“Choices are the hinges of destiny” Pythagoras My student shared with pride below end of the game. Do have a look at the line he chose to win it and form an opinion about it. Would you play the same or differently? The first move I questioned was 36… Rd4. It did not feel the … Continue reading "Quick Decisions (7)" The post Quick Decisions (7) appeared first on The Chess Improver.

I’ve recently reviewed, in another place, The Secret Ingredient, by Jan Markos and David Navara. One sentence by Markos really resonated with me. In real chess, the width of your calculation is usually much more important than its depth. There are exceptions, as he points out, especially in endings. In pawn endings, for example, you’ll … Continue reading "Width and Depth" The...

This week, we are finally going to work further through the student game we started playing roughly three weeks ago. I want you to consider everything we discussed in our examination of the middle-game and some of its principles. Don’t worry if you don’t remember everything discussed because I’ll go over the key points you … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners...

“A dream becomes a goal when action is taken toward its achievement” Bo Bennett (businessman) A true student of the game would definitely explore the shark infested waters of the King’s gambit. Beside being one of the oldest openings, it could also help you sharpen your eye for tactics on both sides of the board. … Continue reading "Need sure points? King’s Gambit...

I often see posts on various Facebook groups asking something like “My rating’s been stuck at 800 for months: how can I improve?” Of course, at one level, the answer’s simple: stop hanging pieces. But they’re never amused when you suggest that. They tend to be more impressed by advice to, for example, read Modern … Continue reading "Hanging Offence" The post...

While I promised that we would continue playing through the beginner’s game we started a few weeks ago, I’ve decided to address a subject that is key to all phases of the game and is absolutely necessary for improvement. The subject matter of this article came up this past week as I took over a … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Thirty Six" The post A Foundation for...

“Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart This week’s selection was presented to me with pride by one of my students. His annotations are still a work in progress but give a glimpse … Continue reading "Students Analysis (6)" The post Students Analysis (6) appeared...

Many years ago maverick IM and chess teacher Mike Basman wrote about a nightmare he’d had. A pupil’s game started 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 and now his pupil refused to recapture because he’d been taught to avoid doubled pawns. I’ve seen this several times myself. Sometimes, but not … Continue reading "Mike Basman’s Nightmare" The post Mike...

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer” Bruce Lee A quick reminder how it works: Have a look at the position for 1 minute (watch the clock) Think about the choices in front of you and pick the one you feel it is … Continue reading "“What Say You?” The 1 Minute Challenge (50)" The post “What Say You?”...

Looking for interesting pawn endings from recent games, as one does, I came across this, from the online 4NCL. It’s Black’s move here. What do you think? Who’s your money on? White, Black or draw? Place your bets. Rien ne va plus, ladies and gentlemen. 35.. Kf7 36. g3 Ke6 37. Kg2 Ke5 38. Kf3 … Continue reading "Pawn Ending Trick" The post Pawn Ending Trick appeared first...

Last week, we worked through the beginning of a student game, played between two eight year old’s with roughly eight weeks of chess instruction each. I was going to show you the rest of the game this week, but decided to hold off until next week because I want to cover an important middle-game idea, … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Thirty Five" The post A Foundation for...

“All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.” Sun Tzu Here is a common scenario we are faced with: we have played a good game and still lost. Analyzing the game postmortem is an absolute must. What you should identify … Continue reading "Planning for Victory (4)" The post Planning for Victory (4)...

My thanks to IM Paul Littlewood for posting this on Facebook. It’s Black’s move in this position from the recent game Awonder Liang (2587) v Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2726) (Aimchess US Rapid Preliminaries). What would you suggest? This position is mostly about understanding king and pawn against king, but there’s another subtlety as well. The … Continue reading "Queen and...

Last week, we dug into defending weaknesses in your position. Today, I’ll introduce you to this idea via a beginner’s game. I am using beginner’s games rather than the games of masters because, as a beginner, you are more likely to find yourself in the positional situations we’ll examine over the next two weeks as … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Thirty...