In the 6th round of the Titled Tuesday Tourney I played the Pirc defense against International Master Nikolai Vlassov. I got a good position out of the opening. How could black finish the attack? In this critical position I made a blunder. W...
I cannot help but notice the trend.....beginners want to know how to raise their ratings in blitz and bullet...and the answer, of course, is....concentrate on tactics! Because if your game is filled with tactical blunders, you will lose games and ...
I created 10 exercises from the endgame I played against a Chinese International Master in the 5th round of the last Titled Tuesday Tourney. How could black win? The rook attacked the d5 bishop. How should white react? Black challenged t...
Welcome back to my blog! As I indicated last post, my tournament hiatus is over, and I intend to keep it that way... (for now). Last post, I had played two local tournaments, scoring a total of 5 wins, 0 losses, and 3 draws, and increasing my rati...
Today I created 10 exercises from my round 4 and 5 games of this week's Titled Tuesday Tourney. I prevented this finish: How can white react to f7-f6? White just captured a knight on c5 Black played Nd5 to block the g2 bi...
After the formation of the USSR the USSR Chess Championship was established as the national championship. However the Russian championship continued to exist as the championship of the RSFSR. The first two USSR championships in 1920 and 1923 were ...
In round 3 and 4 of yesterday's Titled Tuesday Tourney I played the Pirc defense and the Catalan opening and got nice attacks in both games. You can solve the 10 exercises I created from the game: He prevented this nice finish: How should bl...
In Winner's POV, we take a look at tournaments from the 19th century and see the games that allowed the top player to prevail. Some tournaments will be known and famous, others will be more obscure - in a time period where competition is scarce, I...
I created 10 exercises from 2 games which I lost because of time management. In both games I got a big advantage, but in the endgame when I was low on time I made tactical mistakes. I had no time to calculate this idea: A special tactic: ...
It doesn’t matter if you’re a progressive beginner or a world champion. From time to time you’re going to be in lost positions… And if you resign every time – you’ll leave lots of rating points on the table.&...
It can be frustrating to feel stuck at your current skill level, but don't worry – there are steps you can take to overcome this plateau and continue improving. Here are some tips for what to do when you're stuck in a certain chess level: ...
GM Ding Liren is the new World Chess Champion, but still a bit of an enigma. In New In Chess magazine, the only international chess magazine in the world, his career has been chronicled ever since he burst into the chess world at age 16 by winning...
I created 10 exercises from my 3 victories in the last 3 rounds of the last week's Titled Tuesday Tourney. She prevented this checkmate: How did I win material? This would give her an advantage: What is black's b...
Around here, the commentary starts to get pretty repetitive. Capablanca was, as he later reflected, at his absolute peak around this time and his games have all the joy of watching some chess super-computer crush anyone who plays it. Capablanca&...
I was midway through the 2023 Vulcan Open when I contemplated whether or not I'd even blog about this event. I was playing some of the worst over-the-board chess of my life; losing a forgettable Round 1 in an equal endgame, and on the verge of rec...
Hello, my fellow film lovers, and welcome to another edition of the Osaka Papers. If you're like me, seeing chess portrayed in film is usually an utter disappointment. Supposing the filmmakers even bother to set the board up correctly, the positio...
I played the Catalan opening against a Russian FIDE-Master. I got an advantage, but then missed a pin to lose a pawn. You can find 10 exercises to solve: A nice finish: How can win gain material? How should black continue? Checkmate ...
Afternoon everyone. A humble offering today, but one which has some chess and pictures which you probably won't have seen before. I have always said that Morphy's finest performance was to wipe out Harrwitz - 5 wins and a draw in 6 games - after...
Composing chess problems is a creative art that takes skill, time, and effort, so it’s only natural that when an original work is published, it’s always accompanied by the author’s name. It’s also normal, when quoting a pro...
Hi everyone, I have started a new podcast/interview series, called ‘Rook Reflections’. 'Reflections' because I will invite different level and rated chess players and ask them about their chess experience, how chess is, from th...
I played the Pirc defense against the brazilian Grandmaster Alex Fier. He sacrificed a bishop for the attack. My position was much better, but I could not find the right defensive moves and he won back the bishop and more. You can solve 10 exercis...
Today's 10 exercises are from a game I played against an Indonesian Woman FIDE Master. I sacrificed a pawn in the Catalan Opening and was able the checkmate her. This was the final idea: How can black keep the equal position? How c...
Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924) was a British chess player. Nicknamed "The Black Death", he dominated the British scene during the latter part of the 19th century. Blackburne learned the game at the relatively ...
Did you see today's Daily Puzzle? The position was reached on September 25th, 1906 in New York. The game was played by José Raúl Capablanca and Robert Raubitschek. The following is my commentary on the entire game:
Today I created 10 exercises from 3 games. I lost 2 King's indian against Grandmasters and I won in a Tarrasch against National Master Michael Buscar. Grandmaster Rustemov finished the game this way: This was my winning move: How can bla...