If memorising more opening lines made you stronger, many club players would be masters by now. You know the feeling: you've been reviewing lines from a Chessable course every day and feel confident. But your opponent plays a weird move on move 3....
Today I want to talk about one of the most important skills in chess: calculation and how deeply it's connected to tactics. I'll walk you through my concept of the 3 levels of calculation, so you can figure out exactly where you stand right ...
As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence this year, celebrating the chess-playing skills of an inventor, scientist, writer, diplomat, and politician brings an indispensable chapter of U.S. history into focus. Benja...
Paul Keres was the last of the stars of the '30s to join the ranks of the grandmaster elite. He achieved fame as a correspondence player and as first board for the Estonia team at the 1935 Olympiad, but he didn't have quite the easy vault to the f...
Until you are at least a high Class A player: Your first name is ‘Tactics’, your middle name is ‘Tactics’, and your last name is ‘Tactics’ - Ken Smith Some time ago, I read an article claiming that the intern...
Sleepwalking through lifeBlind to things you refuse to see.The stars never lie,It’s just that their whispers are distant,Ofttimes difficult to catch amidst the noise of our own thoughts. Are you a blogger wondering how your birth sign inf...
Welcome back to what was at one point the main focus of this blog series: Winner's POV. One change that I'll be making from previous iterations is that I'll be splitting up a lot more of these tournaments into two or more parts, because some of my...
The main organizer of a serious international round-robin chess event (a rarity in Ukraine these days), the 4th Saint Charbel Chess Cup in the resort city of Morshyn, Mykola Prystai, was conscripted into the army shortly before the event's start. ...
Hi Everyone! I haven't posted a blog in a while, but today I want to bring your attention to this one particular game where I found some WEAK moments. In a nutshell, my friend @electrosaw hosts weekly over the board tournaments and in that tourna...
In his book "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", (Highly recommended if you want to improve in chess and enjoy the game more!) .....GM David Bronstein gives a game he lost...against Makogonov. So, this h3 move against the Najdorf is called the Mak...
🏆 Champions Again! Undefeated & Back Above 2400 Elo! 🏆 Proud to celebrate another team title with ŠK Alkaloid at the XXXIV Ekipen sampionat na Makedonija! Year after year, this squad demonstrates what true unity, fighting spirit, and p...
Dear Chess Friends! I'm happy to share the highlights from my recent workshop "The Bishop Pair: Advantage or Myth?", where we explained why the two bishops are considered one of the most important long-term advantages in chess – and when th...
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” Hey Impressive Chessers! If you've heard that quote before, congratulations, you apparently have some Ancient Greek philosophy floating around in your brain...
Hi there! How was your summer? Mine was pretty fun and active, a bit of sun, some beach time, and, why not, a chess tournament or two. In the first one I gained 9 points, but in the second I lost 13. What should I have done? Just gone to the Car...
A pawn placed on its initial rank has four potential moves – two forward steps and two captures, the maximum possible for the unit. When such a pawn makes all four of these moves in a problem’s solution, the resulting theme is traditio...
First of all, I would like to begin by congratulating my friends @theeldest1 and @DocSimooo, for they have been awarded the badge of Top Blogger after months of writing, effort, and producing fantastic posts. Can't wait to see you both on the All ...
Welcome, everybody to another classic edition of Blitz 'n' Memes... If you're a fan of chess tactics taken from over-the-board tournaments, then you have come to the right place, because that is what I do. Normally, my puzzles are drawn fr...
Kingston. April 22, 2019. Easter Monday. I had just survived a 5h 30min game with a draw. Thirty minutes to grab a snack and prepare for my next opponent, half the time I’d normally get, since it was the last day and rounds were packed tight...
Good afternoon everyone. The chain of thought in my last blog sprung a couple of side branches when I came to the Alekhine - Keres game given there. I remembered that at one time I had intended to do a blog of all their games. Some match ups just...
Hello, friends! Welcome to the party! What are we celebrating? Well, you might think it is absurd, but my blog has completed three years on 26 August! Time really flies. It feels like only yesterday that I wrote my first article. Click on the i...
Regular readers of this blog know I usually write from the player's side of the board: suffering in the catalan League, suffering in National Championships, suffering in Menorca, suffering in Cyprus (noticing a pattern?). Today, for once, I write ...
I received this chess set from Royal Chess Mall for review purposes. All opinions are entirely my own, based on my personal experience with the set. Royal Chess Mall had no editorial input into this article. Kevin Bottom Line Up Front--TL...
A very small tournament — only 12 games — that was nonetheless, in a real sense, the high point of Max Euwe’s championship tenure. With the Alekhine-Euwe rematch imminent Euwe helped to show that his match victory wasn’t a ...
As evening fell before the board he sat, And moved the pieces with his wonted skill; And none, who looked upon his thoughtful brow, Divined the destiny he must fulfil. The morning dawned: upon his narrow bed Dying he lay, unconscious to the ...
Hi everyone! We're here with an update for the month of July. Fair Play Stats for July 2026 1,147,767 reports created 126,041 Fair Play closures (including 13 titled players: 5 FM, 3 CM, 3 NM, 1 IM, 1 GM) 516 accounts muted 570 mute actions ...
