Imagine this. You are playing a serious game at a tournament. You racked your brains for another couple of minutes and figured out that the e3 square is the best one for your Rook, and lo! One from the audience shouts out, “you missed a checkmate in two moves!”What? It can’t be. Well yeah, it really is. You do an instant facepalm and remember when your coach would keep … [Read more...] about The ultimate guide to checkmates in chess
2 Checkmating Techniques for Beginners
So, you played a good game―securing materialistic advantage early on, exchanging the pieces off the board and entering into a chess endgame that probably involves the opponent’s King and your King plus one or multiple of the “heavy” chess pieces―the Rook(s), the Queen or both (yay!).Now what? I will teach you two checkmating techniques that you can apply right away to crush … [Read more...] about 2 Checkmating Techniques for Beginners
Why so few women chess players?
Perhaps, it’s me but the stark gender bias in chess always astounded me. High-rated women chess players are few and far between. Why is there such a scarcity of female presence at the top level of this sport or profession?One thing raised my eyebrow when R Praggnanandhaa became a GM and got all that publicity but does anybody know that Vaishali R, his sister, is already one … [Read more...] about Why so few women chess players?
Excel At Chess Blitz & Bullet Games (4 Simple Tips!)
Look up on chess.com, chess24.com or lichess.org and you will see that most titled players are playing blitz games. Chess blitz and bullet games are quick and fun, and if you want to improve your chess impulses, chess blitz and bullet games are an absolute must!In fact, if you look through these forums, I would go as far as to say that 80 percent of high-level games are … [Read more...] about Excel At Chess Blitz & Bullet Games (4 Simple Tips!)
8 Endgame Rules For Beginners
Chess endgames are where games are won. As long as you are playing chess players rated under 2000, tactics might win you games.However, in the higher echelon of chess, endgames are where most games are won.Chess masters do not fall prey to cheap tactics! In fact, they don’t fall prey to combinations either most of the time. (Yes, they are “masters” for a reason, after … [Read more...] about 8 Endgame Rules For Beginners
7 Aggressive Chess Openings For White
It has to be understood from the very first that no opening is aggressive in the pure sense. What I mean is, you can very well play any opening tactically or positionally, some leaning more on either side.But for a few openings, the tactical opportunities are far more than the rest. These are the openings where you might take the game toward aggressive middlegames faster … [Read more...] about 7 Aggressive Chess Openings For White
5 Grandmaster Endgame Winning Secrets
Chess endgames are an enigma for many beginning and even intermediate players. They practice tactics and strategy and go through numerous games analyses, but they ignore one important aspect of the game: the endgames.Endgames are where games are won. If you are the kind of player that leaves endgame structures to a chance, you will have a hard time mastering chess. Or let’s … [Read more...] about 5 Grandmaster Endgame Winning Secrets
8 Chess Pawn Structures To Study
8 Chess Pawn Structures To StudyPawn structure, in the words of IM Jeremy Silman, is "the positioning of the whole pawn mass. Also referred to as the pawn skeleton. This positioning of the pawns is what usually dictates the types of plans available in a given position due to open files, space, pawn weaknesses, etc."According to the Philidor quote, “pawns are the soul of … [Read more...] about 8 Chess Pawn Structures To Study
The King’s Pawn Game (1.e4 Opening)
King’s pawn opening, or as more commonly called the “e4 opening”, stands as one of the most popular chess openings since early times―indeed, the oldest known recorded game of modern chess, recorded as a poem in 1475, begins 1.e4.Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest of all time, when asked about 1.e4, said, “Best by test!” and proclaimed, “With 1. e4, I win.” Sure, he won a … [Read more...] about The King’s Pawn Game (1.e4 Opening)
The Scotch Opening In Chess
The Scotch Opening in chess is one of those few chess openings where the white is expected to go on aggressive mode right from the start. The white takes on control of the center and heads the initiative in development. (If you are one of those beginner chess players who are afraid of taking the initiative right away, the Scotch opening is a great opening to practice.)The … [Read more...] about The Scotch Opening In Chess