The European Women’s Individual Chess Championship 2022 is going to take place from 19th August – 1st September in Prague, Czech Republic. The event will be played in 11 rounds, Swiss system, and will have a prize fund of 60 000 eur. This is the 22nd edition of the European Individual Women Chess Championship is […]

We still do not know where the Chess Olympiad 2022 will be, but a positive news came from the European Chess Union today. No matter where the Olympiad will be held, for the first time ever it will feature a women team from Cyprus! The men team of Cyprus has participated a total of 25 […]

IM Irina Bulmaga won the 2022 edition of the Romania rapid chess championship. She collected 7,5/9 and scored clear first ahead of WGM Elena-Luminita Cosma with 7,0/9 and WGM Mihaela Sandu, IM Corina-Isabela Peptan, and WIM Silvia-Raluca Sgircea with 6,5/9. Romania women chess championship 2022 standings 1 IM Bulmaga Irina  2227 7,5 2 WGM Cosma […]

I’ve written a few posts about the wrong chess books: books which are popular and often recommended by well-intentioned but ill-informed posters on social media. They might be the only book the poster has ever read, or the book he read several decades ago when he was learning chess. But the world has moved on. … Continue reading "Logical Chess (1)" The post Logical Chess (1) appeared...

Για το βιβλίο των Λουκά Ζαχείλα και Κοσμά Κέφαλου «Σκακιστικές Ολυμπιάδες στα χρόνια του Ψυχρού Πολέμου και μετά (1950-2000) – Ο συναρπαστικός κόσμος του σκακιού μέσα από την κορυφαία διεθνή διοργάνωση» (εκδ. Σοφία). Του...

One of my students, who read through my last piece here at the Chess Improver, mentioned that I had not brought up a teaching method I used for calculation training. Chess comes down to thinking ahead and having the ability to do so! All the strategic and tactical skills in the world won’t help you … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Fifty Four" The post A Foundation for...

This week Andrew and I ran three Master Chess Web Shows, the agendas being as follows: Monday The Monday show is devoted to readers’ questions, with these three being addressed: 1) How should Black play against the 3.e5 Bf5 4.Ne2 e6 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 line of the Caro-Kann? 2) What is the best ever King’s … Continue reading "Master Chess Web Show (4)" The post Master Chess Web Show...

“Developed by the British player James Mason Named after the 1922 London tournament” Wikipedia Many club players choose 1. e4 as their opening choice from very early in their chess careers. It makes sense because it gives them the opportunity to play open games where they can practice and improve their tactical skills. Playing 1. … Continue reading "Need sure points...

Sixty or so years ago, the pioneering books of Raymond Bott and Stanley Morrison played an important role in the popularisation of chess amongst primary school children. Their first book, Chess for Children, was so popular that a follow-up, The Chess Apprentice (later retitled More Chess for Children) was also published. They were outstanding books … Continue reading "Chess Apprentice" The...

This week on The Master Chess Web Show Andrew Martin and I looked at some more nice games and even answered the first viewer’s question. We’ll be doing more of this in future, but please submit any questions via our web site as we may need to prepare in advance. Here are the videos from … Continue reading "The Master Chess Web Show (3)" The post The Master Chess Web Show (3)...

“American Chess Magazine has been launched in November 2016 to help readers keep in touch with all the most significant happenings in the exciting world of present-day chess, both at home and abroad.” I am a subscriber and supporter of the American Chess Magazine. Every couple of months I enjoy reading the latest issue and … Continue reading "Chess 2022 – January Exotic...

Former Italian international Stefano Bruzzi, who emigrated to England in the 1960s and played for Surbiton Chess Club for many years, died recently. I only had the honour of playing him on one occasion, in 2015. By that time he was often happy with a short draw, and I’ve never been averse either, so the … Continue reading "Stefano Bruzzi" The post Stefano Bruzzi appeared first on The...

Two weeks ago, we looked at a position that will form the basis for creating a combination that set up a tactic called a skewer. A combination is simply a series of moves that allow you to create a tactical opportunity. Since the majority of tactics don’t appear out of thin air, you need to … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Fifty Three" The post A Foundation for Beginners...

Here are the latest two videos from The Master Chess Web Show in which Andrew and I look at some more great games. Since last week we’ve also put a web site up where viewers can send in questions in questions via the contact form. After next week we’ll be running three shows a week, … Continue reading "The Master Chess Web Show (2)" The post The Master Chess Web Show (2)...