For years, I've been playing 1.d4 as White, and I can't say in honesty that I've done a lot of reading on the opening or anything; what I've learned, I've learned through playing the opening and by playing through the games of Garry Kasparov. I pl...
I've spent a great deal of time playing against Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition, because for a few years I found it to be a pretty good way to get my chess fix. I was playing at instantchess.com, but quickly grew dismayed by the number of people ...
I just wrapped up a Blitz game, and it taught me something very valuable: how to quickly calculate the outcome of a pawn race. Take a look at the position we arrived at: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â White's plan is clear--capture my Queenside pawns and...
For a very long time, Knights were my weakness. Lately, it's early-game Queen moves, but that's usually only in 3 minute games. But Knights are still a thorn in my side, though there are some easy ways to deal with them. By far, t...
It isn't everyday that you can sacrifice a Queen to pull off a checkmate. It isn't everyday that you can checkmate the opponent's King with a pawn and a Bishop. But today the stars aligned, so let's see if you do what I did: It's certainly the ...
Everyone acknowledges that early game Queen moves are a bad idea, because there are so few squares that a Queen can go in the opening that can't be immediately attacked. The end result is almost always a series of Queen moves to get the Queen out...
Any American surely remembers the tall tale of John Henry, who drove railroad spikes with such efficiency, skill, and strength that he could only be measured against a machine. Indeed, that day came, and John Henry drive the spike with everything...
I want to present some of my games today, because they're both very important to me--and it may not seem obvious, at a glance, what is significant about these games. The first one I'm presenting marks the very first time I've ever legitimately str...
Messing around with different Android apps, I came across one called "Chess Free." I tend to avoid any app that is free, but I just needed something to play chess with when I was waiting on other things, so buying an app wasn't warranted. I play...
Inspired by Phil's own self-deprecating posts, and being around the same rating, I present my own pathetic game, wherein I made at least 65 mistakes, and probably 65 blunders, fill players in on what I was thinking, and send the games through Ches...
