IM Renier Castellanos - Author at TheChessWorld Blog
IM Renier Castellanos is a Spanish chess player and coach who was born in 1982. He had a peak FIDE rating of 2528 and has 2 GM Norms.
He also holds the title of FIDE Trainer.
He has also won several tournaments in Spain and abroad.
He is also a popular online instructor who teaches chess students of various levels and ages on online platforms.
He has produced many chess courses and videos on topics such as positional chess, openings, endgames, and tactics.
Chess Articles by IM Renier Castellanos
Isolated Queen’s Pawn: 4 Things to Know
Positions in which an isolated central pawn appears are a common element in chess. In this article, we will look deeper into the advantages of this pawn structure and how to exploit them. First of all, to know how to play these positions (no matter what side you’re on) we must understand certain concepts about […]Fundamental Pawn Structures: Hanging Pawns
Continuing our series of strategy and middlegame articles we are going to dedicate this issue to the pawn formation known as ”hanging pawns”. *** See the next diagram. **Avoiding the Sicilian Labyrinth with the Chekhover Variation
The Sicilian is black’s main response to the move 1.e4. Many 1.e4 players spend a considerable amount of time studying the main lines of the Najdorf Sicilian or the Dragon and, no matter how much time they dedicate to these variations, preparation never seems sufficient. There are simply too many choices, too many possible weapons […]Fighting the Slav Defense with the Rausis Gambit
The Slav defense is possibly among the top three choices for black against 1.d4. After the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3, white not only must know the main line of the Slav with 4…dxc4 but also, but he should also be prepared against the move 4…e6, the Semi-Slav variation. The amount of […]3 Club Players Games Annotated by IM Renier Castellanos
In today’s article we picked 3 of the games played by the club players and analyzed by IM Renier Castellanos. These games were submitted to us by players who signed up for our training course during the live lecture event. It is always interesting (and very educational indeed) to observe the difference in thinking and […]Fighting the French Defense with 3.Nd2
The French defense (1..e6) is one the most popular responses to 1.e4 in contemporary chess tournaments. It gives black possibilities to create unbalanced positions in a very early stage of the game. Unlike the Sicilian, the positions arising are considerably more closed, with pawns chains in the center.The King’s Indian Defense – Mar del Plata Variation
The King’s Indian Defense remains one of the main weapons to play for a win against white’s 1.d4. This ever popular defense has had its ups and downs through the history of modern practice. It started getting very popular during the 50’s, with the help of players like Bronstein, Geller, and Gligoric.3 Best Games of the Week: How to Beat a Grandmaster
This one was a major upset at Revjiavik Open just a few days ago. Fide Master (FM) Daniel Bisby (2321) from England defeated one of the top Grandmasters, no less than Sergey Movsesian (2665). With very creative play in a Kings Indian Attack white managed to breakthrough black’s setup. A game worth seeing.The Queen’s Gambit Declined: Alternative Plans
In our previous article on the Queen’s Gambit declined we mentioned the main plans for white in the Carlsbad structure seen below:3 Best Games of the Week – 3
This week we will analyze the games Mamedyarov – Ivanchuk, Navara – Nepomniachtchi and Bartel – Nepomniachtchi. The first game shows an interesting way to play against the Capablanca variation of the Nimzo Indian defense. In the second game Navara shows how to outplay black with a rare line against the symmetrical English. And finally, […]
