Traps are gorgeous, satisfying, and mesmerizing... When they work. But for nearly every trap to work, you must rely on your opponent to make specific mistakes. For example, in the Scandanavian defense, you can try to play this trap as white. ...
If you've played online chess for any length of time, you may feel you've come across a cheater or been accused of being one yourself. If you are genuinely concerned you've been cheated here are my fool-proof suggestions. 1) Check their accura...
The ancient philosopher Seneca once said, "It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest thi...
In lieu of a lesson, our contest winner RkFloridaChessonTwitch requested that I do a blog to review their games. One is a win, one is a loss, and one is a draw. Believe it or not, the win is against a 2000+ rated fide master! Before we get into...
"A pawn, when separated from his fellows, will seldom or never make a fortune."- Francois-Andre Danican Philidor Yesterday, we examined one of the rare examples of when the lone pawn made its fortune in the Lucena Position. Today, we'll observ...
Mark Twain once said, "Men build too many walls and not enough bridges." Today, we're going to do both! The Lucena Position is a fundamental endgame study that everyone should know because it demonstrates frequent themes in rook and paw...
People always ask me how to study endgames, how I learned about specific positions, and how they can do the same. Today, I will share my top five suggestions on where to study endgames so that you can raise your chess skill to the next level and ...
I once heard someone say, "Schools teach everything backwards. They teach you the lessons then give you the tests. In life, we are given tests then we learn the lessons." In the spirit of that sentiment, it's time for a pop ...
It finally happened! I can't believe it! My first blog post ever has finally reached 1,000 views in two weeks and I get to award a free coaching session to a very lucky winner! If you haven't read it yet, the blog is called Nowhere to Run! ...
It's the end of the game. Exchanges were made. Blows were traded. When the dust finally settles, all that's left are the two kings and your extra pawn. Your victory seems imminent. But with some fancy maneuvering from your opponent, you can'...
When only the kings and a pawn are left, it seems like the game's outcome should be easy to predict. This would be the result if you were referring to two seasoned players who have studied these positions thoroughly. However, if either playe...
Having only a knight and bishop without the proper preparation is the best way to ensure you draw what should be a winning position. Any remotely serious chess player knows this and will put your skills to the test if given a chance. So you have...
There you are. You're four points up on your opponent. You have a pawn and two bishops vs. his lone knight, and you're only one square away from promoting your lowly pawn to a mighty queen! The game is all but yours. Suddenly, he does the unthi...
So you've mastered opening principles, learned when to ignore them, and improved your calculation in the middle game. But now you've entered the end game. How different can it be? Well, how different are the chicken and the egg? In the open...
When I was about five, my father invited me into his office. Atop his lavish dark wooden bureau sat the most magnificent item I had ever seen. As I entered the room, my gaze was fixated upon it. Imbued with glimmering sparkles like stars in the ...
In today's discussion, we'll move from concrete calculation ideas to the discrete positional motivation for moves. This article will be our final post regarding the middle game. Tomorrow we'll go over tips to improve calculation in the endgame....
"The chess board is a world that occupies 64 squares. You need to pay attention to all of them." This was the first serious advice I got when I played my first GM, but was it the right advice for someone of my level? This was long before the day...
Yesterday, we examined a position where white and black had finished their openings and began moving into the middle game. We focused on king safety, capitalizing on our opponent's mistakes, and finding forcing moves. Today, our focus will be ta...
The creator of game theory, John Nash, was once asked, "What is the most complex game? Chess, perhaps?" His response shocked the interviewer. He replied [I'm paraphrasing], "Chess isn't a game. Games require missing information. There are no...
For many players, the middle game can be one of the more challenging parts to improve. It's understandable. We've all had trouble with it at one time or another. In the early stages, it's not always obvious what the best moves are, and it isn't a...
At one point or another, most of us have spent too much time in the early stages of our development, focusing on memorizing moves for specific opening lines.It's understandable. After all, if we know certain lines better than our opponents, gaini...
Inaccuracies, mistakes, and blunders are going to be a part of your chess journey. There's no way around it. After the first two moves there are 72,084 possible positions. After three moves, over 9 million positions. After only four moves apiece,...
We've all been on both sides of this situation at one time or another. After all it's so tempting. Our queen is one of the strongest pieces on the board. She can go anywhere and sometimes it feels like she can be invincible and take out any pie...
One thing that improved my game drastically was when I started looking at the geometry of how particular pieces interacted with one another. The lone knight in the center of the board can go to its choice of eight places on its first move alone....
