With a world championship match coming up, it might be interesting to look at how Stockfish would play the first few moves, and, therefore, what openings we’re likely to see over the board. What does Stockfish think are the best openings? And, for that matter, what are the worst openings? For White’s first move, Stockfish … Continue reading "First Moves" The post First Moves...

Our regularly scheduled article will not be presented this week due to my students sudden involvement in my writing. A question came up at two of the schools I teach chess at last week. The question asked of me was “are tactics really the only way to win games?” It seemed like a simple enough … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Forty Three" The post A Foundation for Beginners...

“You always admire what you really don’t understand” Blaise Pascal The chess study I posted at the end of my last column was composed by Alexander Herbstman (April 10, 1900 – May 22, 1982). According to his biography: “Herbstman composed 350 studies during his long career and was among the 6 composers who were awarded … Continue reading "The Great Ones (6)" The...

Here’s a recent online rapid game I played against a lower rated opponent. I decided to play a simple opening, make simple moves, create a pawn weakness and win the ending. Exactly how I often lose when playing higher rated opponents. I made one mistake in the game, though, which you might find instructive. It’s … Continue reading "Simply Does It" The post Simply Does It...

The time has come to put everything we have looked at over the last two or three months together. While it seems like a lot to cover in a single article, I’m gong to present a simple method for employing the most important of these concepts into your middle-game transition into the endgame. I spent … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Forty Two" The post A Foundation for...

“You always admire what you really don’t understand” Blaise Pascal Alexey Alexeyevich Troitsky has been mentioned often in my blog. I am in full agreement with Sam Sloan when he writes in the introduction of his book “Collection of Chess Studies” the following: “… Trotzky is considered to have been the greatest composer of chess endgame … Continue...

I reached this position with Black in an online blitz game against one of my regular club opponents. It’s White to move. What do you think? A win or a draw? 52. a4 Re2+? I had two moves to draw here: Rg4 and Rg5+, an important point being 52.. Rg5+ 53. Kf6 Rg6+! with stalemate … Continue reading "Third Rank Defence" The post Third Rank Defence appeared first on The Chess Improver.

Pawn Islands. I forgot to really talk about pawn islands! One of my students, who is reading this series of articles, asked me about pawn islands during a class last week and why I didn’t write more about them. Therefore, that is what we will look at this week. Sorry to put off our student … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Forty One" The post A Foundation for Beginners...

“Neo: Whoa. Déjà vu. Trinity: What did you just say? Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.” The Matrix, 1999 White to move and mate in 4 Hint: the third move is a check My friend Nick had the above posted online. It looked very familiar. I could bet I have seen this puzzle … Continue reading "Deja Vu (4)" The post Deja Vu (4) appeared first on The Chess Improver.

Last time I mentioned the Max Lange Attack, annotating a game where it might have arisen from a Giuoco Piano. It can also arise from other openings, for instance 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 (the Two Knights Defence) 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5, and 1. e4 e5 2. … Continue reading "Max Lange Attack" The post Max Lange Attack appeared first on The Chess Improver.

“… Weak points – still more, however, strong points – in brief, all the points that we can be grouped together under the collective concept “strategically important points”, must be over-protected…” A Nimzowitsch, My System The above quote summarizes the idea of “prophylaxis to the inside” as described by Nimzowitsch. This covers...

A Learner’s brilliancy. Not just any old learner, though. Very specifically, Dr Abraham Learner, a strong amateur who lived and played in Birmingham, Melbourne and Eastbourne over a 40 year chess career. I’ve just been writing about him elsewhere, and thought this 1934 game from a county match was worth annotating. He had the white … Continue reading "A Learner’s...

Alright, we briefly looked at pawn structures over the last two articles. This week, we are going to finish examining pawn structure by looking at pawn majorities and minorities. Again, it is extremely important that you consider pawn structure, and do everything you can to maintain a healthy structure, early in the game. However, we … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Forty" The...

“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 (51)" The post “What Say You?”...