Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Studying chess made easy
The reason studying chess is so hard for so many is simple: We make it hard.
Andrew Soltis, Studying Chess Made Easy
Chess eBooks is the future - and update them often
Chess eBooks is the future, for many reasons.
It's economically easier to update them.
It's easier to update them when errors has been found in a previous edition.
It's easier to update a opening eBook than a opening paper book.
It's easier to travel with hundreds eBooks than hundreds paper books.
You don't need to have so many bookshelves.
And a opening eBook should be updated once a year (at least in popular opening variations), and not every 5-10 years as normal with paper books. Tournament players don't like to wait 5-10 years on a updated opening book about the Sicilian Najdorf, Sicilian Dragon, French, Ruy Lopez, Slav, Grünfeld, Queen's Indian, English etc.
Since eBooks are cheaper to produce, do not require paper and ink, and have no shipping charges, eBooks should be cheaper for readers to buy. Right now, some publishers make eBooks just as expensive as paper books, but this will change in time. Jeremy Myers |
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Key question
Keep in mind the key question:
What squares are no longer defended?
Once you have that you have the secret of chess.
Maurice Ashley, The Secret to Chess
Strengthen your position
…every move you make should strengthen your position in some way.
Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Mastering Typical Positions
One of the best ways to improve your chess is learn how to play certain typical positions.
Article (pdf format) by Nigel Davies at ChessCafe.com.
More articles by Nigel Davies at ChessCafe.com:
Collection articles 2003-2011
Endgame: The rear lights of passed pawns
"Simple" pawn endings can be surprisingly tricky.
Article (pdf format) by Karsten Müller at ChessCafe.com.
Karsten Müller's Endgame Corner at ChessCafe.com.
Friday, March 25, 2011
g2-g4 in the opening
Is g2-g4 a important move for white to play in the opening? If so, is there a best moment to play g2-g4?
Should white play g2-g4 before castle? Or is it best to play g2-g4 after castle?
1.g2-g4
A little too early, even if it was interesting to look at games played by IM Michael Basman and read his book The Killer Grob.
2.g2-g4
Too early. Gambits like 1.d4 f5 2.g4 and 1.d4 Nf6 2.g4 has been played. Nothing that scares a Grandmaster.
3.g2-g4
Probably still too early.
4.g2-g4
It starts to get interesting, but probably still too early.
5.g2-g4
Interesting, but probably still a little too early. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4 has for example been played. One game is Kovacevic - Seirawan, 1980
6.g2-g4
Now it becomes really interesting. Not sure it's the best moment...
But white has won many games with a 6.g2-g4: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4 (Game collection)
7.g2-g4
A little better moment than 6.g2-g4? Maybe not. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 a6
7.g4 e5 8.Nf5 h5 (Game collection)
Another opening with a 7.g4: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Black should be ok. (Game collection)
8.g2-g4
Black looks ok after 8.g4 in the following lines: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 b4 9.Nce2 (9.Na4 Bd7 Game collection) 9...h6 (Game collection)
9.g2-g4
Black can play 8...b4 and stop white from playing 9.g2-g4:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 b4 9.Nce2 (9.Na4 Nbd7 Game collection) 9...e5 (Game collection)
If you want to castle before playing g2-g4:
14.g2-g4 or 15.g2-g4
Not unusual for white in the Sicilian Dragon to wait with g2-g4 this long:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.g4 (Game collection)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 b5 15.g4 (Game collection)
A 15.g2-g4 in the Sicilian Scheveningen:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be2 a6 7.a4 Nc6 8.Be3 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3 Rb8 13.Qd2 Bd7 14.Nb3 b6 15.g4 Black looks ok. (Game collection)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Aronian - Anand, 20th Amber (Rapid) 2011
I believe in safety first.
Levon Aronian
The game at Chessgames.com
Article about the opening Queen's Gambit
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Topalov and the Anti-Moscow Gambit
Position in the Anti-Moscow Gambit after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3
4...e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 (Game collection)
Veselin Topalov about the Anti-Moscow Gambit:
What is important in this variation is that, simply with any new move,
if you don't know the exact response - then you are not worse, you
are simply lost.
Topalov - Gelfand, 20th Amber (Rapid) 2011:
The game at Chessgames.com
Videos Amber Chess at blip.tv
Correspondence Chess Tournament CCCA-60
Some games from the correspondence chess tournament CCCA-60 (The 60th Anniversary tournament of the Canadian Correspondence Chess Association).
The games began on April 1, 1981. The tournament was finished on May 31, 1985. Erik Bang from Denmark was the clear winner.
Games CCCA-60:
Jean Hébert - Terje Wibe
Lars Hyldkrog - Jean Hébert
Horst Rittner - Dick Smit
Horst Rittner - Juan Morgado
Dick Smit - Bob Kiviaho
Hendrik B. Sarink - Keith Richardson
The book Diamond Dust at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk with all the 105 games from the correspondence chess tournament CCCA-60.
Braingames World Championship 2000
Games from the match Kasparov - Kramnik, London 2000 (Braingames World Championship), annotated by Karsten Müller (pdf format).
More about the match Kasparov - Kramnik, 2000:
Article written by Jonathan Berry about game 2.
The games at Chessgames.com
Article Wikipedia
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Samples free chess lessons
Samples (pdf format) of free chess lessons from ChessMasterSchool.com
Think like a strong player, Part 1
Making decisions in chess
Chess Tactics - the first lesson
When the grass looks greener on the other side...
When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there.
Cecil Selig
What Answers.com has to say about it:
Link
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Master Game: Lothar Schmid - Bent Larsen
Video from the 1980 game Lothar Schmid - Bent Larsen, played in the BBC Master Game Trophy chess tournament.
Link to video at YouTube.
The game at Chessgames.com
Game Collections: Openings E90 - E99
Links:
E90 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3
E91 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2
E92 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5
E93 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 Nbd7
E94 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0
E95 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Re1
E96 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Re1 c6 9.Bf1 a5
E97 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6
E98 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1
E99 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.f3 f5
Petrosian - Spassky, 1960 - annotated by Boris Spassky
Link to an article with the game Petrosian - Spassky, 1960, annotated by Boris Spassky.
The game at Chessgames.com
Pawn sacrifice in the opening: Capablanca's guideline
"I remembered Capablanca's guideline that a pawn sacrifice in the opening is usually sound if the opponent's development is delayed by at least three moves".
Link to an article by Dan Scoones.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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