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Today I will show you one of my biggest correspondence wins (via FIDE rating) in my carrear. Pretty special game: btw, ratings are done by FIDE

Howdy y'all! Sam made me an admin a while back and I haven't really done anything. :P So I've decided to post one of my most recent games. I haven't really done any detailed analysis but I believe the game was blunder free on my part. I'll look through it later and post another forum about it though. But anyhow, here's the game. I hope you all enjoy it. :)

Hey all! Yes I'm back again, I missed the last two weeks due to preparations for the upcoming holidays, but like I said, I'm back! And I'm continuing the series! If you have been following along, you'll remember that we are exploring black's fourth move alternatives in the Four Knights Game, last week we looked at the Classical Variation (4 ... Bc5), the week before that we looked at the main line, the Double Spanish Variation, and for this week we are going to continue looking at bishop moves for black, and as the title gave away, our move for today is 4 ... Bd6. We reach this variation from the moves: 1. e4. e5. 2. Nf3. Nc6. 3. Nc3. Nf6. 4. Bb5. Bd6: Although this line might seem terrible, it's actually not as horrendous as all that. Black's bishop is bad at the current this point in time, but his whole plan of the opening is to later retreat to f8! What's white's plan? Well let's take a look at that on a board with some heavy analysis: Today I'm going to do something a little different, rather than supplying all the pros and cons of the above position for you, I'm going to have you list them off for me (you can do that in the comment section if you would like), that way you can retain the knowledge of strengths and weaknesses of the position better. An Insrtuctive Master Game: That concludes this article! As always, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you decide to pick up this opening, be sure to let me know in the comment section!

Welcome back chess friends! I am continuing ChessAttackMan's series on the Danger of Playing h3. I just found an instructive game that was seen in Logical Chess Move by Move.

Here's my blog post: http://www.chess.com/blog/Robert0905/basic-tactics-for-beginners

Welcome to Part 2 of Advantages of having the IQP! Now, before we get started, if you have read the book "Winning Pawn Structures" by Alexander Baburin, you may know what most of this is. The book is highly instructive about how strong the IQP can be. Now in this series, I don't want to spoil the whole book, but I might give 1 or two of his examples, and then maybe another example if I can find one :) Now, the book has 7 chapters but I have a feeling I might have skipped one and now I can't find it :( Luckily I put all of the examples in my database so I have some examples for you. Now, his 9 chapters are: 1. d4-d5 breakthrough 2. Attacking f7 3. Rook Lift 4. Bishop sac on h6 5. h-pawn battering ram 6. Queenside activity 7. Play on the e-file Now, his first chapter is by far his most instructive, which is the "d4-d5 breakthrough" I tend to find the earlier chapters in the book more instructive. Don't know exactly why. Anyway, lets get down to business with his first example: After I read this, I just wanted to keep reading! Then I glued my hands on the book after a few more examples: I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have! I'll see you next time!

Hello everybody! Today we're going to talk about openings that I recommend for beginners to play. I've been posed with this question many a time, but after all, it makes sense, when one first learns how to play chess, they learn how to move the pieces, some basic tactical combinations, and a tad bit of strategy. After that, they ask themselves, "What should I play in the opening?" Of course there are opening principles that help guide everybody along, but today I'm going to take an actual opening, that follows the opening principles, and build you a repertiore from it. First I'm going to start with a white opening, and once I'm finished with that, I'll move on to a defense for black. Before I go any further, let's review the main opening principles that were important in founding our repertoire: 1. Always place a pawn in the center. The center is comprised of the squares d4, d5, e4, and e5. Now, the only squares that white can occupy right away are d4, and e4. Our repertiore is going to be based off of 1. e4, but I'll get to that later. 2. Develop your pieces, first your knights, bishops, and queen, and then your rooks. 3. Place you king in safety, that means *NEVER leave him in the center, in our repertoire, we will always be castling king-side, which is generally safer than anywhere else. With all of those things in mind, I chose the Three Knights Opening, it begins after the moves: 1. e4. e5. 2. Nf3. Nc6. 3. Nc3. Let's take a look at that on a board with heavy analysis: Now in this article, we'll be looking at the specifically at the Four Knights Game, which is the most common continuation, even more specifically we'll be looking at the Double Spanish line in the Four Knights Game. Over the next couple of weeks we will also take a look at the Classical Variation, the 4 ... Bd6 Variation, and the Rubinstein Variation. White's Pros and Cons in the Final Position: Pro #1. White has more space, due to two strong center pawns and a nice semi-open b-file. Pro #2. White has the bishop pair, which is a very strong asset, if white can get to an endgame with them, he should be winning. Pro #3. White currently has move active pieces (save from the c1 bishop, but that piece will soon be brought into the game), since this is a middle game it isn't a huge factor right now, but in the endgame it becomes very important. Con #1. White's c-pawns are doubled, which makes them a weakness, however, black doesn't really have a way to exploit that right away. Con #2. White has an isolated a-pawn, this pawn is extremely weak, but luckily for white, black can't really capitalize on that right now. Black's Pros and Cons in the Final Position: Pro #1. Black is very solid, there isn't a single weakness in his structure. Pro #2. Black has targets that he can attack in white's camp, whereas white doesn't really have any. Pro #3. Black has a very nice knight on e6 that helps control the dark squares, and it is ready to hop into any holes that white might leave undefended, such as f4. Con #1. Black is lacking space, and if he doesn't do something about that, he could become a victim to a deadly attack. Con #2. Black is lacking the bishop pair, and in the long run it could really cause him problems, he should try his best to trade his bishop for one of white's. Now A Master Game to Illustrate How White Can Proceed: That's all for this article! Be sure to let me know in the comments what you think, and if you decide to pick up this opening!

Alright folks! I’m back, with the next installment of this opening repertoire for beginners! Last week we looked at the main line of the Four Knights Game, which is the Double Spanish Variation. Now we are going to move on to black’s fourth move alternatives, and for this week we are going to look at the Classical Variation, which begins after the moves: 1. e4. e5 2. Nf3. Nc6. 3. Nc3 . Nf6. 4. Bb4. Bc5. Here is what that looks like on the board: Now, here is the line that I suggest you play: White’s Pros in the Final Position: Like last time, white has more space. White has the bishop pair, giving him more scope than his opponent. White also has a semi-open b-file, which allows him to exert pressure on the b-pawn. White's Cons: The doubled c-pawns are weak, and they could potentionally fall if white isn't careful. The a-pawn is weak as well, being isolated. Although it isn't a terrible weakness, white has pushed his f-pawn, making his king-side a little loose, so he needs to keep an eye on that. Black’s Pros the Final Position: Black has a better pawn structure than white. Black doesn't really have any weak squares around his king, which means that he is a bit safer than white. Also black has some pawn islands that he can attack, whereas white really doesn't. Black's Cons. Black is lacking a lot a space, his queen is cramped, as is his bishop, and he only has one file for his rooks. Black is also lacking the bishop pair, which could mean a very bad endgame for him. If that wasn't enough, black is prevented from moving his knight, which is also preventing him from moving his queen, and so he will have to invest some time into sorting those pieces out. An Instructive Master Game to Show How White Might Continue: There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this article, and please let me know what you thoughts are, and if you decide to adopt this opening!

Welcome back to my series on attacking methods. Today, we will talk about Pawn storm in the sicilian. Now, we are going to examine 2 fun examples today. 1. What NOT to do in the Sicilian Dragon as Black and 2. How the Play Magnus app can save a miracle. So, let's look at what not to do: Now we see how Magnus Carlsen Age 12 on the app defends like a King Next week, we will examine more of the Sicilian Dragon in more depth. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, and I will see you next week

Welcome to advantages of having the IQP! It is very useful to know the advantages, but I hope all of you know the disadvantages as well. If you haven't, check out my forum of the disadvantages here: (Coming Soon) Now, this series will go into at least 10 parts. I know, exciting right? A great model game to start off this series is this game. Excuse me for the very light analysis: This is analysed by Anna Zatonskih herself:

Hey Guys! I did this with my old group The Learning Centre and I think it is a good idea to do it here too. We gather all the forums, then put them here. That way it would be easier. Total Beginner (U900) Beginner (900-1300) Intermediate (1300-1700) Opening Strategy 1 Part Series: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/a-cool-positional-game-i-won-1 http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/secrets-of-strong-players http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/positional-chess--pieces-cut-from-play2 The Danger of playing h3: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/the-danger-of-playing-h3-part-1 Attacking Methods: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/attacking-methods-part-1-the-rook-lift-part-1-vs-george-carolin-unkovich http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/attacking-methods-part-2-the-rook-lift-part-2-lecture-from-alexander-baburin http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/attacking-methods-part-3-pawn-storm-in-the-sicilian-intro Defense http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/introduction-to-defense http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/defense-part-1-misconception-part-1 http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/defense-part-2-misconception-part-2-amp-3 Tactics 1 Part Series: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/look-before-you-leap Endgame Other Advanced (1700+) All Levels Openings Do you know your Opening Traps? http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/do-you-know-your-opening-traps-part-1-queens-gambit How to Bust sound Openings: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/articles11 Strategy Tactics Positional/Strategical Endgame Other 1 Part Series Forums: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/how-to-become-a-good-tournament-player http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/shortest-stalemate-ever http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/hardest-mate-in-1 http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/hardest-mate-in-3 http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/hardest-mate-in-two Junior World League Deciders: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/junior-world-league-game-deciders-part-1 http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/junior-world-league-deciders-part-3-semi-finals-2014-part-2 http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/junior-world-league-deciders-part-3-semi-finals-2014-part-2

Hello! It has been a while but I am back continuing my series on attacking methods. In the past 2 parts, we have talked about the Rook Lift and how we can use it, but today we will talk about Pawn Storm! And what's a better place to start of then the Sicilian! The Sicilian Defence you should all know starts like this But in quite a few lines, both sides can setup a Pawn storm and say in the Dragon when both sides castle opposite sides, it is a huge race and the game can get really tactical. Now, I do not know how many parts I will do the Sicilian in, but it will be at least 2. Now, we will not only be talking about how to create a Pawn storm, but how to defend it, like this for instance: And how to create a succesful attack. Please put requests for games or Sicilian lines that I should do, and I will see you next week :)

Few people actually realize that most of the "main line" openings we play in our modern day and age were once novelties. Moves that were considered to be obscure and dubious, yet over time were proven to be just fine and even perhaps an improvement on some of the old main lines. Unfortunately new novelties have to be proven with hard core analysis, and usually there must be a high level player who uses it in practice before it is even considered as an opening. But that's not a good enough reason to not try something new, why can't we concoct various different little tricks and ideas to use in our own games? Here's what I think we should do. We should use this forum to analyze our novelties, together I'm sure we can find some interesting possibilities, and who knows? Maybe they will become the next big thing. But before we start anything I want to install some rules so that everybody will be able to enjoy this forum: 1. Be courteous, always consider the way you would like people to treat you, and try to treat people in that way. 2. Be helpful, contribute in any way that you can, don't just suggest your own ideas and then call it good. 3. Have a good time! And realize that some novelties just won't ever be that good, but looking over it helped us all to improve by looking at new possibilities. Thanks, and I hope that you all enjoy this forum!

Hello! This is for players from new to chess - Intermediate levels. This is my Journey in chess. I found chess by players playing in Hyde Park when I was visiting the City Sydney. Chess in Hyde Park I was 6 years old, and I asked my father "What is that?" He replied "It's called chess. But I do not think it is your type of game" But then I convinced him that I actually really liked the look of it. So my very kind parents purchased a program called "Fritz & Chesster" I am sure you have heard of it, as now some of the best young guns learned from Fritz & Chesster. It is a fantadtic program that teaches kids the game in a fun way. Some adults even like to learn from Fritz & Chesster. I loved the game so much, that at age 7, I tried to teach my Grandma how to play. She learned how to play, then 6 months later she forgot, and decided to borrow Fritz & Chesster to remmember. Fritz & Chesster I continually kept playing chess every weekend with my Dad (he went easy on me) And I remmember the first time I ever beat my Dad at chess. It was in the Blue Mountains in the suburb Blackheath and the house was called "Log Cabin" I will never forget it! Before I knew that I had to control the centre, this was my setup everytime! Then, at Age 8, we purchased its sequel "Fritz and Chesster Part 2: Chess In The Black Castle" We loved it! It was such a fantastic way to remmember. The 1st part talked about how to move the pieces, then the second part talks about Forks, Pins, Skewers, Opening rules, middlegame rules, but what they did best was to boost your memory. Then, from that point on, I played this setup: When I switched schools at Age 8, when they knew that chess was our hobby, it then became one of the most popular things to do at lunch time. Unfortunately, I could not find any friends at that school, but I enjoyed playing chess every lunch time. My brother became school champion just like my Dad did. Everybody thinks that he could have been a truly good player, but we can beat him quite comfortably now. A snapshot of Fritz & Chesster 2 Otherwise, I just loved the game and played my brother at least a few times every week, playing my dad every week, and occasionally played my mum. I was nearly 9 years old, and now my Dad had to go hard on me. I was finding it difficult to beat him now. And, at Age 8 I beat my Mum for the first time. Then, we were on holiday down in Dubbo and nearby, Orange was holding a Junior tournament. This was my first ever tournament I played in. Before I played this tournament, I was not confident as I had lost to my brother the past 20 times I played him, and I soon gave up chess. But, at this tournament, I was the 3rd best Under 12 performer and I took home a trophy! I was so excited and now I was starting to take chess seriously. Due to financial problems, I had a choice on what to do because I was currently doing all 3: Chess, Soccer or Cello. I decided to play 1 year of soccer than leave, and do 1 more exam for Cello, but Chess was the only one I was going to try and be really good at. At Age 9, we got us our first coach. His name was Blair Mandla, who was only a 2100 CM, but he taught us so many memorable things! So, we are just getting started on my Journey. I am now quite a good player, but I am looking up to the strong guys right now which now I can defeat comfortably

Hello! Welcome back to Defense! Last week, we talked about being 2 types of defenses: Passive and Active. Before we get going in this part, I would suggest you go and read the Introduction and last weeks lesson otherwise this will not make much sense. Introduction (by DooDallyDaddy) http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/introduction-to-defense Misconception Part 1: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/defense-part-1-misconception-part-1 So go ahead and read those, because the next few lessons me and DooDallyDaddy will be doing, will be based on previous lessons. So make sure you are caught up. Now, I can go through both of these Misconceptions quite quickly, as last week we could look into it a bit more. So, this will be a slightly shorter lesson. So, his second Misconception was 2. Defense is super boring Then he says: Again, that is simply not true, it's only boring if you make it that way, no aspect of chess is boring, and it never will be. And yes it is correct. You only make Defense boring if you make it that way. Look at last weeks game. Vassily Ivanchuk was crushing Anand, and yet he was playing defensively. Remmember the 3 steps? 1. Close down lines 2. Try to remove their bishop 3. Counterattack (Because he will have weak squares) Deeper into this series, I am going to be talking about "Defensive Spirit" so be sure to watch that as a continued version of this Misconception Part 2 The 3rd Misconception is: 3. If I play defensively, then I won't be able to win as much Then he says: This one is slighty true, you will draw more, which isn't a win, but you won't lose as much, when you play chess you have to realize that often times a draw is good, although it's nice to win, playing you very best should be your goal. Now, I actually disagree with this. A lot of you might have your own opinions with this, but I slightly disagree. What we talked about last lesson, is defense can actually win you a game! If you follow the 3 steps and execute it correctly, you have chances of winning. But last week, we looked at Active defense. Now unfortunately (Like DooDallyDaddy said) I am not an expert in this topic, I am learning what other people have taught me. Remmember, you use Passive Defense only if you are up material. If material is even, no need to use active defense because you have something to lose. A short lesson with no games, but that concludes the Misconceptions. Me and DooDallyDaddy look forward to teaching you some more Defensive skills! See you then!

Hi Everyone! The Learning Center is creating a new series on Defense! Last Week, DooDallyDaddy created an "Introduction to Defense" which is really instructive. If you have not gone and seen that, I suggest you go and have a look at it because some of the things I am going to be talking about are based on what he said http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/introduction-to-defense?lc=1#last_comment DooDallyDaddy So, in this series, 1 by 1, we will be showing examples based on his tips in further detail. So, that forum is the foundation of this series. So in this lesson, we will talk about his first Misconception, which was "Defense is always passive" and yes Defense is not always passive. Lets look at this in further detail. So, recently, IM Moulthun Ly gave a lecture to some students about Defense. A lot of this series will be based on his lecture as well. 1 of the things he said was "There are 2 Types Of Defense" 1. Passive Defense 2. Active Defense IM Moulthun Ly But, he said you should always try to use Active Defense. There are only 2 exceptions why you should use Passive Defense: 1.Material Up (1 Pawn is not enough, it needs to be more than that) 2.Long Term Advantage A long term advantage is (1. Bishop Pair 2. Outpost 3. Strategical Oppositional advantage (Pawn structure, Space advantage) This game that he showed us for Active Defense was very instructive. Most of you should know it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ix69sCFahw 8.05 lol Yeah, he missed mate in 1. I watched this years ago over and over again not realising how instructive the first half of the game was. A crucial point in the game So, go back and have a look. There are 3 Tips in Defending that Moulthun explained: 1.Get rid of their bishop If your opponent loses a bishop in the attack, it slows it down (17... Nxe5) 2.Close down lines The more lines you close down, the harder it is to attack (20..h5) 3.Counter attack Now that you have followed those other 2 steps, you now need to punish that they have attacked. They will most likely have weak squares, so you can attack them It is as easy as that. That game was a perfect example for Active Defense Passive Defense of course is different So, to sum up this lesson, we proved DooDallyDaddys Misconception Tip 1 correct. Passive Defense is not the only Defense, there is also active Defense, which works better. The Learning Center looks forward to seeing you next time for more examining of DooDallyDaddy's Tips in Defense. See you Next time!

Now we are continuing our Series on The Rook Lift. Now, we just gave a quick example in the first Part. Now, you may be thinking "What does the Rook lift do, When is it a good time to do?" ect. You will have many questions. Well now, for this lesson, you're not getting any lessons from a 1700 FIDE, you will be getting lessons from a Grandmaster! Grandmaster Alexander Baburin, writes about in his book "Winning Pawn Structures" Winning Pawn Structures - Alexander Baburin About The Rook Lift in an "Isolani" (Isolated d-pawn) positions. His book talks about how the Isolani is good which I really enjoyed, learned heaps, and the weaknesses of it, which most people here should know. But the Strengths of the Isolani is really instructive. At the start of his chapter "The Rook Lift" He talks about the 4 attacking methods using The Rook Lift: Attacking with the Rook Lift: The rook lift along the Third Rank The Transfer of the queen to the king's wing The Bishop Sacrifice on h6 The march of the h-pawn GM Alex Baburin Now this game Alexander Baburin will examine, may not involve those 4 steps, but it is important to consider those 4 steps in your own games. Grandmaster Pal Benko Now here is a second example And The Final Summary in this chapter in Alex Baburins book: Summary The theme which we have just examined - the rook lift to the kingside along the third rank - is very common for the positions with the isolated d-pawn and the possessor of the isolani should always keep a good eye out of the Rook Lift Idea. When Managed successfully, the rook lift usually gives the possessor of the isolani a great advantage in force on the kingside therefore often leads to a crushing attack. Typically such a lift can be organised using the c d and e files, although sometimes the semi open a and f files can be employed for this purpose as well. If you play against the isolated pawn, be aware of this the,e - try to tie down opponent's rooks to the d-pawn to control important squares on the 3rd rank. Naturally, exchanging pieces, particularly the rooks themselves, would be of great help in preventing this attacking idea. We shall see the motif of the rook lift in many other games examined in this book, but now I should like to move on to another technique often employed by the player with the isolated d-pawn. You can always purchase this book if you want to read it. It is very instructive. I look forward to seeing you next time, where we will look at a different topic

Australia comfortably beat France. But, the real action was the Greece-UK which ended 10.5-9.5 to Greece. You can see the enthusiasum of the Greek team team here, and the despair of the UK team http://www.chess.com/groups/team_match?id=419750 Congrats to Greece, who ended up as the Runners Up in the Grand Final, as I will call this team match 'Match of The Year 2014' This math is what the Junior International Cup is all about! Again, if you do not know what the Junior International Cup (or The Junior World League) is then go here: http://www.chess.com/groups/home/the-junior-world-league Here we go. These 2 tragic games I will show were the last 2 to finish when UK were winning 9.Important Tips: When you are down material, try to exchange pawns, and avoid trading pieces. The colour square that is the weakest, make sure you keep the bishop of that colour. Otherwise, your opponent can take advantage of it and that is bad. Catch me for the Next Decider of this match