Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sun Nov 1, 2009 12:06am.
The Petroff defense is loved by super GMs and hated by the average chess players! Why so? Here is what the Wikipedia says about this opening: "The Petrov has a reputation of being dull and uninspired." Indeed, this is a weapon of choice for many... Read more »
6851 reads | 38 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:53pm.
The Ponziani Opening is one of the oldest openings in chess (it was mentioned for the first time in 1497!). Yet it was never really popular. Top chess players avoid it because Black has many reliable ways to equalize. For the club players the open... Read more »
4236 reads | 17 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:08am.
Before we start the discussion about the Latvian Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5), I have a confession to make. I never really trusted in this opening. It is one thing to play a risky King's Gambit and it is a totally different thing to play the same... Read more »
4145 reads | 26 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:16pm.
It is difficult to imagine a chess player who never fell into a well-known trap in the so-called Fried Liver Attack in the Two Knights Defense. It happened to me in my very first tournament. I played all the logical moves (1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc... Read more »
5254 reads | 39 comments | 0 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sun Oct 4, 2009 9:11am.
Last week when we discussed the Urusov Gambit, we learned that the safest option for Black was to transpose the game to a very old and reliable line of the Two Knights Defense. What an attacking player should do in this case? Well, the positi... Read more »
5678 reads | 24 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Sep 26, 2009 10:46pm.
Today we will examine the favorite opening of most beginners- 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 which is the Bishop's Opening. Of course, most beginners play 2.Bc4 with the sole purpose of playing 3. Qh5 and then 4. Qxf7 checkmate. Pretty quickly we all learn t... Read more »
5327 reads | 33 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
chessbibliophile on Sat Sep 26, 2009 4:51pm.
UltraCorr3 (CD)
Edited by Tim Harding
System requirement:chessBase 8 or higher version
ChessMail.2009
http://www.chessmail.com/
http://www.chess.com/article/view/ultracorr3part-i
Are you all ready for the treasure hunt? So here we go! Firs... Read more »
678 reads | 2 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
GM Julio_Becerra on Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:15am.
Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924), nicknamed "Black Death," started playing chess as an adult but reached master level in mere months. He learned how to play draughts as a child; however it was not until he heard about Paul Morphy's exploits a... Read more »
3629 reads | 43 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:16pm.
When we analysed the King's Gambit a couple of weeks ago, you could notice that even though this opening is a dream for a chess player looking for tactical complications starting right from the beginning of the game, there is still a major drawbac... Read more »
4476 reads | 20 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Sep 5, 2009 10:53pm.
Today we are going to talk about the Danish Gambit. The main concept of the opening is very simple. After the initial moves 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4 Bc4 cxb2 5. Bb2 White is down two pawns but he is ahead in development and his Bishops are... Read more »
3862 reads | 19 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:37pm.
Last weeks we discussed the King's Gambit as an ideal opening if you want to beat your opponent in 20 moves or less. Of course if your opponent defends very well and your blitzkrieg fails... well then you might question your decision to sac a pa... Read more »
5003 reads | 25 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:54pm.
In the first part of the article we learned some typical attacking ideas employed in the King's Gambit. Even though these articles cannot be a substitute for an opening manual, still today I would like to give you some basic ideas for how White... Read more »
5901 reads | 36 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Aug 15, 2009 11:18pm.
In the previous articles we discussed typical tactical patterns, good traps and bad traps, pawn promotions and Queen sacrifices. It is time to use this knowledge! Let's try to beat our next opponent in 20 moves or less! Of course we won't be a... Read more »
6759 reads | 47 comments | 9 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sun Aug 9, 2009 12:06am.
Today we will continue our discussion about the hidden power of little soldiers of chess. But first I would like to remind you of a very useful feature of the chess applets used by chess. com to replay the games. If you click "Solution" and t... Read more »
2407 reads | 22 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Aug 1, 2009 11:10pm.
Today we are going to talk about the unsung heroes of chess - pawns. In openings we are happy to sacrifice the little guys in order to get some positional or dynamic advantages (a strong center, lead in the development, etc.) and that's a purpose ... Read more »
15555 reads | 144 comments | 19 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:04pm.
Last week we analyzed the games where the castled King was attacked along the 'h'file. Today we'll continue this subject and see what happens when a fianchetto is involved. The good news about a fianchetto, it brings an extra defender ( a ... Read more »
2998 reads | 20 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Jul 18, 2009 11:08pm.
Last week we discussed the dangerous diagonal 'a5-e1'. Today we are going to talk about the most dangerous file. I think no other file can claim even a half of the number of Kings killed on the 'h' file. This is not a big surprise since the Rh... Read more »
3737 reads | 39 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
spassky on Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:38am.
When you are analyzing a combination during a game, sometimes your first go at it makes it seem as though it won't work. Many chess books about tactics suggest that you then reverse the order of the moves in the combination to see if that helps.... Read more »
1603 reads | 22 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
spassky on Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:26pm.
Sometimes a game comes down to which player can see further ahead. After dodging a bullet in the middlegame (where he almost loses a rook after initiating a combination), White finds himself in situation where he has to see as many as ten danger... Read more »
1216 reads | 9 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:38pm.
The subject of today's discussion was inspired by your comments, my dear readers. So let me thank you again for your comments and suggestions. Last week one of the readers suggested an article about long diagonals (a1-h8 and a8-h1). Actually we ... Read more »
4035 reads | 24 comments | 8 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Jul 4, 2009 11:18pm.
Before we discuss today's typical pattern, I would like to thank my readers again for their comments and feedback. One of you suggested to me to use the feature "Board Coordinates" so you can see the notation better. Today I'll try it for the ... Read more »
4648 reads | 39 comments | 11 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:52pm.
If you ask a chess player what opening is the most dangerous one in the sense that you can lose quickly if you don't know exact moves you are supposed to play, then most probably you'll hear the King's Gambit, the Sicilian Defense or some other no... Read more »
5301 reads | 35 comments | 15 votes:
Submitted by
Marvin2 on Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:53pm.
Everyone has there own tips and tricks now and again but here are a few tips to get you started.
1-Do not go for the ATTACK right at the start. Have a fortress ready so your enemy cannot attack and then go for it.
2-Try to protect ALL your piece... Read more »
584 reads | 8 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
GM Gserper on Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:56pm.
Before I present a new typical tactical pattern, I want to thank my readers for their comments, ideas and suggestions. Particularly I have to thank one of my readers who suggested that in the beginning of my articles I should mention a very usef... Read more »
4586 reads | 45 comments | 9 votes:
Submitted by
spassky on Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:29am.
Some chess books about tactics have puzzles for you to figure out. Most of them are neat, but you never see them in your games, so you wonder if studying them is even worth the effort. IT IS! But they don't just appear. You have to:1) Know t... Read more »
802 reads | 9 comments | 1 vote: