Yes, I did another “Little Things” article (highlighting IM Cyrus Lakdawala again). Why another? Because I think it’s very instructive. See (and understand) a ton of these and your chess IQ should skyrocket. Once again, I am...
In our last “Little Things” article, I made use of specific moments in IM Cyrus Lakdawala’s games to teach you how to deal with common, instructive situations. I am giving you another five rich puzzles. But please understand th...
I am going to do something a bit different. I am going to look at the games of the most prolific (and nicest), chess writer in the world: IM Cyrus Lakdawala. Of course, Fred Reinfeld, who died in 1964, wrote more than 100 chess books. That will be...
Most lower-rated players want to improve their game, but many just want to slug it out in blitz and have a great time. I certainly understand that! However, for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard. Play oppon...
The Chess.com member kurniadigautama asked: Something has been bothering me since I saw the game between GM Vidit Santosh and GM David Eggleston in The Chess.com Isle of Man international open tournament (round 1). In the game, we see that Vid...
Everyone loves crazy tactics, and when all the games were brilliancy prizes it makes it even more fun. Imagine: If you solve it you can say, “I could have won that brilliancy prize!” Or, perhaps not. The tactics didn’t fall...
In March 2017, I looked to see who made the most official brilliancy prizes. This led to three articles. Mikhail Tal was number one with 15 brilliancy prizes: Tal's brilliancy prizes Anatoly Karpov and Rashid Nezhmetdinov both had 10, putti...
Once again I offer puzzles full of tactics or sharp attacks. And, as in the previous article, all of them won brilliancy prizes. I’m offering small bios so you know who these players are, and I often give lots of analysis and prose, w...
HOW TO START OUT I get many, many players (rated 800 to 1200) asking me what their style is, why do they lose when they had a better game, are their opponents cheating, how to get good fast, or simply how to get a higher rating. All thes...
Most amateurs run into the same problems: undefended pieces, being unaware of their opponents' best moves, falling victim to simple tactics, etc. Those things are common. However, once in a while you’ll see a player making one specific ...
One of the most important things in chess is willpower (a branch of chess psychology). Most players glance at a possibility, shrug it off as too risky or just plain bad or boring, and toss out some generic move instead. This, of course, is...
After sharing positional puzzles to the raging masses, I thought that it was only right to offer tactical puzzles and sharp attacks. However, there’s a tiny blip: All these games won brilliancy prizes. Anyway, whether you solve it or not,...
Welcome again to another learning chess experience. You will look at eight positional puzzles and, as you finish each one, you will click the question mark (“?”) underneath the board next to the light bulb. This will allow you to se...
I’ve done positional puzzles twice. Since a lot of people enjoyed them, I’ve decided to do it again, and perhaps again and again. It’s certainly a good way to learn positional ideas. Here are the original two articles: ...
I get so many questions and statements about chess, but being old (yep, 108 years old…don’t worry though, the friends that are still alive tell me that I don’t look more than 98) means that all those questions have been asked ov...
The Chess.com member KBToys7 wrote: I am writing to you out of frustration. I’ve bought several books on chess; on openings, middle games, endgames, tactics, strategy and more. I’ve completed dozens of lessons offered here on Chess....
1886 was an epic year. Though past players were viewed as the world chess champion, there never was an official title. Now the two best players in the world (Zukertort and Steinitz) would butt heads and the fans of both players would have to accep...
When Wilhelm Steinitz stepped into 1870 he was still tossing tactics here and there, never fearing anything at all. He was also coming up with various new opening ideas. One of these (eventually named the “Steinitz Gambit”) called for ...
This series on Wilhelm Steinitz isn’t about every detail of his life. It’s about some basics and, most important, the games. I’m writing this since whenever chess players get together and talk about the past top players...
The 1860s were very good for Adolf Anderssen, who was still at his peak. He won several important tournaments and was also successful in most of his matches. However, new players were appearing, such as Ignatz von Kolisch, Steinitz, and Zukertort....
Adolf Anderssen (born 1818) was born in the German Empire (Breslau, which is now Wroclaw, Poland). He learned how to play chess at the age of nine, and learned much of his chess understanding by going over all the games of the legendary Labourdonn...
For those that enjoyed my previous article, Test Your Positional Chess, let’s do it again. It’s fun to follow positional concepts, and it’s also extremely instructive. Please keep in mind that these puzzles aren’t li...
I have gotten lots of people asking about positional chess. Some think it’s one or the other (either positional play or tactics), and others think that positional chess is out of their reach. Both are wrong. Anyone can learn solid posi...
Editor's note: IM Silman publishes a roundup of messages received from Chess.com members. The Chess.com member RuleDomain said something about a group called the “Silman Stalkers.” After hearing that, I make sure I lock the door and ...
