Life is about defining priorities and making choices. Sometimes we tend to overestimate or underestimate certain factors. Chess is not an exception. First of all, sometimes we misevaluate what’s happening on the board itself. Secondly, quite ofte...
Maybe you have heard of light and dark-square strategy. It is associated with exploiting weak squares of a certain color in the opponent’s camp. The main reason why squares can become weak is lack of control over them by pawns. If, additio...
The king is the main piece in chess, and the central object in any player’s thoughts. How do I protect my own king and checkmate the opponent’s monarch? While being quite valuable, the king can’t boast being mobile enough to figh...
While most of us prefer to be on the attacking side, quite often we end up under the opponent’s pressure. In fact, the nature of the pressure can lie in the chess realm and/or in the field of psychology. By chess pressure we mean a long-last...
Nowadays powerful chess engines have become routine assistants of competitive chess players. Both amateurs and professionals use them to analyze their games, prepare opening lines, evaluate certain positions, etc. Most websites that broadcast game...
The final part of the report about the Women’s World Team Chess Championship features the last three rounds. These are especially important in terms of the tournament’s results. Usually by that point everyone is tired, and the cost of making a mis...
From the battles of the early rounds to the middlegame of the tournament. Our team had to face two tough competitors – Georgia and China. Lately we have scored well against Georgia, but this time that wasn’t the case. The match was a really close...
The World Team Chess Championship is one of the most prestigious team events, although women’s championships have a very short history. This year’s edition in Mardin, Turkey was only the third. The previous two tournaments ended in the same way: 1...
If you missed it, the first half of this tournament report is here. And now for the decisive moment in the match-- The 5th round failed our expectations, and the Oldhands won again. Hort defeated Kulovana, who was fighting rather desperately in e...
The Snowdrops vs Oldhands match has been taking place in the Czech resort Marianski Lazne for fourt years in a row. The name of the event is connected with a movie which was quite popular in that country. There are two teams of 4 players each: mal...
A positional sacrifice implies giving away material for long-term positional advantages. Such exchange operations don’t lead to a straightforward win of the game or material. While any piece can be positionally sacrificed, the most common victims ...
Heavy pieces endgames are endgames when only queens and/or rooks and pawns are left on the board. The key factors are space and open files. Controlling a vital open file can be a decisive advantage. Here are the most typical plans you can employ ...
The European Team Chess Championship finished quite recently, on November 11th. This was my debut year. Generally speaking, this event is held once every two years, and attracts nearly all the top grandmasters from Europe. Exciting and fighting ga...
Rook endgames are the most common ones in chess. Unfortunately, they are also complicated both in terms of evaluation and in terms of knowing how to play them. Therefore, it is not surprising that Tarrasch used to say that “all rook endgames are d...
Right now I am taking part in the Russian Chess Teams’ (both men and women) training session for the European Team Championship. Generally speaking, such events last from 7 to 10 days and are held at a special boarding house. The idea is to change...
During a game each of us has to make choices. In some positions the choice is limited to a single playable continuation, but in most situations we have to consider a few alternatives. If there are many options, this process becomes a real challeng...
Today’s article will be based on a game that was played by me against GM Monika Socko at the recent European Club Cup. I will elaborate not only on the course of the game, but also offer general tips and approaches that can be applied in any chess...
Every year in Europe the strongest chess club among men and women is determined. This event is rather short, but very exciting. Among the participants you can see both elite grandmasters and pure amateurs. The main prize is a cup that the team get...
We often hear or say ourselves that “I got tired, and my brain went dead”; “I was tired and blundered”, “I didn’t have enough energy left for the last few rounds”. Standard time control tournaments are especially demanding, as they last a few days...
I have been playing chess professionally from my childhood, and most of my friends are also pros. Quite often amateurs send me emotional messages stating they are willing to start training intensively in order to become a grandmaster, and even mov...
In this article a popular pawn structure will be reviewed: when White has pawns on e5 and d4, and Black – on e6 and d5. It is typical of the Caro-Cann, French Defense, and can occur in other variations as well. For example, in the following game i...
The 61st Women’s Russian Championship took place in Moscow from August 18 to 29. This prestigious tournament didn’t get an adequate coverage in the chess media due to language barriers (most of the materials were available only in Russian), and th...
Here and there we can hear about people either wanting to earn a chess title, or wondering how and what for they are earned. Instead of offering a link to a formal encyclopedic page about this matter, I would rather share with you some insights ba...
When planning how to train, it is essential to know all the most efficient techniques. One can often hear the question: “Do you study chess on your own, or with a coach?” This leaves us under the impression that there are only two possible options...
