Articles
Yuri Bazlov (1947-) is an outstanding Russian composer with more than 200 studies to his credit. A number of them have won prizes. Here is his latest achievement.He shared the First and Second Prize with Oleg Pervakov in the Composing Competition held on the occasion of Tata Steel Tournament 2013. The study makes a stunning […]
Two years ago the chess world celebrated the 100th Birth Anniversary of Mikhail Botvinnik, the sixth world champion. Way back in 1980s the Patriarch, as he was known, authored a famous trilogy, Аналитические критические работы. This has been translated by Dr. Ken Neat and published as Botvinnik’s Best Games by Moravian Chess Publishing. The series […]
When should you trade pieces and go to the endgame? There is a good, general rule. When ahead, trade pieces; when behind trade pawns. When you are ahead, trade pieces to increase your material advantage.
An open file is a file that has no pawns on it. Either player can place a rook on an open file to control all of the squares on that file. A half-open file is a file that has pawns of only one color on it. A player can place a rook on a half-open […]
Annual money rankings are available for many reputable sports. For example, lists by Forbes (highest-earning tennis players; highest-paid NHL players, best-earning men in biathlon, etc.). Unfortunately, this is not the case with chess, where financial data is scarce, and secretly handing out fees in envelopes is still a widespread practice.
It is very important to understand different types of tactics in order to fully realize your chess potential. Previously we published articles on this topic, feel free to review Direct Tactics and Dynamic Tactics ideas before you jump into discovered tactics section. Discovered tactics occur when you move a piece out of the way to […]
In January 2013 Magnus Carlsen officially became the highest-rated chess player ever, beating the seemingly unsurpassable achievement of Garry Kasparov (2851). Magnus’ ELO reached a skyrocket height of 2861. However, after winning Tata Steel Chess Tournament Carlsen’s February FIDE rating is expected to be 2872, which is another record. Many people have announced a “countdown to […]
An outpost square is a square that cannot be attacked by the opponent’s pawns. If you occupy an outpost square with one of your pieces, it is difficult for the opponent to force your piece off that square. Since he cannot use a pawn to eject your piece, he must use another piece. Sometimes, there […]
1. A chess master died – after a few days, a friend of his heard a voice; it was him! “What’s it like, where you are now,” he asked. “What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news.” “Tell me the good news first.” “Well, it’s really heaven here. There […]
Weak squares are squares that are not attacked or defended by pawns. While pieces are busy doing other things, pawns are left to control the squares around them. Since pawns attack and defend diagonally, they control squares that are the same color as their own square. If most of your pawns are on dark squares, […]
