Author: Michel Hoetmer

The great photo quiz for chess players

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This is a fun quiz for chess history lovers. The quiz was created by Eric Roosendaal. The point is to recognize the 100 best or most famous chess players in history by their photos. The choice of the 100 most famous chess players is of course somewhat arbitrary or a matter of taste.

There are ten levels with ten images each. When you have completed a level, you will get access to the next level. You pass a level as soon as you identify all players. The levels are getting more and more difficult, so it can take some effort to reach a high level.

You have to type the answers, but in many cases the quiz allows for a few common spelling variations. Also, the answers are not case sensitive. And you have unlimited retries, so you can always correct mistakes.
On behalf of Eric I wish you a lot of fun. Start the quiz…

Chess puzzle #52: the bishop can’t do everything

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I have to confess that when solving chess puzzles I have the tendency to jump right in. In that way chess becomes a process of trial and error. With quite a lot of errors of course!

I think I can do better. Bit by bit I try to change my bad habits. One of the first things I do now is have a good look at the position. Are there any pieces en prise? What do the pawn formations tell me? Are there any threats? Can I find a motif? Are there any patterns?

If I look in this way generally things get a bit more easy. The motif in the diagram position is clear. White’s pieces are a somewhat “loose”. How can black use this motif to his own advantage? Solution…

Endgames can be highly tactical

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Off course there are general principles that apply to endgames. But mere intuition brings you most of the time nowhere. You have to calculate very careful.

See this, seemingly simple rook endgame. If it was black to move, he would have a very easy draw. See for example this variation…

But it is white to move. That makes all the difference in the world. But how? That’s maybe not so easy to spot. Do you see how white can win? Solution…

Here is another one!

Some moments after I finished this post, I surfed to chess.com. Chess.com shows every day a new puzzle. Sometimes these puzzles are quite hard to solve. This one is also a bit tricky. See the second diagram.

It is white to play and win. The first move is obvious. But then it gets a bit tricky. Do you see how to solve this one? Solution… 

Goes without saying that not all rook endings end in a draw!

What is the best move for black?

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This a position after white’s 25th move. It is from one of my own games. At our level we make (too) many mistakes. But it doesn’t mean that there are no interesting moments.

It is clear that black is much better. The white king is not safe and his pawns are weak. Compare both rooks and queens and it becomes clear that black has a winning advantage. But the situation is still a bit tricky and black can go astray very easy. What is the best move for black?

Solution …

Chess puzzle 49: neat moves

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Last Saturday I played my first game since March last year. I was a bit rusty. Although I solved a lot of tactical puzzles almost every day, I missed a simple (standard) tactic.

Even after missing this chance I still got a good game. And then? Disaster. I thought I could snatch a pawn. It turned out to be a bad miscalcultation and spoiled a promising position. After that things went down hill very fast ad I lost. Do you see what I missed?

It seems I am in need for a lot of training (and probably more active play). Today I received the book ‘Training with Moska’. It is packed with exercies. I seems to be a great book to study and might be of some help to develop my skills. Which, as you’ve seen, are quite poor.

See the second diagram. White to move and gain a wining advantage. Solution…