I’ve long insisted that the best way to improve (aside from playing stronger players) is to look at reams of master games. Most games between titled players have some important lesson hiding behind the moves, and I decided to make it easy fo...
Whether you’re trying to reach expert strength or a you're a beginner starting out, you will need a sound understanding of forming plans. Join GM Melikset Khachiyan in this video series as he explains the seven elements of assessing a positi...
Topic for May/June: The Endgame (Please start submitting questions concerning the above topic for the next column. Questions different from the above theme should be submitted to other Chess.com departments.) The Good and the Bad...
Last week, we discussed that in good hands a symmetrical position can be a very dangerous weapon. But judging by my own experience, it is more common that chess players try to use symmetry to achieve a draw playing against stronger opponent or whe...
There is a popular misconception amongst amateur players that a symmetrical position in chess inevitably leads to a draw. We already discussed here why playing a "copycat chess" can be extremely dangerous for your own position. Yet, there is a g...
What in the world is a chess dream? And how can such a thing help your game? This series is all about dreams (okay, it’s also about imbalances and patterns), and it’s presented in a question-and-answer format. Some of the positions will be hard t...
What in the world is a chess dream? And how can such a thing help your game? This series is all about dreams (okay, it’s also about imbalances and patterns), and it’s presented in a question-and-answer format. Some of the positions w...
"We have to play by the !@#$ rules!" -- Amanda Young, Saw II. In last week's article, we discussed a dangerous strategic concept, the saw. So, what should you do if your opponent turns it against you? Well, as Amanda put it, you should ...
Topic for next month: Speed Chess (Please start submitting questions concerning the above topic for the next column. Questions different from the above theme should be submitted to other Chess.com departments.) Question 1: (Submitted by Warri...
What in the world is a chess dream? And how can such a thing help your game? For those that want the full introductory prose, please go to part one of this series. For the busy masses who have things to do and places to go, here’s a nutshe...
"I want to play a game." -- John '"Jigsaw" Kramer (from the movie Saw). You all probably know this cliche from many horror movies: A group of people are having fun (like a bunch of drunk college kids partying in a remote location), upbeat...
What in the world is a chess dream? And how can such a thing help your game? For those that want the full introductory prose, please go to part one of this series. For the busy masses who have things to do and places to go, here’s a nutshell expl...
In general, most players view imbalances as positional commodities. However, though that’s certainly true, one also has to learn to recognize dynamic and tactical imbalances. To be a good player, you need to learn as many tactical and posi...
As I’ve often said, when mastering a new concept it’s important to first study the concept’s basic nuts and bolts, look at all variations of that concept, and finally go over hundreds (even better is thousands) of games featuring...
The wait is finally over! You have tried every solution to fix those flabby pawn structures. You've cut every processed pawn from your diet. Yet, for some reason, you just cannot get rid of those doubled pawns! Finally, there is a better way! Fa...
In our study of squares we’ve looked mainly at amateur games and how a “tiny” thing like a square is often ignored, while tactics, threats and attacks are always part of the amateur’s mind. This brings up an interesting q...
At the recently concluded Grenke Chess Classic in Baden-Baden, Magnus Carlsen defeated German grandmaster Arkady Naiditsch in a scintillating blitz playoff for first place. It was the latest success in a dazzling career, an encore to his resoundin...
We’ll continue our exploration of squares by showing a couple of different ways one can milk them. Of course, a weak square or hole in the enemy camp can (and usually should) be used as a home for one’s pieces. We will look at that aspect of squa...
In our first two installments of “Mastering Squares,” we looked at some extremely instructive positions from one of my students. In the third installment, I stepped back and looked at square basics. Now that everyone is “on poi...
The year was 1985. Garry Kasparov just became the world champion, and together with his mentor, ex-world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, he was running the first session of the famous Botvinnik-Kasparov school. A group of young aspiring c...
I noticed that some readers had trouble understanding what a weak square is. I don’t like leaving people behind, so I am going to devote 75.23 percent of this week’s “Mastering Squares” article to square basics. Of course...
Some chess players love to play offbeat openings. I knew one class-A player who was a die-hard devotee of the Vulture Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 Ne4?!). He was showing me a book (why do they kill trees to publish such books?) that explaine...
Topic for next month: Chess Teaching (Please start submitting questions concerning the above topic for the next column. Questions outside of that theme should be submitted to other Chess.com departments. If I get a chance to tackle a different ty...
In part one, I discussed a game that I feel is extremely instructive. There were opening nuances, tactics, and the usual highs and lows. But the main thing that fueled the game’s soul was the existence of two potentially weak squares on e5 a...
