The opening round of the USCL Playoffs continue with hosts FM Mike Klein and GM Alex Yermolinsky. Four Western Conference teams advanced, with Dallas and Miami battling in the South and San Francisco and Los Angeles r...
GM Ben Finegold and FM Mike Klein bring you the exciting conclusion of Death Match 19. The scoreboard keeps alternating throughout the 15-game bullet position, and the match is not decided until the very final game. T...
Part 4 of the series highlighting the mastery of GM Bent Larsen. The Danish great starts out with a bluff in the opening - a pawn sac which wasn't accepted. He then achieves the better end of an opposite-colored bisho...
It's not a popularity contest. Oh wait, yes it is. Today a new series is unleashed - "You Pick 'Em" - where you are asked to watch two beautiful tactics and comment on which on you like better. We open with a very tou...
Death Match 19 pitted GMs Simon Williams and David Smerdon, two closely matched players with different styles. The opening segment features the pre-match interviews, where we learn of an interesting musical devotion f...
Part 2 of Death Match 19 features many key questions. Can the Smurf play faster? Does he have any other options at his disposal against the French? Who has a wider array of weapons to surprise his opponent? Neither pl...
Chess is like the roulette wheel? Black's best move is pawn on b5 back to b7? GM Dzindzi shares some funny and enlightening ideas in this latest Member Analysis video. His main point - if you were once worse, and now...
Who needs "Game of Thrones" when we have a Game of the Week that is just as epic of a battle? When honors are shared, both warriors must have been ferocious in the fight, and that's what happened in week 9 of the USCL...
Double your pleasure? How about six times the pleasure? IM Danny Rensch shows that his first love is really pawn structure, as he walks us through the best half-dozen games in week 9 of the USCL. Sure there's tactics,...
In the final broadcast of the year for IMs Greg Shahade and Jon Bartholomew, they cover the Western Conference end of the regular season. Who would win the South? GM Conrad Holt furiously tries to find a breakthrough...
In perhaps the greatest piece of calculation in Kasparov's storied career, IM Kiewra shows the masterpiece at Wijk aan Zee in 1999. If we could have peered into the world champion's thinking process, it would have gon...
GM Alex Yermolinsky and FM Mike Klein close out the USCL regular season by focusing on the Eastern Conference teams. One playoff spot in the Atlantic remained up for grabs, while in both divisions another big question...
Today we are back to the Tarrasch, with WGM Abrahamyan still advocating for the 3...Be7 reply. Today she completes her well-researched discussion by focusing on 4th moves other than 4. e5 (covered in the previous vide...
A little something for everyone in this Live Session with IM Danny Rensch. We've got his ubiquitous GEICO gecko voice, a Phoenix Suns reference, the Karate Kid, a pre-move error, and to top it all off, an anonymous GM...
Be it 1. b3 or 1. g3, GM Bent Larsen loved those fianchettoed bishops! GM Bojkov shows how he preferred playing Black openings, with an extra tempo. Today the Danish hero isolates his opponent's d-pawn, then uses supe...
What's that you say? All rook endgames are drawn? Well not today! Somehow all three results are possible in a basic rook-and-pawn ending. GM Dzindzi does not approve of the apparent randomness of several of the moves...
GM Conrad Holt uses superior preparation and a bevy of tactical ideas to take out longtime top Cobra IM Jonathan Schroer. After passing up a quick repetition, the Destiny's top board finds a novelty with the pawn sac...
IMs Greg Shahade and John Bartholomew discuss the pivotal week 9 of the USCL. In the Eastern Conference, the biggest match of the season pits New York and New Jersey. They go into the week tied for second, and the win...
FM Mike Klein and GM Irina Krush are back for a second week, this time showcasing the Western Conference. It would prove to be a pivotal week, as the remaining playoff spots were filled by the end of the night. Which...
GM Finegold caps off his career-best tournament by showing his game against world champion runner-up GM Boris Gelfand. Though only an FM at the time, Finegold induces his esteemed opponent to play "the worst positiona...
International Master Rensch brings you another highlight reel, courtesy of the US Chess League. Week 8 is on display today! Danny first gives credit to GMs Stripunsky and Hess for the approach taken in their games aga...
Who needs the first rank? Today IM Keaton Kiewra takes a look at two games that more closely resemble the childhood game "pawn football." First one to the other side wins! Actually, in both cases White had good reason...
The Schliemann is a draw?! GM Melik is surprised to learn that such an aggressive response to the Ruy Lopez has been yielding all draws for him lately. He earns another one, against a strong GM in the USCL. Even thoug...
FM Eric Rodriguez crashed through, in more ways than one. In his second GOTW nomination, he wins top honors thanks to his violent attack against GM-elect Irina Krush's king. Rodriguez is only the second non-GM to win...
Gligoric was way too good to just show off his best draws, so GM Bojkov is back to give the Yugoslavian GM his full credit. Today he shows a classical treatment against the Nimzo, whereby Black has one piece offsides...
