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Have you ever played an opponent who is 400 points higher rated than you are? If you’re playing chess regularly I bet you did. According to the statistics if player is 400 points higher rated he will win at about 95% of games. But do not get disappointed and read on. There is a pretty good chance that after reading this little article and following this basic guidelines YOU will be in that 5% who manage to draw or even win a game against much stronger party. So, why do these high rated players beat weaker ones? Well, they are well trained: high rated players know openings well, they have good chess vision, their tactics level is high and they know really well how to play and win theoretical endings.

Online chess is fun. Online chess is cool. Online chess is easy to play. But have you ever think about how much time do you spend playing online chess and later wondering why are you not doing well over the board, at real “wooden” chess (or may you be using plastic USCF chess set) somewhere on the Atlantic Open with standard time control? While playing online most people most commonly play so-called quick chess, with time control 10 or 15 minutes for game or even shorter. This kind of chess has NO REAL VALUE for improving your standard time control chess.

Here is a very nice collection of greatest chess players of XX century. If you know well the characters of these players you will easily understand why one or another player is presented the way he is. We all know that Tahl was a great fighter and never accepted (well… almost never) draws. That’s why he is presented in form of boxer with the chess board on a boxing glove. Karpov was famous for his prophylactic moves, so he is shown in from of archer. Smyslov treated chess more like an art than a sport. He is a music composer in this collection. There are total of 13 chess grandmasters in this collection: Karpov, Kotov, Tahl, Botvinik, Pologaevski, Smyslov, Boleslavski, Keres, Spaski, Bronstein, Petrosian, Stein, Taimanov.

At what age is it better to learn to play chess? Maybe at 5 years old maybe at 10.
Basically the earlier kid starts to play chess the better, since young mind is more flexible and learns things faster.
However, I believe that it’s mostly matters not when you start playing chess, but how much time and effort you dedicated to that game. If you start playing at 6 you may become a grandmaster by 16 with right training and talent. If you started at 30 maybe you’ll be able to become a grandmaster by 40.

We all know that chess programs become extremely popular among players of all levels. But what’s so great about all these modern Rybka, Fritz, Junior, Crafty, Shredder and zillion of other chess engines? How to use these chess monsters to improve your game? If you’re interested to know answers to questions above keep reading.

Everyone wants to learn about chess strategy. Players believe that if they learn more about this magic thing called “strategy” they’ll win every single game. But what chess strategy really is? Is it attack or defense, style of playing or evaluation of positions, set of rules, or tactics? No, my friend, I’m not trying to confuse you, just to show that chess strategy covers all of the above to some extent.

Wikipedia defines chess strategy as an evaluation of chess positions and setting up goals and long-term tactics for future play.