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Hi Everyone! Another French game? Yes. The other day, I was playing a game against my nephew. He's in the intermediate level of the Epiphany chess club. He had just recently won some games against his father and my father. And I thought, wow, this kid is getting good. Then I beat him. He's been using the 4-move checkmate to win his games. It was during that game that I remembered why I started using the French Defense -- the 4-move checkmate doesn't work on it. The move e6 lines pawns up on the diagonal of the f7 square making a bishop on c4 useless.

Hi Everyone! I will be competing in a tournament this April -- my first tournament ever. It's the Peoria Classic, or something like that, and I'll be in the Under 1400 section. In my prep, I have been thinking about what openings I should use and decided to switch from the Italian to the Spanish, a.k.a. the Ruy Lopez. Here's a game I just played online with the Ruy -- only one inaccuracy! My best move percentage wasn't the best, but a solid game none the less. Have a great spring break! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! Check out this game I just played. It was game 30|0, a longer time control than what I usually play. Earlier in the day I lost a string of games due to time trouble so I thought I'd try something slower. Now check out these stats too. I almost had a 70% best move percentage. Have a great week! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! Do you have a favorite Grand Master? I'm not sure I have a favorite, but I do look to a few GMs as examples for how to play a specific opening. Anand, I believe, is the #1 player in India and he plays an opening I like to play -- the Italian Game. Here's a game be played against Wei Yi. If you were wondering, here are the game stats from a deep analysis on chess.com. I'll see you all in club next year! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! Congrats on the IESA State Wins this weekend! Still in the mood for chess, I played a 10|0 game before going to bed and beat a player rated around 1340 using the Italian Game. Check it out. The game was relatively even most of the way. It was black's blunder in the end when he allowed the knight fork. I was able to trade off a knight for his rook leaving me with a one-piece advantage in the endgame. His bishop sack in the middle game would have paid off had it not been for my knight on f1. I'll see you all at chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! The four-day weekend is almost over... here's another game I played. Check out the stats -- my "best move" rating is almost 70% and the game went 59 moves. Pretty sweet. Using tactics to win pieces is a great way to win a game quickly, but gaining little advantages when you can will win as well. A pawn here or there can tilt the endgame in your favor. In this game, my one-pawn advantage grew into a huge endgame advantage. Keep your pieces protected -- even your pawns. I'll see you all in chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Club! I just played this doozey of a game against a 1300+ rated player at 10|0 time control. I was white and he played the Philidor Defense. Check out these stats! Here's the game... I'll see you at club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Chess Club! It's a four-day weekend and I am avoiding grading language arts papers, so I decided to put another game analysis on this group forum. I played a game using the Queen's Indian Defense -- a defense that develops naturally with my usual e6 response to 1. d4. It is very similar to the Owen's Defense (a.k.a. the English Defense). Check it out! Altogether the analysis said I had only two inaccuracies the whole game and a "best move" percent over 60. Not too shabby. See you at chess club!

Hi Everyone, This is a game I just played where I got to use "opposition." I'm not sure if it is considered a tactic or positional strategy, but it helped me force a draw in a king-pawn endgame. Check it out. What can we learn from this game? You can use "opposition" to help win a king-pawn endgame. Look it up on YouTube. I'll see you at chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! I hope your "Holiday Break" is going well. In this game, I played d4 as my opening move and faced the Budapest Defense. I made an inaccuracy here or there, but ended up beating the player with a trick -- the fishing hook trap! Check it out. What can we learn from this game? The "Fishing Hook Trap" is a great weapon for mating a castled king. It should work against many club-level players. The "Greek Gift Sacrifice" is another good weapon for mating a castled king. Both of these piece sacks can lead to a quick mate in the middle game -- I suggest watching some videos on YouTube about them. Learn what elements you need in place to launch the attacks, but also so you can identify when your opponent is setting you up for a quick take-down. Enjoy the rest of your break! I'll see you at chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! I just played this fun game with the queen's gambit accepted line. The checkmate at the end was a neat one. What lesson can we learn from this game? For one, if you play the queen's gambit accepted line as black, trying to hold onto the material advantage is difficult. I'll see you in chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hello Chess Club! For a while now, I have been interested in how to checkmate a castled king, or at least how to blow open his position to make a checkmate easier. The game I am presenting here was a blitz game with 3|0 time control, so there wasn't a whole lot of calculation put into each move. It was more of a "gut feeling" sort of game. It was a fast game with a few blunders, but is an example of the Greek Gift Sacrifice. The key elements to the sacrifice: 1. A bishop on the diagonal aiming at h7. 2. A knight on f3. 3. The queen on the diagonal with h5. Also, like in this game, if the black queen and bishop are stacked and aiming at the g5 square, you will need the rook on h1 to reinforce the attack. Castling queen-side is probably better than my option of moving the king of f1, but it worked in this case. I recommend playing around with the Greek Gift Sacrifice to learn what works and what doesn't. It could end up being a powerful weapon in your back pocket that will win you a few games. I'll see you at chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Chess Club! I played a game a few days ago as black and I used my favorite response to e4, the French Defense. I ran an analysis on the game in which my opponent resigned after 15 moves. The analysis rated all of my moves as "excellent" so I thought I would share the game. So what can we learn from this game? A win in chess does not necessarily come from mind-blowing tactics or your opponent blundering his queen. It can come from gaining little advantages -- capturing a pawn, maintaining your bishop pair, having more center pawns than your opponent, etc. Each little advantage gets you closer to a winning advantage. In this game, the advantages were eventually going to win me a third pawn or a bishop -- a winning advantage. I'll see you all in chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! Here's a game I just played. White starts with e4 and I reply with my usual French Defense. White's second move is to attack with the bishop -- not a strong move, but I see it so often. Here's the game... What can we learn from this game? Be prepared to play different variations of your favorite opening. The French Defense usually has a massive buildup of attackers and defenders battling over the d4 pawn. The exchange variation opens the center and completely changes the feel of the game. As a French player, I need to be ready for both. I'll see you all at chess club! Mr. Phillips

Helloooo Chess Club! Here's a game I played over the weekend using the French Defense. I tend to prefer it over the Sicilian against e4, mostly because I understand the ideas better. Here's the game: When I play black against the e4 opening and I want to win, I play the French. I devoted a lot of time studying the ideas behind the French and know it much better than the King's pawn opening or the Sicilian. When I want to win, I play to my strengths. The lesson here: go with what you know. If you know the king's pawn opening - go with it. If you know the Sicilian - go with it. Find an opening you like, learn it well, and use it. Have a great weekend! See you all in chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Chess Club! I just finished a game analysis of one of my own games this weekend and found a mating net that I missed during the game. Without the help of a chess engine, can you find the first move of the mating net? It is white to move. Have a great weekend! Mr. Phillips

Hi Chess Club! One of the topics requested for my group at chess club is the Evan's Gambit. Here is a game I just played. When playing the Evan's Gambit, white takes a risk by giving up a pawn, but the hope is that the lead in development will lead to a victory. One key factor to this win was that I didn't let black castle and I kept attacking when I had the chance. When playing the Evan's Gambit -- stay on the attack! See you in chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! Players at chess club said they would like to know more about a few opening, the Queen's Gambit is one of them. I am spending this week looking at the Queen's Gambit in preparation for next week's lesson. I am almost exclusively an e4 player, so I started playing d4 this week. Here's a game I played just recently. The general lesson you should take away from this game is this: When your opponent accepts the gambit AND tries to hold onto his pawn, always keep the Qf3 move in mind. It can win you a piece early in the game. Have a great week, and I'll see you at chess club! Mr. Phillips

Hi Everyone! Here's a game I played as white against the Philidor Defense. Check it out. There is a lesson to be learned here: If your opponent "gifts" you a piece, calculate the next few moves before taking. It could be a trap.