When I first started chess, and even for several several years after I was always slightly confused as to what I am supposed to be playing after the opening moves. I'd develop sensibly (so i thought) and eventually hit a road block, now what? I'...
A practice game with a student:
'twas a run of the mill closed sicilian, until my opponent made a mistake! oh wait no... it was me who is mistaken! wait no... it was him! The concluding messages were slightly humerous/offensive as my opponent reminded me he had a very high r...
After the moves I just noted the squares of interest. You should be able to see why I mentioned them without explanation; the ideas are not particularly deep. It was a closed sicilian... a structure I'm very bad at playing. I managed to win thank...
A knight supported by two pawns inside enemy territory is a 'ring,' similiar to the pillsburial's Ne5 (http://www.chess.com/blog/GmPrice/positional-theme-1-pillsburial), with pawns at d4 and f4.
It's fun to look at a victory every once and awhile! After move 10. Fritz11 claims White's position is already lost, and indeed the winning moves are easy to find. It seems to me that many problems arise out of the opening. I am positive after a...
![Killer tactic in my most recent game! [Puzzle]](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/blog/235752.e2b64b96.300x169o.935efdb1c0f3.jpeg)
The position came out of the Scotch Gambit, I've never encountered the position before, however, in my opening studies I have encountered the ...Ne4 and Bd5 theme, so this line caught my eye! Who says Opening study has to just be useless memoriz...
A lightly annotated game I lost.
The simplest and often best defense to a2-a4 is to liquidate, ...bxa4: To conclude: This is how to play against the advancement! Typically simply capturing the a4! pawn is best, because it leaves both sides with an isolated pawn on the queensid...
It's not just the square at c4 but also c5 and even b6 that can be exploited by a2-a4: To conclude: This is an example of the exploitation of c4, c5 and even b6 that can be exploited by playing a4! vs Black's b5.
Black often expands on the queenside with ...a6 and ...b5 in a wide variety of openings, from the Queen's Gambit Declined to Sicilian and King's Indian Defenses. But this comes with a risk: White can train more firepower on b5 than Black- and that...
Popularized by Harry Nelson Pillsbury, from a position that has been arising out of a Queen's Gambit Declined for more than 100 years. There are very similar ones with slightly different pawn structures, such as Black pawns at c6 and b7.
Another analysis. I went off on a large tangent to show a different opening possibility and some ideas. I used a computer for a lot of the analysis, but I did not always play the optimal moves, to put in my perspective and show how a human being ...
This is done from the point of view of a 1700-1900uscf player with minimal aid from a computer to simulate the ideas and analysis at this level.
I will use "he" for the most part for general simplicity. It could be a woman or a man. --- First a little background: I study chess on my own and i've been competing in a few local tournaments. I've had great results so far as long as I stick t...
Game: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1417801 -- I write in detail my thought process through the exercise, and it is the same thought process I use in my games. The only thing missing is all of my calculation done in my mind, becau...
This is a game I played vs a 1900 uscf rated opponenent at my chess club. I added a few of my thoughts and some other lines I was looking at. Criticisms and questions are encourged and appreciated!
Me. I've conducted many personal experiments with what works. I have almost no proof. I've only played in a handful of tournaments, but I have had various points in my life where I have created a study program, and improved rapidly, and othe...
