Last week, we took a closer look at the principle of attacking and defending as it applies to the middle-game. The basis of this principles was; if attacking, you want to have more attackers than your opponent has defenders, and when defending, you want to have more defenders than your opponent has attackers. However, there … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Thirty Two" The post...

“You always admire what you really don’t understand” Blaise Pascal GM Evgeny Sveshnikov (11 Feb 1950 – 18 Aug 2021) lives on through the games played using the Sicilian Sveshnikov by players from all over the World. I am one of those players. It started back in the early 90s when I felt the urge to … Continue reading "The Great Ones (4)" The post The Great Ones (4)...

Here’s another in my series of misplayed pawn endings for you. I reached this position in a recent online game. I had the white pieces and it was Black’s move here. The game continued: 42.. Kc6 43. b4 Kd6 44. b5 a5 45. g4 Ke6 46. Ke4 and, having taken the opposition, I won a … Continue reading "g4 or not g4" The post g4 or not g4 appeared first on The Chess Improver.

The game of chess can be divided into three phases – the opening, middle and endgame. Each of these phases has a specific set of principles that are designed to help you play better chess. Many of these principles have been around for centuries and have stood the test of time. Are these principles a … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Thirty One" The post A Foundation for...

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Evgeny Sveshnikov today at the age of 71, we played in a number of tournaments together and was always impressed by his interesting games and fighting qualities. He was the originator of many ideas in the openings out of which just the Sveshnikov Sicilian (1.e4 c5 … Continue reading "Evgeny Sveshnikov: 1950-2021" The post Evgeny Sveshnikov...

“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 (48)" The post “What Say You?”...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about endings where a knight was trying to stop a rook’s pawn. Coincidentally, the other day I reached this position with black (to move) in an online training game against a young pupil. He thought my knight was too far away to stop his a-pawn. I thought I … Continue reading "Knight against Rook’s Pawn" The post Knight against Rook’s Pawn...

Last week, we looked at creating simple combinations, and examining some basic ideas that help you set your tactics up. I highly recommend that you invest in some tactics oriented computer apps/software programs, especially those that have two and three move combination problems or puzzles yo solve. You will greatly improve your tactical skills by … Continue reading "A Foundation for...

“Citius, Altius, Fortius” Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin I don’t know how you feel but for me there is something magic about the Olympics. It is big business these days for both the summer and winter games. Still to organize them (with all the financial burden) and participate at any edition (with all … Continue reading "The Olympic Games" The post The...

I have a question for you. You’re playing black against a legendary former world champion. What move would you play here? While you’re considering your answer, I’d like to consider a typical opening tactic. At beginner level, very many games see a pawn fork in the centre of the board. This might be, from White’s … Continue reading "Istvan Csom RIP" The post Istvan...

Last week, I mentioned that we would be examining defending against discovered and double discovered attacks/checks as well as looking at how to employ a double discovered check. I am going to present that to you next week because I want to address creating combinations, which are a sequence of moves that create tactical opportunities. … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Twenty...

Starting tomorrow evening I will be running webinars for Tiger Chess Premium members. The first four have already been scheduled for August 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th and recorded versions will be available for a few weeks should somebody miss one. The first major topic is that of Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire. I think … Continue reading "Tiger Chess Webinars" The post Tiger Chess...

IM Kostya Kavutskiy The inspiration for the title of this post came from an identical tweet of Kostya I came across about two weeks ago. It was like an “Eureka!” moment. All of a sudden all made perfect sense to me. You can smile if you want and think that I am irreversibly attracted by … Continue reading "“Tactics are temporary, endgames are permanent”" The post...

Two positions taken from Ray Cannon’s excellent new book of endgame stratagems. It’s White to play in each case. White has to move his king to the f-file, but should you choose f1 or f2? The answer is that you have to move your king to the same colour square as that occupied by the … Continue reading "Battle of Endgames: 2" The post Battle of Endgames: 2 appeared first on The...

This week, we are going to look at discovered attacks. There are actually four types of discovered attacks to examine; the discovered attack, the double discovered attack, the discovered check and the double discovered check. Before you say to yourself, “this guy wants us to learn four different tactics in a single lesson,” let me … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Twenty...