Openings

Openings: Finding a good one is not an easy task. Many club players get confused with all the information available and are not sure what to select. Things become especially tricky when it comes to playing with black pieces. Should you play the Sicilian, Spanish, or Caro-Kann? How should you study them and where do […]

Guimard variation of the French Defense starts with the move 3…Nc6 against white’s solid 3.Nd2 known as the Tarrasch variation. Black’s idea is quite simple, but also logical. First, he develops a piece with tempo, attacking the center. When white defends the d4 pawn, say with 4.Ngf3, then he plays another developing move and renews […]

Wesley So is a Filipino chess prodigy currently representing the US. He is the number 2 rated chess player in the world behind only Magnus Carlsen. He set a record by being the youngest player to cross 2600, previously held by Carlsen. So has a very aggressive and tactical style, and likes to sacrifice his […]

Evans Gambit is an aggressive line of Giuoco Piano. The opening is named after William Evans, who is the first player to use it. This opening quickly became a popular choice for many great masters including Anderssen, Morphy, and Chigorin. Eventually, Emanuel Lasker came up with the novelty that allowed getting an upper hand by […]

Isolated queen’s pawn positions are incredibly rich in ideas for both sides. The discussion on how there are several possible ways to play these types of positions for both sides is never-ending. In this article we will discuss a very important structure that occurs often in such positions; see the following diagram.

Kamsky’s Way – Sicilian Dragon: The Sicilian is the number one enemy for 1.e4 players. Nowadays it’s almost impossible to play against the Sicilian without having a strong theoretical preparation. This approach requires a long time to memorize not only the main lines but also the so-called playable secondary lines which are often the most […]

Bird’s opening is a standard flank opening which is characterized by the move 1.f4! White’s main idea involves controlling the strategic e5 square. This offers great attacking possibilities, but slightly weakens the king’s side. This opening move is ranked 6th by popularity. This opening is not something you will see very often in GM tournaments, […]

King’s Indian Attack vs. the Dragon: We are always on the look to learn new opening ideas to surprise our opponents in the future. It doesn’t really matter whether it is an opening that we play or not; we see someone playing something and if it’s enough interesting for us we take a deeper look […]

Improve Your Openings! Every chess player, of any level, is constantly trying to improve and show his best chess over the board. In order to successfully accomplish this, it is important to study all three phases of the game: opening, middlegame, and endgame.

Vienna Game was developed at the end of the 19th century. The main idea of this opening is to defend the e4 pawn and the d5 square, launching an attack with quick f2-f4. This is a rare opening, and cannot be often seen in Grandmasters’ games. Black has strong counter-chances with d7-d5 push. This is […]