Attacking opponent's weaknesses is one of the most fundamental plans we can come up with during a game. If the opponent has something weak in their position then it is always a good idea to pinpoint this, work on pressuring it and trying to get an...
"A sacrifice is the natural product of the initiative." - GM Ivan Sokolov "Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack." - Wilhelm Steinitz (Former World Champion, 1886-1894) Our BOOK OF THE WEEK is The Art of Sacrifice in Ch...
Several players have reached out to me in the past few weeks to get access to my EXCLUSIVE training on building a Master-Level Opening Repertoire. (If you haven't, it's still not too late! Click HERE and let me know, and I'll send you the video....
Sometimes it pays to listen to your father, or even your grandfather! Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (1921-2010) was a gigantic figure in chess in the 20th Century. He played three matches for the World Championship against Mikhail Botvinn...
As mentioned previously, a weak square's importance is dependent upon one's ability to utilize it. However, a weak square's utility is very much dependent upon its accessibility. Bobby Fischer demonstrates some tactical ingenuity to achieve a stra...
Prior to his 1960 game with Mikhail Tal, Miguel Najdorf challenged Tal to play like Tal and promised that he would accept all of Tal's sacrifices. Quite a gutsy play from Najdorf to challenge one of the greatest attacking players of all time in su...
Hello friends. When the material is reduced to King and Rook vs King and Pawn, usually we play for 2 results: a draw or a winning for the side with the rook. However, this week we analyze an interesting endgame where the pawn beats the rook, even ...
Dear Chess Friends, I decided to continue the topic about beginners’ chess progress and this post is devoted to how to solve puzzles. I’m absolutely sure that solving puzzles is a part and parcel of any teaching process, but at the...
Hi all! Time to post a blog on the adventures that I'll have at TATA steel chess. I'll be playing the amateur ten camp - ten days and 9 rounds of intense chess right next to the pro players. This will be day one of my blog and I will stream the an...
Happy New Year! At the end of 2019 I played one last slow time control tournament called the Cleveland Holiday Open. This was the first tournament where I aimed to play my new opening rep with the black pieces (without studying it! risk...
It's his first supertournament, but 16 year-old Alireza Firouzja is sensationally leading Tata Steel Masters by half a point. At this point, he can clearly be called one of the most promising youngsters in modern times. As if increasing a stagge...
Twice in a single week have I managed good results against National Masters in USCF Online Tournaments. In both cases, my opponents played the Caro-Kann Defense. They were the 74th and 75th times that the Caro-Kann has been played against me in th...
Hi all! Time to post a blog on the adventures that I'll have at TATA steel chess. I'll be playing the amateur ten camp - ten days and 9 rounds of intense chess right next to the pro players. This will be day one of my blog and I will stream the an...
Identification We must identify the weaknesses in our opponent's position, as well as those that exist in our own position. Without proper identification, we will not have proper calculation. Utilizing weaknesses and converting potential outpost...
After a long break, I decided to reenter the world of daily chess with the biggest Chess.com tournament on record, the 2020 Chess.com Daily Chess Championship. In this post, I’ll be discussing my games from Round 1 of the tournament. I pla...
Most chess players have several misconceptions about opening preparation. It's not too hard to understand why. When we hear about Grandmasters with photographic memories playing 30 moves from memory, "opening theory" can feel out of reach for mo...
Hi all! Time to post a blog on the adventures that I'll have at TATA steel chess. I'll be playing the amateur ten camp - ten days and 9 rounds of intense chess right next to the pro players. This will be day one of my blog and I will stream the an...
In March 1979 Chess Life and Review did a lovely presentation of the chess art of E. B. Rothwell. The magazine was all B&W, so the images published there lacked color. The name Rothwell didn't ring a bell but upon looking it up I did f...
Creating a strong outpost in the enemy's camp and using it for our pieces is always very uncomfortable for the opponent. In the next game, Mikhail Botvinnik demonstrates how such a piece can limit the activity of the enemy pieces, and how this can...
Dear Chess Friends, Nowadays chess becomes more popular among adults. Let’s say if, for example, 20 years ago chess coaches had to teach kids only, now we teach anyone who wants to learn chess. As for me, I have approximately equal number ...
The great chess strategist Aron Nimzowitsch notched the most magnificent triumph of his career when he created zugzwang in only 25 moves against Friedrich Sämisch." Saemisch had his chances in the game as Nimzowitsch did not play the openin...
Once again, our new video series Author Files provides an inside look into the book straight from the source, the book's author. Whether it is explaining some of the material already included in the book, or providing a little extra insight, this ...
To move a pawn is to create a weakness, or a "hole" in the position. Because the pawn cannot move backwards, the weaknesses left in its wake are irreversible. That is why we should be cautious about our pawn advances. Of course, pawns must move...
I created a Daily Chess Tournament for all those who want to practice the Catalan Opening.Every game starts from the position after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3I will analyze the most interesting games on my Twitch streamYou can join it...
Dear Chess Friends!Some of you might not have played chess for many years. However, many of those who play regularly find themselves stuck on a certain level and can’t get better. Why? Because they just don’t know what to do ...