Archive for October, 2012
Beautiful Chess Study Showcased by GM Almira Skripchenko
Solving checkmates in two all the time is one of the the best things you could do to your chess all through the year. We’ve got a nice difficult position from our award-winning podcast database Chess Killer Tips. White plays and mates in 2 moves. The chess podcast presented by guest star Almira Skripchenko.
Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Chess Puzzle: Remember Your Checkmate Patterns
Here is a nice position from Leningrad, 1973. Black has just played the 39th move of Kf6. Does White have a forced win here? Switch on your chess antennae and start thinking. You can later see the full game in the super chess applet Chess King. The chess puzzle is quite simple really. All you need is a little foresight and the lesson is to remember those checkmate patterns.
Strong Chess Ideas and Psychology: Forcing a Draw
Read the rest of this entry »
Monday Chess Puzzle: Find Fischer’s Killer Move
Black has managed to avert the g-7 checkmate by moving 30. …Qf8. However, Fischer has his killer move ready. Can you think like Bobby Fischer? White to play and Win.
Read the rest of this entry »
Weekend Chess King Class: Do You Know the Enfilade Trick?
Chess King is ready with an endgame lesson for you. There is a very useful technique called Enfilade. This position was taken from a 1737 chess book. Can you quickly spot how White plays and wins? Check your answer with the award-winning podcast series hosted by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bilbao Chess Masters: Carlsen-Anand 1-0
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen beat current world champion Viswanathan Anand in the ninth round of the Bilbao Chess Masters Final on Friday. Carlsen went for a pawn sac for which compensation was evident in the long-term. (Full report on Chess Blog.) In the position on the left, Black resigns after 30.a4. Can you understand why? Here is the game with the Chess King applet:
Read the rest of this entry »
12th World Champion Kosteniuk Beats 13th Hou Yifan in Eilat 2012
[New: see Alexandra’s Blog Post!] The most closely watched game in this month’s women’s chess took place today in the first round of the European Club Cup in Eilat, Israel. It confronted the 12th women’s world chess champion Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk to the 13th women’s world chess champion Hou Yifan. You recall that Alexandra beat Hou Yifan in 2008 to become the 12th women’s world chess champion (see video), but since 2010 Hou gained the upper hand, became world champion, and had been playing great chess, beating in a spectacular match Judit Polgar in Gibraltar, and boasting a rating of 2605 right now. So everyone was looking at this game very closely. Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Chess Combinations: Spot White’s Winning Move
Thursday is time for a quick chess refresher. Spot the winning combinations in these three positions for White. Simple enough. Don’t forget to continue your chess tactics training with the super Chess King software! (Answers in comments’ section)
Read the rest of this entry »
Cool Chess King Puzzle: Spot Winning Tactics
Read the rest of this entry »
Too-Simple-to-Miss Chess Killer Move! (Beginners’ Chess)
Here’s a puzzle that will make you feel really good because it’s way too simple to miss if you have just gone past the beginner-level. But, it’s one of those powerful ideas that we need when diluting from a middlegame to endgame. The White knight seems to be in control of the Black a pawns. Black to play and win!
Read the rest of this entry »
Winning Chess Combination, Capablanca Style
Read the rest of this entry »
Bilbao Chess Masters Final R6: Carlsen Beats Caruana’s French Defense
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has begun the Bilbao half of the Sao Paulo-Chess Masters final with a win over leader Fabiano Caruana. The game lasted more than four hours. The Norwegian held his own in the French defense game and entered the middle game with a slight advantage, which after a simplification of some pieces, ended up in a hard-fought but equal endgame. But, Caruana committed inaccuracies. (The round report is available at Chess Blog.) Run the Chess King applet to enjoy the game.
Read the rest of this entry »
Beautiful Chess Study Troitsky, 1924 <–Difficult so take your time!
A very beautiful 1924 chess study by Troitsky. In the position, do you know how White should play even though Black has an extra Bishop. Find the winning strategy for White and learn how to solve this study with our super #1 chess-learning videos from www.chesskillertips.com.
Master Chess King Showcase: Find Alekhine’s Idea vs Capablanca
This position came up way back in the 1927 World Chess Championship between the greats Alexander Alekhine and Jose Raul Capablanca. Alekhine has pinned down the Black Rook on c3 against the Black Queen on g7. Surely there has to be a win there. What is the way Alekhine won this? You can see the full game in the Chess King applet below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Simple Chess Trick: What’s White’s Winning Move?
Lazy Chess Puzzle for Sunday! Find the Beautiful Win
Chess King Puzzles for the Weekend: Checkmate in Three
Time for a Chess King tactics weekend refresher with some checkmates in three. Sit back, get that mug of coffee and switch off the cellphone. Here we go… White to play and checkmate in three in all the puzzles! (You will find the answers at the comments to the post.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Chess King Easy Puzzle: Should White Resign?
This position is from Graf-Kunte, Calcutta, 1996. Black has gone down the first rank and has a Rook+Queen battery threatening checkmate on h1. It is White to play. Should White resign?
Read the rest of this entry »
London Chess GP Gelfand-Kasimdzhanov 1-0 Find Strong Move
Heard of the Semi-Slav Moscow variation in chess? (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6) That’s the one that was employed in the Boris Gelfand-Rustam Kasimdzhanov game in the last round of the London Chess Grand Prix on Wednesday. (Full report on Chess Blog.) Black sacrificed a pawn with 12. …c5, but couldn’t regain the compensation. White also sacrificed an exchange to build connected passer-pawns down the b- and c-file. We pick up the game with the position on the left. Black has just taken the pawn 40….Nxc7! Of course, it’s all won for White. Understanding that the players were tired, Boris Gelfand played 41.Nxc7 and eventually won the game a few moves down. But, can you spot a real fun way/much stronger move to win the position at the 41st move for White?
Read the rest of this entry »
Chess King Showcase: Forcing a Won Endgame Naka-Giri 1-0
The position on the left is a won endgame by White from Hikaru Nakamura-Anish Giri at the London Chess Grand Prix Round 10 (Report on Chess Blog). However, this endgame comes with some great ideas going back all the way to 37.h3. See the position below.
Read the rest of this entry »