@Matheo-L is a player that has improved significantly over the past several months. He's been rated over 2000 on chess.com and over 2200 on lichess. We've played hundreds of games across all sites and accounts and the gap between us is steadily ge...
@ArianRahimpour_2004 is a strong 3 check player with a peak rating of 2257 on lichess (Aryan_Rahimpour_2004). He challenged me to a 3 Check 960 match on chessvariants.training/Variant960 where we played eight 3 Check 960 games. The final score was...
@Apostatlet is a regular in the 3 Check Arenas on lichess and recently broke 2100 for the first time. Last month he messaged me asking if I had ever tried 3 Check 960. I love both 3 Check and Chess 960 but I'd never had the chance to play a varian...
I originally wasn't going to do an article on Rooks because a lot of Rook sacrifices are either really obvious, not very interesting, or they are not unique to Rooks. Therefore I have taken KexOpening's (@1-c41-0) suggestion of doing an article ab...
In standard chess, Knights are typically less valuable than Bishops and Rooks. In 3 Check, however, Knights are generally more valuable than Bishops and can even be worth as much as (if not more than) Rooks as long as the position isn't too open a...
There is something very satisfying about underpromoting to a Knight in order to get a third check. In this post I will share a few games where I did just that. I wanted to include one more example but these are the only games that I could remember...
Blocking a check while giving a check is one of my favorite concepts in 3 Check because it's usually completely unexpected. Your opponent attacks you but you immediately turn the tables and attack them right back. The idea is very simple, but als...
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series I demonstrated the 2 main methods of attacking a fianchetto'd position. In this final entry of the series I will share some games where I combined these methods. Summary Here I will reite...
In Part 1 I demonstrated some typical methods of exploiting the weak squares that fianchetto systems can create. Now I will cover the other method of exploiting a fianchetto, the h-pawn advance. Why is it a good idea to advance your h-pawn against...
Fianchetto systems are popular among intermediate and advanced players because they avoid a lot of the opening traps that their opponent can throw at them. Generally the players employing these systems have somewhat limited 3 Check opening knowled...
Let me start by saying that you have to be very careful when sacrificing your Queen. Many players will sacrifice their Queen too early for 1 or 2 checks when they don't have the time or the resources to get a third check. In fact I dedicated an en...
A Knight Sacrifice on c7/c2 This kind of Knight sacrifice is very common, but most of the time it's wrong! Why is this the case? The reason is that most of the time when players go for this sacrifice they have to invest too many moves to get it a...
I'm back! I know I said that I quit 3 Check, but I couldn't stay away forever. I've started playing in some tournaments again and I also plan to start making new content for my blog. I have 2 new series in mind. This first series will showcase typ...
Hey guys sorry that I haven't been posting any 3 Check content lately. I'll probably get back to 3 Check eventually but for now I'm going to focus on improvement in standard chess. Here's a Daily game against an NM where I was 98% accurate acc...
On August 13, 2020 I got 2nd place in lichess.org's Yearly Three-check Arena. It was a 5-hour long event where nearly 3,300 players participated. I played against many titled players and even went 4/4 against Grandmasters. There were a lot of game...
This will be my last entry in this Sicilian series for now. I may do more in the future if requested. I will finish by covering some of the uncommon moves that Black has tried in the Sicilian. They are in no particular order. ...
Plans and ideas: If Black plays Nf5 before Be7 then play Nfg5 with the idea to sacrifice your Knight on e6 or f7. Otherwise go for the standard plan of c3, d4 and Bd3. Don't hesitate to sacrifice pawns in exchange for development. If Black is g...
I recently learned the best way to play against this line from @gavity so I thought I would give him a shout out by including some of his games. Plans and Ideas: Play Nb5 to gain a tempo on Black's Queen and follow-up with Nd6+. After Bxd6 ...
Plans and ideas: Play Ne4 to set up a future check on d6 or f6. If White plays dxe5 then play Bb5 followed by Nxe5. If White takes your Knight on e5 then play Bxd7+ followed by Qh4 to set up the last 2 checks. If White doesn't take your Knight ...
Plans and ideas: Play actively in the center to punish Black's slow a6 move. Don't hesitate to sacrifice pawns in exchange for development. If Black is greedy then they will lose quickly. You can also allow Black to get a check in exchange for d...
This line demonstrates a very important concept in 3 Check; the value of keeping a check in reserve, even when it's "free". Plans and ideas: Always play Ne4 instead of Nb5 when you have the choice between the two. This will ensure that you m...
This line is often played by high rated players because in practice it scores better than most of the other lines. However, if you know the refutation then the game will likely end very quickly. Plans and ideas: When Black plays 4. Nge7 then ...
Plans and ideas: Push your pawn to e5 to support Nd6+ in the future. Play c3 after 5. Nh6 with the idea to play d4 next without allowing a check. Wait to check on d6 until you are provoked or when White is threatening to castle next move to avoi...
In Part 3 I demonstrated how to play when Black plays c4 after Bd3. This time I will show how to play when Black plays c4 before White has the chance to play Bd3. Plans and ideas: Push your pawn to e5 to support Nd6+ in the future. Play activ...
Plans and ideas: Push your pawn to e5 to support Nd6+ in the future. Play actively in the center after going for the Knight check on d6. Don't give Black time to successfully advance in the center. If Black pushes their pawn to c4 after you play...
