What separates a grandmaster from an international master in chess?
It’s his level of positional understanding and ability to formulate an accurate strategy on ANY move, in ANY position, and at ANY time. The process is subtle and subliminal—not much on the outside, rather on the inside.
If you watch a GM commentate on a chess game, it looks as if he is spouting some “common sense” ideas.
BUT… it is not so.
Robert James Fischer, an icon of our sport, is perhaps one of the most studied chess players. He is famous for his universal playing style, excellent endgame technique, and his great contributions to chess in the form of chess writings, new ideas in a number of openings, and a new variant of chess, which is becoming more and more popular today, Fischer Random or 960 chess.
Many chess history experts keep arguing whom to consider the best chess player of all time, but we will try to stay away from it. The aim of this article is different. The idea is to familiarize the readers with the greatest chess players and their best games. That’s why I ranked the best chess players in chronological order, starting from the past. Also, I was considering not only their strength and achievements but also the influence they made on chess overall.
The chess super-tournaments held in a small Dutch town Wijk aan Zee are never boring. The reason lies behind a great composition of the participants. It is a place where the elite players (usually led by the World Champion) face less-known but still dangerous players, sometimes even rated below 2700.
As in any other sport, hard training is always the key to improving your level. If you want to become a better player, you need to get your chessboard out, set the pieces, and start training. A complete training plan should cover all stages of the game, especially the ones you struggle with. Some players prefer aggressive play, others positional.
Anatoly Karpov is one of the greatest chess players of all time. He became the 12th World Champion in 1975 and held this title until 1985. In 1993, he became FIDE World Champion and held this title until 1999. He had won over 160 chess tournaments and was one of the most successful and consistent chess players in the whole history.
Dominating all kinds of competitions, he had won a lot of games in a brilliant positional style. Those masterpieces are highly instructive and everyone who wants to improve at chess should learn them carefully.
Mikhail Tal, the eighth World Chess Champion, is well known for his aggressive and imaginative style of play. His ability to take the game into his territory, his unpredictable style, and the impressive tactical ideas he found in his games brought him the nickname “The magician of Riga”. Most of his games are full of tactics and crazy attacks, but what made him so famous and even feared among fellow chess players are his intuitive sacrifices.
Solving tactic exercises is easier than working on positional understanding and that might be the reason why so many people don’t pay enough attention to the latter one. But it is positional chess that often makes the difference between a strong player and an amateur. Chess masters can easily spot weaknesses in a position and target them. They see how to improve their pieces and also stop their opponents’ plans.
Grandmaster is not just the highest title in chess; it is also the dream of most chess players. But only the tiniest percentage of them eventually achieves it. How do they do that? Do they know any secrets? Are there any secrets at all? In this article, we will investigate what it takes to become a chess grandmaster. Let’s start by discussing the official requirements. Then, we will discuss the required skills.
The calculation is probably the most “sought after” skill that all strong players possess. At the club level calculation becomes even more important, as most games are decided by tactics. And it is no secret that calculation and tactics go hand in hand. Tiny improvement in the calculation allows you to easily leap into the next rating bracket, leaving your usual rivals far behind. It is a universal weapon that is present no matter what opening you are playing or whether you are up or down the material. Here are the 7 reasons you should start working on your calculation.
