Dear chess friends,
I started a series of deadly chess opening traps, so far I have
Tennison Gambit
Mortimer Trap
London Refuted
Please let me know in the comments which other opening traps you'd be interested in. I'd also be int...
If you ever wondered what the best Blitz chess opening might be, I may have an answer for you: the Tennison Gambit - within 8 moves you are up a queen, enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp3cWXxr2-U
In this fun 2-minute video I show a dramatic turn of events for the passionate Grob player within 6 moves, have fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkroT8F42TE
Dear chess friends,
improving tactics skills is essential to become a better chess player. I created a short video how to make the most out of chess.com's puzzle feature, enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-v00yFVlWQ
This game I played recently against a 1900 player is quite instructive on how a positional move (sacrificing a pawn) and the increased pressure on the two main diagonals helped to win this game. Never underestimate the power of a battery!
The en...
The immortal Game
was played in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in London during a break of the first international tournament. This game is a perfect example how lead in development dominates over material advantage. Andersse...
I played this Queen's Gambit Accepted as White against a very strong opponent (>1900). At around move 46 I was down a pawn and had a terrible position thinking about resigning the game. Then I remembered a blog on chess.com stating never to giv...
While we all know that mastering chess takes decades I was aiming at creating a video of less than 3 minutes to describe the high level principles on how to win in chess, here we go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ceVT3xgtyw
Let me know what y...
This is my first puzzle, created out of one of my very recent games:
Try to find black's best move to win material.
Cheers, Stefan
Doing a quick search on Magnus Carlsen's quickest win (by number of moves, not time) I found this game from 2000 when Magnus was only 9 years old with a 1323 rating:
One of his lengthiest wins was his game against J. Hammer with 107 moves playe...
Trapping the opponent's queen has been high on my priority list for a while, but I never really succeeded with this. Until very recently:
Amazingly the black queen was trapped exactly in the middle of the board!
Another nice way to trap the qu...
If becoming a titled chess player is on your to-do list, these are some best practices on your road to success:
Start playing chess at young age, the younger the better. If you are already beyond this, it still may not be too late. If you ...
A wild attack as white in the open Sicilian, Nimzo-American variation.
Constantly bringing in more attackers, opening lines, double checks and sacrifices ultimately leading to success.
How to win Queen's gambit declined playing white (and on a side note: my first victory against a titled player).
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The following game snippet demonstrates the power of a free pawn - he just keeps marching no matter what!
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Dear chess lovers,
and now the worst blunder in my career, or "how to lose a won game":
Lessons learnt:
1. Blind spots exist!
2. Avoid pre-moving!
3. Be ultra vigilant in "won" games!
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Dear chess lovers,
this is my 2nd blog: a queen's pawn opening with white against a strong 1900 player responding with the Old Benoni defense. This is the full game, particularly the endgame was quite complex with a strong free pawn on each side:...
Dear chess lovers,
this is my first blog. For this I've annotated a game I won recently against a very young and strong player:
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