In parts one, two, and three of this article, I described the unusual concept of "doing nothing." In this article we'll discuss when it is appropriate to use this idea. Once upon a time, I showed my game vs. Nakamura as an example of "doing noth...
In part two of this article, I described how I came up with a weird looking, but nevertheless efficient, plan of treating an unpleasant middlegame in my game vs. Hikaru Nakamura. For in-depth analyzation of the study-like endgame in this encounter...
In last week's article, we started an analysis of a bizarre game I played ten years ago in the U.S. Championship. The key moment happened around move 15 when, quoting the ChessBase article, Serper "started moving his bishop back and forth between ...
I cannot tell you, my dear readers, how many times I've had this conversation with my younger students while we analyze their games: "What did you try to accomplish with your last move?" "Nothing!" "Then why did you play it?" "I don't know...
Last week we discussed one of the most powerful chess weapons: a discovered check. Today you can hone your tactical skills by solving our big test. These puzzles have many different tactical themes, but all of the combinations are based on discove...
Let me start today's article with a little brain teaser. What can every single chess piece (that is king, rook, bishop, knight or pawn) do that a queen can't? You'll find an answer to this question at the end of the article. Today we'll talk abo...
Any chess player who is familiar with the enormous heritage of the great Nimzowitsch should know his "Immortal Zugzwang Game." The last move of the game is a treat for a real chess connoisseur: In his book, Nimzowitsch expressed h...
There are chess games that have their own names. Everyone knows the 'Evergreen Game', the 'Immortal Game', the 'Opera Game', etc. We enjoy the genius and tactical skills of the winners and their names are engraved in the Golden Book of Chess. But ...
In the first two parts of this series we discussed the cases where White firmly occupies the key central d5-square with one of his pieces. If such a centralized piece cannot be successfully challenged, Black usually experience serious problems. Bu...
Last week we analyzed a common situation that happens in many different openings. Black voluntarily creates a 'hole' on the d5 square hoping to compensate it with activity of his pieces (it is especially typical for certain variations of the ...
Many openings (especially when you play Black) have specific strategical problems typical for that particular opening. If you play the French Defense, then the bishop on c8 is your constant headache. In the Tarrasch Defense you need to live with a...
As you might remember, in the "Personal Mona Lisa" series we analyze the best games played by strong chess players who as a rule are not that well known. Of course most of you probably heard about GM Isaac Kashdan thanks to his numerous books and ...
We have just entered 2014 which is the year of the Wooden Horse. It should be a lucky year for people who take care of their wooden horses on a daily basis. Of course I am talking about chess players. For the majority of people the Wooden Hor...
Last week's column provoked a lot of comments. Most of you enjoyed the humorous puzzles, but some readers had different opinions. Some of them were quite interesting. Like one of the readers wrote: "Seems a bit silly to invent your world with its ...
Today we'll talk about the positions with the shortest possible checkmates. I almost hear your question: “Are you talking about checkmate in one move?” No, we actually discussed this kind of checkmates here, but today we will talk abou...
Last week we discussed the 'impossible' checkmate with just a king and a knight and today we'll analyze a similar 'impossible' checkmate with a king and a bishop. As all of you know, king + bishop cannot checkmate a lone king. But if you add...
What is an impossible checkmate? If you open any book for beginners it will inform you that a king and a lonely knight cannot checkmate an opponent's king. Moreover, if you only have a king and a knight and your opponent lost on time in an Interne...
I decided to write on this subject after I saw the discussion in the comments section of last week's article where we talked about the tricky B+N checkmate. Somebody asked the question "why not Kd1 ??? what must we do after 58.Kd1 ??" Let's look a...
I call the endgame king+bishop+knight vs. a lonely king an 'embarrassing' endgame because I know too many cases where chess players left a chess board embarrassed. Indeed, just imagine how would you feel if you had a theoretically winning endgame,...
Most chess players discover this pattern thanks to the next notorious game (I give it as a puzzle, so you can try your tactical skills!) There is a strong evidence that the game is a fake and was never actually played but it is irrelevant fo...
The so-called Lasker variation of the Scandinavian Defense (a.k.a. Center Counter) arises after this sequence of moves: I was not able to find one single game where the second world champion played the variation named after him. My guess is...
The pattern that we are going to discuss today is extremely common in the Sicilian Defense (the Dragon variation in particular). Therefore, if you play this opening for either color, you might want to memorize this useful tactical pattern. The r...
The pattern of the Crafty Queen requires Qh3, Ne5 and a bishop on the diagonal b1-h7 (usually Bd3) for White, and the black king should be castled to the kingside. Superficially it looks like the white queen is only looking at a good opportunity t...
The combination we are going to discuss today happens mostly in openings. The key features of the pattern are: The opponent's king is surrounded by his own pieces that block all the escape squares except two. Your bishop covers two remaining ...
