The name Pavel Eljanov may not be the most famous among chess amateurs, perhaps because he is not seen very often at elite tournaments or because his games are rarely combinative games. However, GM Eljanov (now rated 2717) is a very strong player from Ukraine, part of the Olympic team, consolidated for years on the group above 2700.

Continuing our series of typical sacrifices, this time we take the time to discuss a common idea in the Sicilian, the piece sacrifice on b5. It's a common idea, and it should be well known to the Sicilian experts.

Excelling at technical chess is a quality rarely found below top level chess. The ability to convert winning positions into a full point with certainty is something every player should work on until it is polished at a medium/high level. As you already can imagine, this is easier said than done and even Grandmasters struggle with this issue at times. In this article, we wanted to shed some light in an endgame that may seem easy at first sight but still takes a fair amount of work in order to bring home the full point. As you already can imagine, this is easier said than done and even Grandmasters struggle with this issue at times. In this article, we wanted to shed some light in an endgame that may seem easy at first sight but still takes a fair amount of work in order to bring home the full point.