This is my final installment of the Never Ever Give Up! series. Is it time to say, "Adieu" to Captain Kirk and Drunk Magnus? Never! Even if he isn't giving you good chess advice at the moment, Drunk Magnus will always be at your shoulder tellin...
No, the picture does not have anything to do with anything. My wife took this picture on our farm and I thought it was adorable. I call it "Black Rook Trapped by White Pawns." Anyway, in my last article, Captain Kirk and his sidekick Drunk Magn...
In my previous post, I discussed having Captain Kirk as your chess animal spirit and Drunk Magnus sitting on your shoulder when you are losing games. I also discussed in my other previous post to spend some time after realizing you're losing to c...
The second secret to sucking less at chess is: Play like somebody who's less sucky than you Once again, before you unfollow me, hear me out. How many times do you think, "I can't trade queens because I can't play without my queen!" or "I won't ...
The secret to sucking less at chess is: Play fewer sucky moves. Now before you hit that X at the upper righthand corner of your screen, hear me out. Most normal people (i.e., not prodigies) who've played chess for any length of time will tinker...
Let's face it. You suck at chess. I suck at chess. We all suck at chess. Leela told me she thought that even Magnus sucks at chess. The only difference between two players is the magnitude of suck. And, why wouldn't we? In a given position,...
If you are over 50 and have read all my blog posts to date, you may be left with the impression that chess is a young person's game and the world has left you behind. After all, kids are quicker, faster learners, and more energetic with better me...
This morning, I attempted to put a rope halter on my wife’s horse. I’ve seen my wife do it a million times, but when it came time for me to do it, I failed miserably. After about a couple minutes of trying, the horse realized my utter incompeten...
Almost everyone knows that solving tactical puzzles are an integral part of chess training. It's the equivalent to hitting the gym and doing cardio or weightlifting. With sports training, the choice between cardio and weight training depends on ...
Chess is a thinking game, but thinking can be the problem. Does LeBron James think about dribbling when he dribbles a basketball? If he thought about the delicate coordination between bouncing the ball and running down the court, would he be mor...
After a half an hour of watching 10-year-old phenoms regularly finding six move tactics in bullet games, you quickly realize that not only is chess hard, but maybe chess, like Instagram, Facebook, e-mail, or, depressingly, the internet, is for the...
Perhaps you’re reading this and been bitten by the chess bug. It could be the “Queen’s Gambit” bug, the COVID lockdown bug, the “I have to beat my kid/grandkid” bug, or you heard about the recent massive popularity of chess in passing and have a ...
