Articles

In chess, the f7 (f2) square is well known as the “Achilles Heel” of the position. The name has been given from the fact that this is the weakest point in each player’s camp. If you take a look at every initial pawn square, you will notice that this one is the only one that’s […]

Continuing our series of typical sacrifices in the middlegame, we are going to present you in this article the double bishop sacrifice. It starts out as a classical bishop sacrifice on h7 (h2), but giving up the other bishop too on g7 (g2) can prove devastating for the king’s security.

In today’s article we will focus on one very important positional element of chess, the exchange sacrifice. The exchange sacrifice occurs when one side gives up its rook for the opponent’s minor piece. That can be done for various reasons. Some of the most common motifs for the exchange sacrifice are the destruction of king’s […]

Today we are going to discuss a theme that can occur relatively frequently during the games of any chess player. Commonly known as the classical bishop sacrifice, or the Greek gift sacrifice, it can turn out to be a lethal weapon. No matter how easy it might look, this tactical idea still needs a decent […]

Sicilian Taimanov is one of the toughest Sicilians to play against. In recent years, this line has become one of the main weapons for black against 1.e4. This rising popularity is given by the success obtained by top Grandmasters with it. Not only elite players like Vishy Anand, Topalov, and Ivanchuk employ it from time […]

Endgame combinations, and what’s more the greatest ones, are going to be talked about in today’s article. Those combinations are played by some of the finest chess players like Kasparov, Fischer, Alekhine, Karpov, Euwe, etc. These combinations are simply brilliant and if you understand the motifs and ideas you will be able to increase your […]

Sharp Openings and 7 Reasons to Play them. Many chess players are unsure about what kind of openings they should play. These players prefer to stay on the safe side and to play “safe-looking”, quiet positions, which lead to similar continuations time after time. While staying in the comfort zone is good, if you want […]

Mariya Muzychuk, queen of women’s chess has graced the cover of this issue. She earned her crown recently when she won the world championship for women. All the games of the event find their place here, several with annotations. The tournament had its highs and lows with a few players lacking preparation.

   Alapin variation (2.c3) is among the most popular lines against the Sicilian defense. This dynamic opening variation is played at every level, from club players to strong Grandmasters. Sveshnikov, Tiviakov, and Rozentalis are among the group we can consider experts on the Alapin, but it has also been played by World Champions like Anand, […]

Sacrifices are one of the most mysterious and at the same time the most exciting parts of chess. What can be better than to sacrifice a queen and to finish the game with a well-calculated, yet very elegant mate in 5? In today’s article, we will see some of the best sacrifices the world of […]