asked all the time. We see young prodigies become masters by the age of 12...but how often do adult chess players succeed in breaking into the highest eche...
Welcome to this Intro of the Alekhine Defense (Main Line), a rather offbeat counterattacking opening, and definitely one worth looking at. 1...Nf6! looks like a strange move allowing 2. e5 gaining space, but black has the idea to ...
As Team Ukraine and Team Russia secured comfortable victories to keep their spots atop the division one standings, Team Iceland won a great match against Team Argentina, each team put forward 55 players, but Iceland (famous for having more GMs per...
We're continuing on with the ChessPathways Chess Openings series with the most content-packed video to date! If you've ever wanted to learn all the essentials of the French Defense, this video is for you. We'll cover: The Exchange Vari...
Half the distance is behind and surprisingly we can see exactly the same standings as it was in Season 3! So Ukraine, Russia, Iceland and Serbia are entering Champions Pool this moment. France and Argentina performed far below their usual l...
Hi chess mates. I know you are probably thinking “Hey, what are you doing here?” since I said in my last post I would be traveling this week to an important tournament. Well, something happened and I was not able to travel because of a...
The main story of the Sinquefield rapid and blitz was Carlsen's apparent inability to keep his composure. Carlsen's problem were his blunders. It has happened before that he starts with a loss or bad form, but this time he simply couldn't manage...
In this post I would like to show you an old game of mine, which I played in 2013 in Dublin in the Irish National Club Championship. I was playing for Galway, and my opponent was another Hungarian, IM Tibor Károlyi, who happened to ...
1960... Edith Piaf is singing Je ne regrette rien from Paris. Hitchcock's Psycho is released in cinema halls. The world is in some tension... Wrong start! As this blog isn't a review of what happened in chess in 1960. I couldn't just find a more a...
A New Taste by David Pruess, Manager What is this new taste? So delectable, so different from any I have tasted before? A playoff victory?? The San Francisco Mechanics have won a playoff match?? Yes, it is a franchise first PCL postseason wi...
Hello, Stacia here! How many times have you entered into endings in time pressure and realize you have no idea what you are doing? Well, unfortunately, that's way too many times for me so I'm seeking to remedy that situation. ...
Nothing gives more joy to Samarth J. Rao, a 16-year-old boy with Cerebral Palsy, than playing chess. It is simply a passion for him. A Class 10 student of Government High School Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district, he acquired the passion to pla...
Continuing on with our series on "Opening overviews," it's now time to discuss the Queen's Pawn Opening. Black can either play the solid and stable 1...d5, often leading to the Queen's Gambit - or black can try any of numerous other systems, oft...
A few weeks ago my article on Vera Menchik appeared in British journal "CHESS". Unfortunately, it is not (yet?) available online but you can buy this issue of the journal at the publisher's website. "CHESS" is one of the best journals in the histo...
Every bughouse player has different reasons for being drawn to the game. Some like the collaborative aspects, some like the increased depth, and some like the fancy checkmates. I'm sure if you try bughouse, you will be hooked like I was. This is a...
Update 8-18-19: Annotated game included. How do you keep up with the wide range of great chess content available online? Back when I was a professional chess player, I would be very eager to stay 'up to date' with the latest games, i...
I'm not a very serious, competitive chess player, but I love playing the game. It has been quite a while since I played a big tournament. Recently, I decided that I'd play in the National Amateur Chess Championship (India), not in a very competiti...
A lot of people begin their study of chess openings by diving right into complex variations, seeking to emulate the Grandmasters they admire. Inevitably, this leads to confusion. You'll hear disgruntled beginners complaining about how t...
While his friends in school would play cricket, Samarth J Rao, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, would sit in a corner and watch them quietly. He would feel left out but there was nothing he could do. He then decided to take on chess and is toda...
How do you turn the opponent’s weak pawns into won pawns? What is the key to converting a better pawn structure into a win on the board? I recently recorded the following video, to help you with this important technical aspect of che...
Ukrainian chess trainer and enthusiast Valery Voinarevich was born in 1943, Kakhovka town in Kherson region. He died exactly 20 years ago on August 10th, 1999. Mr Voinarevich has established chess club in his native town and has been l...
There are a lot of chess principles we hear all the time, but don’t necessarily understand, or never really investigate. The purpose of these posts is to take a closer look of those principles, and examine the logic behind them. One ...