Οι παραδοσιακές διεθνείς σκακιστικές εκδηλώσεις «Ίκαρος» θα πραγματοποιηθούν από 10 έως 19 Ιουλίου 2020 στο Αθλητικό Κέντρο Αγίου Κηρύκου, καθώς και σε εξωτερικούς χώρους. Το κύριο χαρακτηριστικό της φετινής...

Παρά τις δυσκολίες λόγω της πανδημίας, ο Άγιος Κήρυκος ετοιμάζεται να φιλοξενήσει και φέτος τους σκακιστές που θα συμμετάσχουν στον "Ίκαρος 2020".Οι παραδοσιακές διεθνείς σκακιστικές εκδηλώσεις «Ίκαρος» θα...

ABBA Song More than a year ago I wrote an article covering two games where one side let winning slip through their fingers. You can review it HERE The past couple of weeks I was gifted another game from our online club tournament. An interesting detail from the game is that both players had 24 … Continue reading "Slipping Through My Fingers (2)" The post Slipping Through My Fingers (2)...

My third game of the season was against Ealing Juniors, one of the strongest teams in the league, and, as expected, I was facing one of London’s top young players. Against my opponent’s 1. d4 I chose my favourite Dutch Defence. 1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 A dangerous line which scores well … Continue reading "2019-20 Season (3)" The post 2019-20 Season (3) appeared first on The...

Pattern recognition is a key component to playing chess well. In fact, it’s the most important skill a budding future chess champion must master. When I first learned how to play, my teacher told me that the number of possible positions within a single game of chess was astronomical in size. I asked him, how … Continue reading "Ranks, Files and Diagonals" The post Ranks, Files and...

Γράφει ο Σεργκέι Τκατσένκο, ο οποίος κέρδισε το βραβείο για την καλύτερη σπουδή στο περιοδικό “64”, στον ετήσιο διαγωνισμό του 2001: «Συλλέγω σκακιστικά βιβλία. Βιβλία που αφορούν όχι μόνο τη σκακιστική σύνθεση αλλά...

“Errare humanum est…” Seneca This past weekend I found a piece of paper with the following position. It was from a practice game with one of my private students. I meant to include it in one of our lessons, which I might do anyway. In the same time I think it is a good fit … Continue reading "Bad Ideas (7)" The post Bad Ideas (7) appeared first on The Chess Improver.

For the last few weeks my club has been running online tournaments on Tuesday evenings (10 mins + 5 secs). These events are quite strong, attracting mostly our first and second team players, along with a few friends. Several of my games have been decided in the ending. How did I get on? I was … Continue reading "Lockdown Endings (1)" The post Lockdown Endings (1) appeared first on The Chess...

Σκακιστικό ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει ο νέος τόμος 30 του περιοδικού Μαρξιστική Σκέψη. Περιλαμβάνει το άρθρο του γνωστού δημοσιογράφου και σκακιστικού παράγοντα Κοσμά Κέφαλου, «Το σκάκι στην Κούβα. Από τον Καπαμπλάνκα ως...

When I ask my beginning students which piece is the most powerful, they generally answer “the King.” While seasoned players know that the Queen is the most powerful piece, beginners tend to think that power and value are the same thing. The Queen is the most powerful piece because of it’s ability to move along … Continue reading "Better Move That King" The post Better Move That...

“All rook endings are drawn” Siegbert Tarrasch What do you think of Tarrasch’s well known quote? Do you agree with it? Has it affected you in your games? How about the opinion this might have been said tongue in cheek? It generates for sure lots of questions and could take us down the rabbit hole … Continue reading "Rook and Pawn Endgames" The post Rook and Pawn Endgames...

Φ082. “Η σκοτεινή γυναίκα” του Έντουαρντ Γκρίφιθ του 1928 και μια σκακιέρα κοιτάζει τον καβγά των δυο, ένας θεατής και μια (ίσως σκοτεινή) γυναίκα. Ήταν μερικώς ομιλούσα ταινία (part-talkie), στην περίοδο της μετάβασης του...

Concluding this series of articles in which I ask Stockfish 11 to consider 4. Ng5 against the Two Knights Defence, I reach the famous Wilkes-Barre Variation. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc3 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 Black ignores White’s threat and calmly develops another piece. Can he really get away with this? 5. … Continue reading "Wilkes-Barre" The post Wilkes-Barre appeared first on The Chess...